Tomb of Zengzi

Tomb of Zengzi

The Tomb of Zengzi is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Tomb of Zengzi is located in Nanzhushan Village, Mankong Township, Jiaxiang County. It dates back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. On December 7, 2006, the tomb was designated as part of the third batch of Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units by the People's Government of Shandong Province.

In front of the tomb are a stone incense burner, an incense table, stone statues of guards, and two stone stelae from the Ming Dynasty’s Chenghua era and the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era. In 1784 (the 49th year of the Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty), a memorial altar was built to the left of the tomb, and a stele was erected on the altar to commemorate Zengzi’s ancestors, including the second-generation ancestor Zeng Yuan up to the sixtieth-generation ancestor Zeng Hao. In the past, Zenglin (the forest surrounding the tomb) had dedicated personnel for worship. A small ceremony was held on the first day of each month, and a grand ceremony was conducted in the spring and autumn each year, ensuring a constant stream of incense offerings.

The “Comprehensive Gazetteer of Shandong” records: “In the early years of the Chenghua era, officials in Shandong reported that to the south of Nanzhushan in Jiaxiang, east of Xuanwu Mountain, a fisherman fell into a cave and discovered a hanging coffin. In front of it was a stone tablet inscribed with 'Tomb of Zeng Shen.' The report led to an imperial decree to establish a burial mound, build a hall for offerings, and construct a sacred path. The roadside was lined with pine and cypress trees enclosed within a perimeter wall.” This marked the beginning of the reconstruction of the Tomb of Zengzi in Jiaxiang.

Zenglin (the Zeng Forest) is located southwest of Nanzhushan Village, Mankong Township, Jiaxiang County, Jining City, Shandong Province, approximately 1,000 meters west of the Temple of Zengzi. It faces south with a north-south orientation, stretching 117 meters from north to south and 60 meters from east to west, covering an area of over 7,000 square meters. The surrounding forest wall is three meters high. Originally, there was a central gate and two corner gates. Inside were three rooms each for changing clothes, fasting, and offering ceremonies. It was renovated once in 1505 (the 18th year of the Hongzhi reign in the Ming Dynasty). In 1754 (the 19th year of the Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty), a stone memorial archway was built outside the central gate, inscribed with the three seal script characters “Zongsheng Mu” (Tomb of the Sage of Lineage), and stone horses, stone sheep, and other figures were placed along the sacred path. Of these structures, only the stone archway remains today, as the others collapsed by the end of the Qing Dynasty. In September 2002, Dr. Zeng Xianzi, the 74th-generation descendant of Zengzi, visited the Temple and Tomb of Zengzi with his family and expressed his intention to donate funds for renovation. With Dr. Zeng Xianzi’s support, renovation work began in October 2002 and was completed in August 2004. The Tomb of Zengzi was expanded, the Hall of Worship was restored, the pathways and the plaza in front of the forest were repaved, and the Tomb of Zengzi regained its former glory.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units in Shandong

· First Batch of Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units in Jining City