Tomb of Tang He

Tomb of Tang He

The Tomb of Tang He is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a patriotic education base.

The Tang He Historical Site Park is located at the southern foot of Cao Mountain in Longzihu District, Bengbu City, covering an area of 54.19 mu. Nestled against the mountain and beside the water, it boasts a beautiful environment and picturesque scenery. The tomb itself is a multi-chamber brick-and-stone structure carved into a rectangular stone pit in the mountainside. It measures 10.3 meters in length, 5.8 meters in width, and 6.2 meters in depth, consisting of a front chamber, a rear chamber, and one side chamber. In front of the tomb lies a spirit way, originally 225 meters long but now 160 meters in length. Along both sides of the spirit way stand six pairs of stone statues: one pair of ornamental columns, one pair of war horses with grooms standing beside them, one pair of kneeling sheep, one pair of seated tigers, one pair of civil officials, and one pair of armored warriors. At the front end of the spirit way stands a 6.35-meter-high spirit way stele.

The tomb’s occupant, Tang He, courtesy name Dingchen, was born in 1326 AD and died in 1395 AD at the age of 70. He was from Donghu Village, Taiping Township, Haozhou (now Donghu Village, Fengyang County, Anhui Province). A fellow villager, guiding elder brother, loyal comrade-in-arms, and capable assistant of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Tang He was one of the dynasty’s founding heroes. On November 11 of the third year of the Hongwu era (1370 AD), when Zhu Yuanzhang conferred titles on his meritorious officials, Tang He was granted the title of Zhongshan Marquis—the foremost among the Twenty-Eight Marquises—ranking seventh after the Six Dukes. In 1378 AD, he was further granted the title of Duke of XinGuo. After his death, he was posthumously honored as the King of Dong’ou with the posthumous name Xiangwu, historically known as the Dong’ou Xiangwu King.

In 1973, the Bengbu Museum conducted an emergency excavation of Tang He’s tomb. Although it had been looted multiple times, the excavation still unearthed over 100 precious cultural relics, including the Bengbu Museum’s prized treasure—the blue-and-white porcelain jar with double animal-shaped handles from the Yuan Dynasty. In 1986, it was designated as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the provincial government. Starting in 1998, the tomb chamber and the offering hall were reconstructed, and the stone statues and spirit way were gradually restored and renovated. In 2003, two side halls were completed, giving the park its initial form and generating positive social impact. The exhibition “Historical Relics of Tang He” was also curated and displayed in the side halls. Since 2005, the site has been open to the public free of charge, receiving approximately 20,000 visitors and about 10,000 young visitors annually, achieving significant social benefits.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units