Hongtuwa

Hongtuwa

Located 6 kilometers southeast of Zhengguo Town and southwest of Liwa Village, Hongtuwa is the burial site of Liu Taifuren, Yuan Shikai’s mother, who held the first-rank noble title. According to the *Xiangcheng County Annals – Geographic Maps*, on the sixteenth day of the first month of winter in the 28th year of the Guangxu reign (December 16, 1902), Yuan Shikai, then Vice Tutor to the Heir Apparent and Viceroy of Zhili, personally escorted his mother’s coffin for reburial here. The Miaoyuan covered several acres, with rows of lush cypresses and an imposing atmosphere. To the north stood the Yuan family ancestral hall, guarded by a military camp. The main gate of the Miaoyuan faced east, flanked by 3-meter-tall stone lions that howled in the wind, earning them the nickname “Wind-Howling Tigers.” On either side of the lions were stone flagpoles. Inside the gate was a stone memorial archway inscribed with the words “Exemplary Parenting.” On both sides of the archway stood numerous stone stelae, including the *Epitaph for Lady Liu, Mother of Yuan* by Zhang Zhidong, Governor-General of Lianghu and native of Nanpi; the *Stele Inscription for Lady Liu* by Yuan Baochun; and the *Epitaph for Lady Liu, Mother of Yuan* by Shen Yunpei, Vice Minister from Anhui. Most of these texts were eulogistic in nature. On the day of the burial, thousands of visitors arrived by carriage, gathering continuously along the way. The Miaoyuan no longer exists today, though a cluster of tombs remains at the confluence of Renmin Gully and the Gu River.