The Three Song Tombs

The Three Song Tombs

The Three Song Tombs is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Three Song Tombs

The hometown of Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, is now Dong’an Village in Qingyuan County, Hebei Province, which has been confirmed by a wealth of detailed historical records. The Three Song Tombs are located about 1 kilometer east of Pingling Village. Originally, there were three burial mounds here. It is said that they are the tombs of Zhao Kuangyin’s great-great-grandfather Tiao, great-grandfather Ting, and grandfather Jing, commonly known as the Three Song Tombs. In the first year of the Jianlong era of the Song Dynasty (960 AD), Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin honored his ancestors and established family ancestral shrines. He posthumously titled his great-great-grandfather Tiao as “Xi Zu” (Ancestral Grandfather of Joy), and his tomb as “Qin Ling” (Respectful Mausoleum); his great-grandfather Ting as “Shun Zu” (Ancestral Grandfather of Obedience), and his tomb as “Qing Ling” (Celebratory Mausoleum); and his grandfather Jing (named Wenjing) as “Yi Zu” (Ancestral Grandfather of Winged Valor), and his tomb as “An Ling” (Peaceful Mausoleum). According to *Records of the Song Dynasty*, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the tombs of Shun Zu and Yi Zu were relocated to Henan and buried there with the rites befitting a first-rank official.

Only the tomb of Xi Zu and the cenotaphs of Shun Zu and Yi Zu remain at this site. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the tombs were still intact but were later leveled. According to *The History of the Song Dynasty: Treatise on Rivers and Canals*, “The ancestors up to Emperor Xuanzu originally hailed from Baizhou (Emperor Xuanzu was the posthumous title of Zhao Kuangyin’s father, Zhao Hongyin. In the early Song Dynasty, Baizhou governed only one county, which was Baishou County—formerly known as Qingyuan County).” According to *The Qingyuan County Annals*, “Huanggouwa (Yellow Dog Hollow) is located at the northwest corner of Yucheng (Imperial City), where the water from One-Mu Spring and Shiqiao River converges into a pond and flows into Anzhou. It is popularly believed to be the hometown of Emperor Taizu of Song.” It also states: “The Three Song Tombs are located south of Xianqiao Bridge, east of the city, and northwest of Yucheng. These are the tombs of Emperor Taizu’s great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and grandfather.”

Specific location: The Three Song Tombs are located about 1 kilometer east of Pingling Village, where there were originally three burial mounds.