Tomb Stele of Han Shizhong

Tomb Stele of Han Shizhong

The Tomb Stele of Han Shizhong is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

The tomb of Han Shizhong is situated on the southwestern foothills of Lingyan Mountain in Wu County. It was decreed to be buried here in the 21st year of the Shaoxing reign during the Song Dynasty. Han Shizhong was a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, with the courtesy name Liangchen, and he hailed from Suide, Shaanxi. He strived to reclaim the Central Plains and opposed the court’s policy of peace negotiations. In the 10th year of Shaoxing (1140), he was stripped of his military command and given the nominal position of Chief Councilor. During the unjust persecution of Yue Fei, Han Shizhong confronted Qin Hui directly and indignantly said, “How can the three words ‘Perhaps not’ convince the people of the world!” After Yue Fei was executed, Han Shizhong voluntarily requested to resign from his post, adopted the sobriquet “Master of Cool Serenity,” and passed away ten years later. His wives and concubines—Bai, Liang, Zheng, and Zhou—were buried together with him.

In the 4th year of the Chunxi reign of the Song Dynasty (1177), he was posthumously honored as the Prince of Qi, with the posthumous title Zhongwu. Emperor Xiaozong personally inscribed the title on the spirit way stele: “Stele of the Founding Hero Who Assisted in the Revival and Stabilized the Nation.” The text was composed by Zhao Xiong and written by Zhou Bida. The stele stands 1.83 meters tall, contains 88 lines of text, with approximately 150 characters per line, totaling over 13,000 characters. Its historical account is more detailed than that of the “History of Song” and holds significant historical value. In June 1939, the stele was blown down by a hurricane and shattered into more than ten pieces. In 1946, Venerable Miaozhen of Lingyan Temple initiated its restoration, rejoining the broken sections into two parts and setting them upright, fixing them within a cement frame, standing firmly on the hillside.

The tomb is located about 350 meters northwest of the stele, connected by a spirit way. Originally, there were stone archways, stone statues of officials, and stone animals, all of which have disappeared. In 1982, the tomb mound, enclosing wall, and long steps were restored, and a signboard was erected. A new stele was placed in front of the tomb, inscribed with “Tomb of Prince Han Qi of the Song Dynasty, Renovated in the 20th Year of the Daoguang Reign.” About 650 meters southeast of the tomb lies the Han Shizhong Ancestral Hall, which currently retains two sections: the Weapon Gate and the Hall of Offerings. Inside the hall are preserved steles including the “Record of the Han Qi King Temple” from the 7th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1528), the “Record of the Reconstruction of the Hall of Offerings at the Han Qi King Tomb” from the 12th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1832), the “Han Qi King Spirit Tablet Stele” from the Suzhou Prefecture Office, the “Record of the Reconstruction of the Han Qi King Tomb” from the 13th year of the Daoguang reign (1833), the “Record of the Reconstruction of the Han Qi King Tomb and the Construction of the Hall of Offerings,” the “Record of the Reconstruction of the Tomb of Prince Han Zhongwu of the Song Dynasty,” and the “Portrait of Prince Han Zhongwu of the Song Dynasty.”

In 1989, the Wu County People’s Government and the County Political Consultative Conference initiated a fundraising campaign, with contributions from various units, factories, mines, neighboring counties in Suzhou and Wu County, as well as patriotic individuals from Hong Kong and Macau. A total of 160,000 yuan was raised to relocate an elementary school, renovate the Han Ancestral Hall, recast the statue of Han Shizhong, and establish a dedicated exhibition room for Han Shizhong’s historical achievements. The site was opened to the public in June 1990.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangsu Province