Tomb of Zhou Yu

Tomb of Zhou Yu

The Tomb of Zhou Yu is a cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province.

The original site of the Tomb of Zhou Yu was located in Hui Kou Town, Susong County, Anqing City, Anhui Province. Later, due to the collapse of the Sangluo Shoal, it was relocated to Guishan in Susong County. During the Ming Dynasty, Xie Jin investigated and confirmed that Zhou Yu’s tomb was in Susong, Anqing. This is evidenced by the “Genealogy Study of the Zhou Clan from Jizhou,” which states, “Investigation shows his tomb is located in present-day Susong, Anqing,” and the “Collected Works of Wen Yi,” which includes the verse, “The Qinglin waters of Wan River encircle the tomb fields.” In the “Historical Records of the Five Dynasties” by Northern Song historian Sima Guang, it is recorded: “Zhou Yu was buried in Susong; a shrine was built on the site of his tomb, and even decades later, dozens of his descendants still lived nearby.” The Ming Dynasty’s Xie Jin, in his “Genealogy Study of the Zhou Clan from Jizhou,” wrote, “Investigation shows his tomb is located in present-day Susong, Anqing,” and the “Collected Works of Wen Yi” includes the verse, “The Qinglin waters of Wan River encircle the tomb fields.” In the year 208 AD, Zhou Yu and Cao Cao confronted each other at the Battle of Red Cliffs. The legendary fire attack on the enemy fleet ultimately altered the course of Chinese history, giving rise to the era of the Three Kingdoms. In 210 AD, Zhou Yu passed away during a western campaign, leaving behind a series of unresolved mysteries. Where is Zhou Yu’s tomb? It seems to have become an enigma. As the past turned into legend and warships turned to ash, we can only pay our respects to the ancient hero on the flatlands. Zhou Yu has long since passed; the hero is no more. Consulting ancient texts to verify history, I accidentally discovered that the original site of Zhou Yu’s tomb actually still exists—it’s just that we had overlooked its location.

Ancient books contain the following records: The Ming Dynasty’s Xie Jin, in his “Genealogy Study of the Zhou Clan from Jizhou,” wrote, “Investigation shows his tomb is located in present-day Susong, Anqing,” and the “Collected Works of Wen Yi” includes the verse, “The Qinglin waters of Wan River encircle the tomb fields.” According to the “Commentary on the Water Classic,” the Qinglin River flows to Xunyang and connects to the Dalei waterway. Based on my understanding, this Qinglin River refers to the Leishui river system. The ancient Xunyang was located southwest of today’s Huangmei. This clearly indicates that Zhou Yu’s tomb was near the Qinglin River in Susong. The exact spot awaits further investigation and verification. During the Five Dynasties period and early Song Dynasty, the scholar Xu Xuan, in his “Collected Works from the Mounted Office,” included the “Epitaph and Preface for the Late Lady Zhou of Runan County, Mother of the Family,” which states: “Gongjin (Zhou Yu) was buried in Susong of Shu; today, over a hundred descendants still offer worship.” This is also a unique feature not found among other alleged “Tombs of Zhou Yu”—the presence of descendant worship. The Southern Tang (or Song Dynasty) historical works such as Ma Ling and Lu You’s “History of the Southern Tang – Biography of Zhou,” as well as Ouyang Xiu’s “New History of the Five Dynasties,” all record: “Zhou Yu was buried in Susong; a shrine was built on the site of his tomb, and even decades later, dozens of his descendants still lived nearby.” This fact alone refutes the hypothesis that the tomb belongs to Zhou Ben. If it were Zhou Ben’s tomb, the “Biography of Zhou Ben” would not have been written this way. We can also deduce that, even before Zhou Ben, there were descendants of Zhou Yu guarding the tomb. Otherwise, where would these dozens of guardian families come from? In ancient times, a “family” was equivalent to a household today—thus, the number of tomb guardians was substantial. This is also the only record in official history that mentions Zhou Yu’s descendants and the only clear historical account specifying the location of Zhou Yu’s tomb.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties’ Li Daoyuan, in his “Commentary on the Water Classic,” wrote: “On the north side of the river facing the Leishui, there is a temple dedicated to Zhou Yu.” Since the “Commentary on the Water Classic” is an annotation of the “Water Classic,” and if we consider the compilation date of the original “Water Classic,” it should date back to the Wei-Jin and Three Kingdoms period—very close to the recorded time of Zhou Yu’s death. The phrase “on the north side of the river facing the Leishui” also matches the verse from Xie Jin. Even if we take the latest possible dating, the “Commentary on the Water Classic” was compiled during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, around 450 AD. Since Li Daoyuan was from the Northern Dynasties, any hydrological data about the South must have been referenced from Southern sources. Therefore, the document could not have been compiled much later than three hundred years after the Jin Dynasty. During the wartime periods, the likelihood of building temples was very low. Between approximately 280 AD and 500 AD, what happened to the small Sang Shoal? According to Yuan Hong’s records, “Then he departed from Sangluo,” indicating that Zhou Yu had stationed troops in the Sangluo Shoal—otherwise, why mention an otherwise insignificant islet? Yuan Hong also noted, “Exhausted the principles of rivers and canals,” “consulted spiritual turtles to survey land,” and “built a golden fortress with myriad battlements.” These suggest that Zhou Yu constructed a fortress here. This fortress is documented in historical texts. According to the “Yuanhe Counties and Districts Annals,” 42 li east of Xunyang County lies the old city of Chaohu. The “Xunyang” referred to here is the ancient Xunyang, located southwest of Huangmei. Forty-two li east of Xunyang County is precisely the Sangluo Shoal. Therefore, the builder of this old city of Chaohu was none other than Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu’s home was also within this old city of Chaohu. This aligns with the “Zhou Clan Genealogy of Susong,” which states: “A man of Runan, Gong (Zhou Yu) guarded the Wu Commandery, made his home in Shu of Lujiang… both the old city and Songgui Mountain have tombs.” This old city absolutely cannot be referring to Shu of Lujiang, because it has already been clearly stated earlier that his ancestral home was Runan and his residence was in Shu of Lujiang. Therefore, it shouldn’t mean his hometown. Moreover, the Wudong Genealogy of Jiangxi also contains a similar entry: “Lujiang was the ancestral home of our Zhou clan; we later resettled in Shu, starting with Zhou Yu’s relocation.” From this, it can be seen that making Shu one’s home began with Zhou Yu’s time. Though the two locations are thousands of li apart, their records are consistent—indicating they are factual. The term “old city” here can be understood as an abandoned fortress or settlement. Therefore, this old city can only be the old city of Chaohu.

Zhou Yu (175–210), courtesy name Gongjin, was a native of Shu County, Lujiang (present-day west of Lujiang, Anhui). He was a renowned general of the Eastern Wu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and was famously known as “Zhou Lang” due to his handsome appearance. Zhou Yu was an expert in military strategy and also highly skilled in music. The Jiangdong region even had a saying: “If the melody is wrong, Zhou Lang will notice.” In 208 AD, under Zhou Yu’s command, the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao’s army in the Battle of Red Cliffs through a fire attack. This battle laid the foundation for the tripartite division of China. In 210 AD, Zhou Yu died of illness at the young age of 36.

Zhou Yu was resourceful and decisive, a master of military tactics, and known for his magnanimous character and refined temperament. Jian’an … More detailed information about Zhou Yu ++