Hepu Cliff Tombs

Hepu Cliff Tombs

The Hepu Cliff Tombs are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Hepu Cliff Tombs (Mijie Banana Bay Cliff Tombs, Hutou Foziyang Cliff Tombs, Rongyou Fish Paradise Cliff Tombs, Fubao Gaocun Cliff Tombs, Zi Huai Suotan Stone Cliff Tombs, Big Ear Cliff Tombs, roadside Cliff Tombs, Huangxi Houwuzui Cliff Tombs, Guanyin Rock Cliff Tombs, Yulianzi Cliff Tombs, Dongxi Cliff Tombs, Jiangwan and Xingfu Cliff Tombs, Wei Family Ancestral Hall Cliff Tombs, Lion Mountain Cliff Tombs)

The Hepu Cliff Tombs are located in Hepu County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. The Hepu Cliff Tombs are mainly distributed along the hills and mountainous valleys of the Yangtze River, Chishui River, and Xishui River. Dominated by clusters of tombs, five relatively concentrated areas include Banana Bay, Fish Paradise, Foziyang, Gaocun, and Suotan Stone. In 2013, the Hepu Cliff Tombs were listed in the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

The Hepu Cliff Tombs feature unique architectural styles, primarily horizontal-chamber small tomb structures built using percussion drilling. They are densely distributed, resembling beehives, and are relatively well-preserved. Generally consisting of tomb passages, tomb gates, tomb chambers, and niches, a few tombs also contain stoves and stone beds inside. Most are single-chambered. The structure is simple, with no carvings inside the chambers, though a small number of tombs have petroglyphs on the outer walls of their entrances. Burial objects include wooden coffins, pottery coffins, stone coffins, and stone caskets. The Hepu Cliff Tombs comprise 12 sites spread across 12 townships in the county.

Cultural Relics

Among the unearthed relics from the Hepu Cliff Tombs, 32 representative examples are displayed at the Hepu County Han Dynasty Stone Sarcophagus Museum. Nearly 100 others remain in undisturbed cliff tombs. Funeral objects include pottery figurines, pottery vessels, pottery livestock, stone figurines, and stone horses. Model funerary objects such as money trees are abundant and of high quality, exhibiting distinct characteristics of southern Sichuan. Notably, erotic pottery figurines and pottery figurines depicting intimacy in a millhouse are extremely rare in China.

Protected Area: An additional 5 meters beyond the distribution area of cliff tombs at Mijie Banana Bay, Hutou Foziyang, Rongyou Fish Paradise, Fubao Gaocun, Zi Huai Suotan Stone, Big Ear, Roadside, Huangxi Houwuzui, Guanyin Rock, Jiangwan and Xingfu, Wei Family Ancestral Hall, Lion Mountain, Yulianzi, and Dongxi.

Construction Control Zone: An additional 20 meters beyond the protected area.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units