Tomb of Qian Liu

Tomb of Qian Liu

The Tomb of Qian Liu is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The tomb is situated on the southern side of Tai Miao Mountain in Lin’an County. It has a circular earthen mound approximately 900 cm high and 5000 cm in diameter. The Qing Dynasty’s Lin’an County Annals, under the “Literature and Arts” section, describes: “On both sides of the tomb base are two dragons and tigers encircling it. There is a pair of ornamental pillars, as well as stone sheep, stone horses, stone tigers, two pairs of stone statues, and one pair of stone generals. A tombstone stands in front of the tomb, inscribed with 30 characters reading: ‘Tomb of Qian Wang, King of Wuyue, Duke of Wu-Su, Posthumously Honored as Martial and Solemn, Who Served as Supreme Commander of All Armed Forces, Guarded the Chancellor’s Seal, Concurrently Held the Position of Secretariat Chancellor, and Was Prince of the State of Wuyue during the Tang Dynasty.’ Additionally, at the entrance of Donghui Jinmenkou, there is another stele inscribed with ‘Hometown of Qian Wusu King.’ According to the Hangzhou Prefecture Annals, the tomb complex spans two hectares and forty mu. The boundaries are all clearly documented and verifiable.”

Before 1966, the stone figures, stone beasts, and ornamental pillars were still intact. They were destroyed in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, leaving only broken fragments of the tombstone. In 1982, a new stone stele inscribed with “Hometown of Qian Wusu King” was erected on Tianmu Road, inscribed by Sha Yuhai.

In 1956, the People’s Committee of Zhejiang Province designated the Tomb of Qian Liu as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. In April 1981, the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province re-designated it as a Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Qian Liu (852–932), courtesy name Jumei (also recorded as Ju Mei), childhood name Poliu, was a native of Lin’an, Hangzhou. He was the founder of the Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In his youth, he was a private salt trader before joining the military. During the Qianfu era of the Tang Dynasty, he served as an officer under Shi Jingjiang Dong Chang. He gradually rose from a deputy general to commanding the forces of an entire region. Through eliminating factions such as Liu Hanhong, Xue Lang, and Dong Chang, he came to control the Two Zhejiangs region. In the third year of the Guangqi era of the Tang Dynasty (887), Dong Chang, who was the Observer of Yuezhou (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang), moved his garrison from Hangzhou to eastern Zhejiang. The Tang court then appointed Qian as the Prefect of Hangzhou, thereby granting him autonomous control over the area. The Tang court appointed Qian Liu as the Garrison… More details on Qian Liu++