Tomb of Zhang Zongyu

Tomb of Zhang Zongyu

The Tomb of Zhang Zongyu is a cultural tourism attraction.

Tomb of Zhang Zongyu

Introduction: In the south of Kongzhuangzi Village, Nandagang Farm, there is an earthen tomb, said to be the burial site of Zhang Zongyu, a leader of the Nian Army during the Qing Dynasty.

In January of the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign (1867), Zhang Zongyu led the Western Nian Army to a high position at Shipopo, east of Xi’an. In August, he was besieged by the forces of Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang in the narrow area between the Yellow River, the Grand Canal, and the Tuhai River in Shandong Province. After fierce fighting, he failed to break through the encirclement and on August 16, his entire army was annihilated when Qing troops flooded the area at Yulin Town, Jiyang. After the defeat of the Western Nian Army, Zhang Zongyu went into hiding alone in Kongjiazhuang (now Kongzhuangzi Village, Nandagang Farm), dressed in thin clothes, with disheveled hair, a square-shaped face, and a burly figure. During the day, he begged for food in the village, stretching out his hand by doors and moaning softly; at night, he slept in a small hut in the northeast field of villager Sun Yuxiang’s home. Speaking with a southern accent, villagers called him the “southerner.” In his later years, Zhang Zongyu still harbored great ambitions, but his aspirations went unfulfilled, and he eventually died of illness caused by worry and frustration. He was buried in the graveyard south of Kongzhuangzi Village, with his head facing southwest. Zhang Zongyu had one son. His descendants all still live in their ancestral home.