Tomb of Hu Anguo and Hu Hong

Tomb of Hu Anguo and Hu Hong

The tomb of Hu Anguo and Hu Hong is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

The tomb of Hu Anguo and his son is located on a small hill called Xian’e Fudan (Phoenix Hatching Eggs) on the northern slope of Xian’e Mountain, south of Yinshan Mountain in Huangjingping Village, Paitou Township, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province.

The tombs are overgrown with grass. The couplet on the tombstone reads: “Holding the great brush of the Spring and Autumn Annals; Buried in the hidden hills under heaven.” The left epitaph reads: “Born by the Min River and came to Hunan, with profound scholarship no ordinary matter. Holding the brush to inscribe a thousand years of history, leaving the Spring and Autumn Annals for later generations to see.” The right epitaph reads: “Choosing the terrain with fond attachment, staying at Biquan to lecture on poetry and prose. Establishing a school in Tanzhou with flourishing branches, leaving a lasting reputation to this day.” The central epitaph is engraved with: “Tomb of the founding ancestor Hu Anguo, the esteemed lord, his mother Lady Liu, the second-generation ancestor Wufeng, buried together, ? Yongtian’s eight household descendants jointly erected, rebuilt in the middle autumn month of the Xinyou year, 1981.”

According to the “Xiangtan County Annals · Tombs” published in the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era: Hu Wending “passed away in his sleep on the thirteenth day of the fourth month in the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), and was buried in Longxue Mountain, Xiangtan County, Tanzhou.” After Wending’s death, Emperor Gaozong bestowed 300 taels of silver and 300 bolts of silk, ordering the Hunan provincial administration to oversee the funeral arrangements, and granted ten hectares of land to support his orphans. In the fifth year of the Jingtai era (1454), the county magistrate, under the order of Prefect Zhang Gongluan, restored the site with proper ceremony and named it “Tomb of Song Dynasty’s Hu Wending.” In the Guiyou year of the Kangxi era in the Qing Dynasty (1673), Magistrate Zhao Guangyao, commissioned by Governor Cai Yurong of Huguang, renovated it again and named it “Tomb of Confucian Scholar Hu Wending of the Song Dynasty.”

The tomb was originally protected by granite fences, surrounded by pine and cypress trees. Both the main and secondary epitaphs were carved from white marble. Its spirit way was 180 meters long and 68 meters wide, entirely paved with granite, and included an incense burner, stone figures, stone horses, and stone benches. There were dozens of granite steps on both sides of the downward slope, but they were later damaged. In 1981, descendants of the Hu family from Yongtian’s eight households pooled funds to renovate it. It is now made of concrete, and 28 new pine and cypress trees have been planted around the tomb, standing lush and verdant.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, warfare frequently occurred in the Yellow River basin, prompting many Central Plains scholars to migrate southward. Hu Anguo also led his family and disciples from Jingmen to Hunan during the Jianyan years (1127–1130) of the Southern Song Dynasty. He established the Biquan Academy in Xiangtan, Tanzhou, and “lived in Tanzhou for over thirty years,” dedicating himself to teaching and writing. This laid the foundation for the Huxiang School of Thought, a school of Neo-Confucianism that holds a unique position in the history of ancient Chinese academia and is known as the “source of Huxiang Culture.”

In the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), Hu Anguo passed away. The construction of Hu Anguo’s tomb began between June and August of the eighth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty bestowed gold and silk and assigned the Hunan provincial administration to handle the funeral arrangements. The tomb was built by the Tanzhou government. Hu Hong died in the third year of Shaoding during the reign of Emperor Guangzong of the Song Dynasty (1192) at the age of 85 and was buried with his parents. In the early years of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty (1436–1449), the emperor decreed that Hu Anguo’s spirit tablet be enshrined in the Confucian Temple to receive worship alongside Confucius. During the Jingtai era (1450–1456), the emperor also decreed the renovation of the tomb of Hu Anguo and his son.

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hunan Province