A Tomb with a New Look

A Tomb with a New Look

This “Tomb with a New Look” is a cultural tourism attraction.

The tomb in question is that of Mr. Li Zhi, located within Xihai Zi Park in Tongzhou City, at the site of the northern city wall ruins of Zhongzhou. Mr. Li, whose given name was Zhi and courtesy name Hongfu, was a native of Rongcheng in Nan’an County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. He was a renowned progressive thinker of the Ming Dynasty in China. As an official, he was upright and incorruptible, showed empathy for the common people, and wrote books that questioned Confucius and criticized Mencius, directly challenging 0 authority. He produced a wealth of writings in his lifetime, among which “The Burned Book” and “The Hidden Book” are his representative works. He was repeatedly persecuted — and in the 29th year of the Wanli reign (1601), his close friend Ma Jinglun brought him from Hubei to his home in Tongzhou, where he completed the book “Nine Correct Interpretations of the Yi.” The following year, the Emperor Shenzong imprisoned him on the charge of “daring to advocate heretical doctrines and deceive and mislead the people.” While in prison, he continued to read and write poetry, facing death fearlessly. Just as he was about to be released and sent back to his hometown without a final verdict, he chose to resist through death, seizing a razor and slitting his own throat. He passed away three days later. Ma Jinglun, in accordance with his will, buried him beside Yingfu Temple to the west of Machang Village, north of Tongzhou City. The tomb mound was ten feet high, surrounded by over a hundred white poplar trees. In the 38th year (1610), Wang Keshou erected the “Tomb Stele of Elder Zhuowu,” and in the 40th year (1612), Zhan Zhengguang erected the “Tomb Stele of Mr. Li Zhi,” inscribing both a preface and poems to commemorate the scholar.

In the early years of the Republic of China, villagers, incited by a local landlord, toppled the stele erected by Zhan, breaking it into three pieces. In 1926, Japanese scholars attempted to smuggle it out of the country but were caught and stopped, after which the stele was re-erected and a stele pavilion was built. In 1953, due to the construction of the Beijing Tuberculosis Research Institute, the tomb was relocated to the south of Dabeilin Village. It was toppled again in 1966, and then re-erected during the “Critique of Legalism and Confucianism” campaign in 1974.

It was desecrated. In 1983, to facilitate better protection and commemoration, the tomb was moved to its current location.

Today, the memorial stele stands tall, with pine and cypress trees casting a verdant hue along the wall. Facing a stretch of clear lake water, the site is framed by calligraphy steles by Ouyang Zhongshi and an inscription by Zhou Yang. The ancient tomb has taken on a new look.