Tomb of Three Persons

Tomb of Three Persons

Tomb of Three Persons

The Tomb of Three Persons is located on the mountainside of Wugongpo in Shangcun Village, Gubao Township, Xiuwen County, 12 kilometers from the county seat. The ancient post road established by Lady She Xiang, connecting Longchang Post to Liuguang Post, passes by the tomb. The tomb is built with block stones as a burial mound, with an earthen mound 1.6 meters high and 3 meters in diameter. Wugongpo is majestic and steep, covered with ancient trees and dense thorny bushes. Wang Yangming once composed a famous verse here, moved by the scene: “Peaks connect to the sky where no birds can fly; A traveler longs for home but knows not east from west. Though he knows not east from west, the sky remains the same; In distant lands beyond the sea, we share one heaven.”

In the autumn of 1509 during the Ming Dynasty’s Zhengde era, an official, his son, and a servant set out from the capital to take up a post in the south. When they reached Longchang (now the county seat of Xiuwen), continuous drizzle and the approaching dusk led them to stay overnight at a Miao family’s home. The next morning, Wang Yangming intended to inquire about the latest news from the capital, but the three had already left their lodging and continued on their journey.

Due to the long and arduous journey, exposure to wind and frost, rain and dew, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and physical fatigue, compounded by miasmic diseases, the official died at the foot of Wugongpo by noon. That evening and the following morning, his son and servant also died on Wugongpo. Upon hearing the news, Wang Yangming, moved by compassion at the sight of three exposed corpses left unburied, took two young servants with baskets and spades and personally buried the three on Wugongpo. He also wrote the “Eulogy for the Burial of a Traveler” in their memory. The text expresses deep sympathy for the deceased master and servants who perished by the roadside, while also conveying Wang’s own profound lament over his fate. However, Wang believed that one should face life with righteousness and fearlessness, and that life should not be spent chasing wealth and status, nor lost for material gain. No matter the hardships encountered, one should not be disheartened or discouraged, but strive to maintain self-reliance and integrity. The “Eulogy for the Burial of a Traveler” is written in sorrowful and moving language, filled with heartfelt emotion that brings tears to the eyes. The essay is simple yet profound, widely loved, deeply touching, and has been included by earlier scholars as a famous piece of classical prose in the “Guwen Guanzhi” (Models of Ancient Prose). It is also celebrated alongside Li Hua’s “Lament for the Ancient Battlefield” and Han Yu’s “Eulogy for My Nephew Twelve” as the “Three Masterpieces of Memorial Texts,” widely recited through the ages.

In the eighth year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1743), Sun E, a provincial judge from Shandong, came to Xiuwen on official business and, together with Wang Kenggu, the magistrate of Xiuwen, went to Wugongpo to search for the tomb of the three persons. Due to years of neglect, the tomb had been overgrown with wild grass, and many locals did not know where the Tomb of Three Persons mentioned in the “Eulogy for the Burial of a Traveler” was. Eventually, they found a 70-year-old elderly man who led them to the site. They saw the tomb and its surroundings covered with wild brambles and weeds, almost unrecognizable, which moved them to sadness. They thus donated funds to repair the tomb and, in the spring of the tenth year of Qianlong (1745), composed a poem and inscribed a stele erected at the head of the tomb. The inscription reads:

In the autumn of Guihai, while on official duty with Magistrate Wang, I passed Wugongpo and inquired about the tomb of the three persons. The locals knew nothing of it. An elderly scholar, seventy years of age, leaning on a cane and parting vines, guided us to the tomb. There, amidst wild mist and overgrown grass, it was barely recognizable. I mourned there for a long time, overwhelmed with sorrow. Thus, together with the magistrate, we planned to donate money to rebuild the tomb and erect a monument, and I composed a quatrain so that future mourners would have a point of reference. If the three souls are aware, may they recite my poem amid green maples and setting sun.

Donglu (Eastern Lu)

Sun E

A master and servant brought a boy to this malarial land,

Sadly buried together in the same clouded earth on the same day.

History has lost the names of the three,

Yet the post road still keeps their one-foot tomb.

Their souls cry to green maples as the sky darkens,

Their bones entangled in white grass, bleached by daylight.

Below Wugongpo, sorrow is boundless,