Tomb of Wei Liaoweng and Wei Gong Ancestral Hall

Tomb of Wei Liaoweng and Wei Gong Ancestral Hall

The Tomb of Wei Liaoweng and Wei Gong Ancestral Hall is a Sichuan Provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Municipal-level cultural relic protection unit — Tomb of Wei Liaoweng and Wei Gong Ancestral Hall

It is situated on the slopes of Panjiashan in Pangou Village, Gaoqiao Township, about 4 kilometers northeast of Pujiang County. A mountain stream meanders in front of the tomb, with dense pine forests covering both banks. The tomb is an earthen mound, measuring 11 meters in length, 3 meters in width, and 2.5 meters in height. Originally in front of the tomb was a tomb stele re-erected in the autumn of the 42nd year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1777), which has since been destroyed, leaving only broken fragments.

Near the roadside were two “Spirit Way Steles of the Song Dynasty’s Wei Wenjing’s Ancestral Tomb,” erected respectively in the 30th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1602) by Pujiang County Magistrate Wang Youxian (from Xuancheng) and in the 19th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1839) by Pujiang County Magistrate He Xianting (from Songjiang) (the Qing stele is now kept at the Pujiang County Cultural Relics Management Office).

Forty meters in front of the tomb are two stone statues of figures, spaced 8 meters apart. Their heads are broken, but they are dressed in Song-style robes, with remaining heights of 1.7 meters, shoulder widths of 0.6 meters, and chest depths of 0.4 meters. There are also three stone beasts, their heads also broken, with remaining lengths of 1.2 meters, heights of 0.5 meters, and thicknesses of 0.45 meters.

Originally in front of the tomb was the Wei Gong Ancestral Hall, built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty. Fifty meters south of the tomb, across a small bridge over the mountain stream, is the entrance gate (Longmen) of the Wei Gong Ancestral Hall. Crossing the small bridge and passing through the gate, one climbs 11.3 meters up 18 stone steps to reach five front rooms, 30 meters in length and 10.5 meters in width, with the central room being a pavilion. Further up the steps are the east and west wing rooms, each consisting of three rooms, 5 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width. Beyond the wing rooms, more steps lead to the main hall, which is 17 meters wide and 7 meters deep, with side rooms on both sides. In the center hangs a plaque inscribed with “Wei Gong Ancestral Hall,” and inside is enshrined a memorial tablet of Wei Wenjing of the Song Dynasty. The area is enclosed by earthen walls.

Inside the Wei Gong Ancestral Hall are plaques and couplets including: a “Famous Confucian Statesman” plaque from the Guangxu reign by Pujiang County Magistrate Feng Quanshu; an “Eclipsing All of Sichuan in Learning” plaque gifted in June of the 18th year of the Guangxu reign (1892) by local Pujiang women such as Zheng Lishi, which are both now kept at the Pujiang County Cultural Relics Management Office. There is also a “Promoting the Way in Four Southern Regions” plaque and matching couplet written by Gao Geng’en (from Beiping), a Hanlin academician of the 1876 Guangxu Ciyu examination and educational commissioner of Sichuan. The couplet reads: “For three thousand years, the classics’ meanings are made clear again; the literary styles of Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang are revived, with talents here rivaling those of Ma and Yang—yet who can match the literary brilliance of the Western Han? Within four hundred li, great sages rise in succession; the doctrines of Lian, Luo, Guan, and Min uphold the orthodox tradition—even amid the slander against Zhu and Li of that time, how could sacrificial offerings cease at Nanxuan?” The upper line of this couplet is lost, while the lower line is stored at the Pujiang County Cultural Relics Management Office. Additionally, there is a couplet composed and written in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign (1903) by Pujiang County scholar Peng Zhonglin: “Is Daoist learning false? Ask the beauties of that time, who enjoyed ancestral reverence in Confucius’ hall. Has the spirit returned? Likely, the cry of a cuckoo on the old mountain still remembers the rivers and Huai of the Song.” The upper line of this couplet remains, but the lower line is lost.

The Wei Gong Ancestral Hall was renovated in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925). Currently, only the first level’s five bungalows remain, now used as residences. The surviving plaques and couplets are stored at the Pujiang County Cultural Relics Management Office.

On October 9, 1982, the People’s Government of Pujiang County designated the Tomb of Wei Liaoweng and Wei Gong Ancestral Hall as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. On July 22, 1985, the People’s Government of Chengdu City designated it as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit.

Protected area: within the existing protective housing and the enclosing wall of the tomb mound.

Construction control zone: centered on the tomb, extending 20 meters east, 50 meters south, 26.5 meters west, and 20 meters north.

Wei Liaoweng (1178–1237), courtesy name Huafu, art name Heshan, was a native of Pujiang, Qiongzhou (now Qionglai), Sichuan. In the fifth year of the Qingyuan reign (1199) during the Southern Song’s Emperor Ningzong period, he ranked third in the imperial examination under the imperial list of Zeng Conglong.

In his youth, Wei Liaoweng studied with his elder brothers, displaying demeanor and behavior like that of an adult. A few years later, he grew into a handsome and exceptionally intelligent young man. Reading over a thousand words a day, he never needed to review them afterward, earning him a reputation as a child prodigy in his village. At 15, he wrote the essay “On Han Yu,” which demonstrated a scholar’s refined style with well-balanced cadence.

After entering officialdom, Wei Liaoweng… [More details on Wei Liaoweng]++