Dragon Tomb

Dragon Tomb

The Dragon Tomb is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

The Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb: Situated 500 meters east of Longzhong Village, the Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb is an oval-shaped earthen mound rising 5 meters above the ground. It is 75 meters long on the south, 52 meters on the east, 57 meters on the north (3 meters of the burial mound were removed in 1954 when a canal was excavated), and 48 meters on the west, covering an area of 2,000 square meters. The tomb is covered with shrubs and weeds, and rope-patterned bricks as well as some pottery fragments are exposed on the surface. According to expert research, this tomb dates back to the Qin and Han dynasties. Its large area, structural scale, and massive earthworks suggest it was not intended for an ordinary official, making it one of the few Qin and Han tombs in Hebei Province. It provides extremely valuable physical evidence for the study of burial systems and culture in northern China.

The Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb is recorded in the Qing Dynasty Guangxu County Annals as the tomb of Fu Su, the eldest son of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, or the tomb of Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, or the tomb of the thirteenth prince of Qin. The "Tianfu Guangji" states: “The tomb of the Qin crown prince is located in Duan Di Village, north of Da Cheng County (now part of Jinghai County, Tianjin). When Emperor Qin Shi Huang was on a tour and stopped here, his young son died and was buried here.” During the Republican era, the "Yong Bao" newspaper recorded: “Emperor Qin Shi Huang came here for hunting, and his thirteenth son died of plague and was buried in this place.” There is no tomb of a Qin prince in today’s Jinghai Duan Di, so cultural relics experts believe that the Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb is the tomb of the Qin prince. As for which son of Qin Shi Huang it is, the Qing Dynasty's Yu Minzhong, in "Ri Xia Jiu Wen Kao," cites the ancient text "Cheng Zhong Ji" from the Three Kingdoms period during the reign of Wei Emperor Wen, which says: “It is said that when Emperor Qin Shi Huang was on a tour and stayed here, his young son passed away, and he was buried here.” This also indicates that the tomb owner is neither Fu Su, the crown prince, nor Hu Hai, the second emperor. Based on related literature, it is inferred that the Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb was built in 215 BC, after Qin Shi Huang’s fourth tour to “Jieshi” (present-day Qinhuangdao), on his way back through Da Cheng. The “young son,” according to the "Book of Rites · Ceremonial," refers to a child around ten years old, suggesting the tomb owner was a prince of Qin Shi Huang around that age. The exact identity remains to be verified.

The Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb has suffered repeated damage and vandalism. It is said that during the warlord chaos in the early Republican era, a pair of small stone lions were stolen by rogue soldiers. A military man once built a fox fairy cave on top of the tomb, ostensibly for worship but suspected of being a cover for tomb raiding. In 1960, someone from Niucun village took away stone objects from the Fox Fairy Temple under the pretext of digging a hole to catch a fox. In July 1982, the Dragon Tomb Ancient Tomb was listed as a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Hebei Province.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Hebei Province