Stone Carvings at Wang Shan’s Tomb

Stone Carvings at Wang Shan’s Tomb

The stone carvings at Wang Shan’s Tomb are a cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province.

The stone carvings at Wang Shan’s Tomb are located in Wuxi Township, Qingyang County, dating back to the Ming Dynasty. Wang Shan, courtesy name Desheng, was a native of Guichi. He passed the imperial examination in 1511 during the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty, and held various official positions including imperial censor, vice commissioner of Henan, governor of Guizhou, and eventually became vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The tomb consists of three parts: the burial mound, the worship platform, and the spirit way, which is over 70 meters long and flanked by one pair each of stone turtles, civil and military officials, reclining sheep, standing horses, seated lions, and stone lions.

To the right of Wanghua Chan Temple in Wuxi, Qingyang County, lies an imperial tomb. Although the memorial archway and the original stone figures of humans, sheep, horses, lions, tigers, as well as the burial chamber on both sides of the spirit way were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution as part of the campaign against the “Four Olds,” the scale of the site still sufficiently reflects the prominent status of the tomb’s occupant in life. For over 400 years, it has stood under the morning bells and evening drums of the temple, gazing up at the sunrise over the peaks of Jiuhua Mountain and the drifting, ethereal clouds; quietly listening to the clear flow and murmuring sounds of the Jiuhua River running before it. Resting in this land of spiritual mountains and beautiful waters is Wang Shan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the Ming Dynasty.

The tomb is set against a mountain and facing water, offering beautiful scenery. The stone statues are tall in stature and exquisitely carved.

Protected area: East to 10 meters beyond the base of the stone memorial archway, west to 5 meters beyond the rear edge of the burial mound, south and north to 15 meters beyond the rear edges of the stone statue bases.

Construction control zone: 5 meters east, 10 meters west, and the same distance south and north as the protected area, outside the protected boundaries.