Tomb of Chen Liang

Tomb of Chen Liang

The Tomb of Chen Liang is a cultural tourism site and a patriotic education base.

The Tomb of Chen Liang is located on Wolonggang at Mapu Mountain in Yongkang City. It is an earthen mound tomb with a relatively large structure, covering an area of about 3 mu. On both sides in front of the tomb are stone wing walls shaped like the character “八” (eight), with the inscription “Glorious as the Sun and Moon” on the right and “Reviving the Nation through Scholarship” on the left. There is one stone stele in front of the tomb and another behind it. The front stele measures 1.3 meters in length, 0.67 meters in width, and 0.14 meters in thickness, inscribed with the words: “Tomb of Scholar-Official Chen Longchuan, Re-erected in the Winter Month of the Renyin Year, Wanli Era, Ming Dynasty.” Despite the passage of time, its remains still exist today.

After being renovated by the Yongkang Municipal Government in 1993, the Tomb of Chen Liang has become even more solemn and majestic in atmosphere. Since being designated as a patriotic education base, it has continuously served that role, drawing inspiration from Chen Liang’s patriotic spirit.

Chen Liang (1143–1194), styled Tongfu and also known as Longchuan, was a native of Yongkang in Wuzhou. He was a patriotic thinker and literary figure. Throughout his life, he advocated resisting the Jin and saving the nation, demonstrating a proactive spirit of engagement with the world. He held uniquely profound academic insights and earned high international acclaim. In the fifth month of the Shaotai era (1194) of Emperor Guangzong of the Song Dynasty, he achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination and was appointed as an official in the Jiankang Military Command. However, he passed away before taking office and was buried on Wolonggang.

In recent years, every year during Qingming Festival, under the call and organization of the Longshan Town government, government officials and many local residents have voluntarily participated in tomb-sweeping activities at the Tomb of Chen Liang to pay tribute to this great patriotic thinker. They commemorate the sages, recall the past, inherit the legacy, and forge ahead. On March 31, 2016, a tomb-sweeping event was held solemnly under the lush pine and cypress trees. Attendees included Hu Weiwei, Vice Chairman of the Municipal CPPCC; Hu Lianzhang, member of the Municipal Government Party Group; and leaders from the Municipal Bureau of Culture, the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Chen Liang Research Association, among others. The event revisited Chen Liang’s patriotic spirit, characterized by “his powerful rhetoric, heroic spirit that inspired the land, and six visits to the imperial court, all aimed at national revitalization,” as well as his ambition to restore the nation. Qiaoxia Primary School, which features Chen Liang culture as part of its teaching philosophy, also uses the tomb as an educational base to cultivate students’ patriotism. The school has organized a series of activities such as on-site calligraphy contests featuring Chen Liang’s poetry, poster design competitions themed “The Heroes in My Heart,” making paper memorial flowers for the tomb sweeping, and studying Chen Liang’s life story in front of his tomb. These initiatives aim to guide teachers and students in fostering a sense of patriotism and strengthening patriotic education.

Living in the hometown of a top imperial scholar, we should shoulder the historical mission of promoting Chen Liang culture. We must integrate his patriotic spirit with our contemporary values and the core socialist values, combine his theory of practical governance with our hardware industry culture and craftsmanship spirit, and link his vision of “overthrowing the wisdom and bravery of one era, and expanding the heart and mind for all ages” with our ambitious goal of building a beautiful and prosperous Yongkang. Chen Liang’s ideas of “valuing both righteousness and profit” and “giving equal importance to agriculture and commerce” provide important historical and cultural context for our region’s craftsmanship spirit and Zhejiang’s pragmatic, results-oriented ethos. They also inject new cultural significance into the development of the times and Yongkang’s “second departure.”

Detailed Address:

Qiaoxia Second Village, Longshan Town, Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province

Phone:

0579-89285635