The Joint Tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai

The Joint Tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai

The Joint Tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Joint Tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is located south of Mapo Village, the seat of the Mapo Town government. It lies to the east of the ancient Si River and to the west of the modern Jiwei Highway. According to repeated surveys by the Jining Cultural Relics Bureau, the Liang-Zhu tomb complex covers an area of 60 mu. The layout includes: a five-bay Liang-Zhu Temple, three-bay east and west wing rooms, a forest wall, a forest gate, a forest keeper’s house, and an incense-offering table — all fully equipped.

Historically, the Liang-Zhu tomb site was overgrown and eerie, giving rise to many legendary tales. About a li to the west of the Liang-Zhu Tomb lies Zhou Village, where an elderly woman named Granny Zhou lost her father-in-law. That year, severe flooding turned the Zhou Village area into a vast expanse of water, yet the “Liang Family Forest” remained dry. Since the hot summer weather made it impossible to preserve the body and there was no suitable place for burial, the Zhou family decided to use a small boat to temporarily bury the elder’s remains in the “Liang Family Forest.” Later, when Granny Zhou joined the family, her mother-in-law took her to the “Liang Family Forest” to pay respects at her father-in-law’s grave. Even then, she noticed how lush the grass, flowers, and butterflies were in the “Liang Family Forest” — so abundant that they landed freely on her floral dress without fear of people.

One Qingming Festival, Granny Zhou accompanied her mother-in-law to burn paper offerings at the “Liang Family Forest.” As they approached, they saw a massive swarm of butterflies rise from the forest, covering an area as large as half a mu, before flying up into the sky. Granny Zhou was terrified. Her mother-in-law reassured her: “Don’t be afraid, it’s just the butterflies moving homes — the ‘Liang Family Forest’ is simply facing a disaster this year.”

A few days later, violent winds swept through the Mapo area, and heavy rain poured relentlessly for over a month, flooding ditches and rivers. True enough, the “Liang Family Forest” was submerged by the floodwaters.

The Liang-Zhu Tomb Stele

Historical records show that China has shown interest in and conducted research on the Liang-Zhu story for at least 1,600 years. However, information about their residences and the cultural origins of the legend has mostly been hearsay — until the mysteries were eventually unraveled. On October 27, 2002, a stele documenting the life of Liang and Zhu was unearthed in the “Liang Family Forest” south of Mapo Village, Weishan County.

The Liang-Zhu Tomb Stele is a round-headed stele, standing 1.84 meters tall and 0.84 meters wide. It lacks elaborate carvings of dragons or other vivid designs, but features a border inlaid with carved patterns. The stele bears 26 lines of regular script text, including 758 characters in the main body and a total of 841 characters.

Mapo Village: Mapo Village…… More details about Mapo Village++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Shandong Province

· Fourth Batch of Municipal Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jining City