Kangding Duke Tomb

Kangding Duke Tomb

Kangding Duke Tomb is a protected cultural relic of Henan Province.

The Yuan Dynasty stele of Kangding Duke Tomb, commonly known as the Guanguan Stele. The tomb mound behind the stele was originally about 7 meters high but has now been leveled. This stele is currently a protected cultural relic at the Henan Provincial level.

The stele stands 5.82 meters tall in total and consists of three parts: the stele head, the main body, and the tortoise pedestal, all made of bluestone. The stele head is 1 meter high and 1.25 meters wide. The front of the stele bears an inscription in seal script by Toghon, the chancellor of the late Yuan Dynasty, which reads: “Stele of Kangding Duke, Duke of Henan Province, Meritorious Official Who Exerted Himself in Loyalty and Righteousness, Pacifying Rebel Forces, Duke with the Rank of Grand Master for Splendid Happiness,” in 3 lines and 21 characters. The top and sides of the stele head feature high-relief carvings of coiled dragons. The main body of the stele is inscribed in regular script, written by Zhang Zhu with calligraphy by Sun Zhu. The text describes Guanguan’s military campaigns against the Red Turban Rebellion forces during the late Yuan Dynasty. Due to his outstanding military achievements, he rose from a common soldier to a battalion commander, then leapfrogged to the rank of commander of ten thousand men, eventually attaining the first-rank official position.

According to the stele, Guanguan (1312–1365), courtesy name Wenzu, was a Mongolian from Shenqiu County. He was brave, resolute, skilled in martial arts, fond of hunting, and proficient in horseback archery. In the late Yuan Dynasty, class and ethnic conflicts were extremely acute, culminating in the outbreak of the Red Turban Rebellion in 1351. Under heavy attack from the rebels, Yuan forces suffered continuous defeats. To combat the rebellion, the Yuan government recruited troops, and Guanguan gathered over ten thousand men to suppress the peasant uprising. He served as vanguard in battles across Luoshan, Runing, Yuxian, Xuchang, and Lushan counties, earning the title of battalion commander for his meritorious service. In 1353, when a branch of the Red Turban army attacked Henan Prefecture (Luoyang), Guanguan led troops to their relief. Learning of his approach, the rebels avoided direct confrontation and crossed the Yellow River northward, camping in Wen County. Guanguan then stormed Wen County, wiping out rebel forces north of the Yellow River. For this, he was promoted to Military Valor General (of the fifth rank) and commander of one thousand men. He later fought in Xingyang and western Henan counties such as Jiaxian and Guozhou, rising to the rank of Distant Loyalty General (third rank), Envoy Recruiting and Pacifying for Ying and Xi, and commander of ten thousand men. He continued to battle in Shaanxi and Shanxi, was later appointed to oversee the Henan Branch of the Privy Council, and commanded his troops stationed in Huaiqing. There, he undertook major reconstruction of the city walls, properly resettled displaced people, strengthened land cultivation, and stabilized the region. He was promoted to Duke of Determined Peace, serving as associate head of the council, then further elevated to Honorary Senior Grand Master and Vice Chancellor of Henan Provincial Administration (second rank). In 1361, by imperial decree, Guanguan led forces from the northern route to suppress rebel forces in Shandong. He achieved successive victories, culminating in the capture of Jinan, and was promoted to Left Chancellor of the Rank of Policy Advisor (first rank), receiving a golden belt bestowed by the emperor. In 1362, he returned to guard Huaiqing Prefecture and enjoyed a rare period of leisure. During this time, he donated funds to establish a free school and hired teachers. Later, he was appointed head of the Henan Branch of the Privy Council. In 1365, he was further honored with the titles of Deeply Reflective Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Chancellor of Henan Provincial Administration (first rank), and posthumous honors extended to his ancestors for three generations. He passed away that winter at the age of 53. The Yuan government posthumously honored him as a Meritorious Official Who Exerted Himself in Loyalty and Righteousness, bestowing upon him the posthumous title of Kangding.

According to elders in Wuliyuan Village, west of Guanguan's tomb there used to be the tomb of his father, Duke of Liangguo, along with a large stele, both of which no longer exist. The 1933 draft of the Wen County Annals mentions the “Tomb of Zher Huatai” and the “Stele of Zher Huatai, Posthumously Honored as Duke of Liangguo,” but does not include the inscriptions. This suggests that Guanguan and his father were buried here together. Currently, the tombs of Guanguan and Duke of Liangguo, as well as their stelae, have all vanished, leaving only Guanguan’s massive stele. Elders in the village recall that before the Cultural Revolution, the tomb’s entrance path was flanked by rows of stone statues such as stone sheep and horses. In 2000, the author and colleagues visited the site and found these stone figures lying fallen in the grass, half-buried in soil.

Guanguan’s massive stele features grand proportions and exquisite carvings. Its inscription documents a segment of warfare history from the late Yuan Dynasty, making it one of the few surviving large Yuan Dynasty steles in China. A similar stele in Jiaozuo City is the tomb stele of Wen Zhu Yaodu, Duke of Wen Guo of the late Yuan Dynasty, located in Qinyang City. However, Guanguan’s stele was personally inscribed in seal script by Toghon, the chancellor of the late Yuan Dynasty, and its text was composed by the renowned scholar Zhang Zhu—boasting both excellent calligraphy and historical narrative, thus holding greater historical and cultural value. This stele is of significant importance for the study of Yuan Dynasty history and the peasant uprisings of the period. In June 2006, it was designated as a provincial-level protected cultural relic by the Henan Provincial People’s Government, which also demarcated a key protection zone and construction control area.

Yuecun Subdistrict: Yuecun Township is located in the western suburbs of the county seat, covering an area of 25.4 square kilometers. The township administers 19 administrative villages, 90 villager groups, and has a population of 22,000. The arable land area is 14,000 mu, and there are over 10,000 mu of non-arable land in the floodplain area.

　I. Currently, the township possesses the following comparative advantages:

　1. Geographic Advantage

　In recent years, with the westward expansion of urban development and the gradual implementation of urban planning, several villages in the eastern part are on the verge of becoming part of the urban area, among which Sanjiazhuang and Wuliyuan are becoming “urban villages.” This geographic advantage provides convenience for the surplus labor force in the township to seek employment and engage in business in the city... Detailed information about Yuecun Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Henan Provincial Protected Cultural Relics