Tomb of Yuan Haowen

Tomb of Yuan Haowen

The Tomb of Yuan Haowen is a cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province.

The Tomb of Yuan Haowen is located north of Hanyan Village, about 10 li south of the city. It was built during the Yuan Dynasty. During his burial, five earthen mounds were erected in front of the tomb, each five zhang high, adorned with painted curtains and floral designs, hence it is also known as the Five-Flower Tomb.

Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), courtesy name Yuzhi, art name Yishan, was a native of Xiurong (present-day Xinzhou) in Shanxi. He was born in the first year of the reign of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (1190) and passed away on the fourth day of the ninth month in the seventh year of the reign of Mongke Khan of Yuan (1257) at his residence in Huwo (present-day Hebei Province). He was buried in his hometown at the foot of Xianzhou Mountain, in Shancun Village (present-day Hanyan Village, Xinfu District). Yuan Haowen passed the imperial examination and held various official positions including Magistrate of Neixiang, Magistrate of Nanyang, and Assistant Director of the Left Department of the Department of State Affairs. After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, he refused to serve the new regime and devoted himself to literature and poetry. He enjoyed great prestige during the transition from the Jin to the Yuan Dynasty. His works include Ten Volumes of Zhongzhou Collection, Ten Volumes of Tang Poetry Drumbeats, Ten Volumes of Self-Admonitions in Poetry and Prose, Four Volumes of Continuation of Yi Jian Zhi, and Four Volumes of New Yuefu.

Yuan Haowen is regarded as the most accomplished writer and historian of the late Jin and early Yuan periods. He was the principal literary figure of the northern literary scene during the Song-Jin confrontation, and a key transitional figure in literature between the Jin and Yuan eras, revered as the “Literary Giant of the North” and the “Literary Sage of His Generation.” He excelled in all forms of poetry, prose, ci poetry, and qu opera. His poetry, especially his “Poems of Turmoil,” is particularly famous. His ci poetry was considered the best of the Jin Dynasty and could rival the works of renowned poets of the Northern and Southern Song. Although only a limited number of his qu operas have survived, they had a significant impact at the time and played a pioneering role.

The Tomb of Yuan Yishan consists of two parts: the burial mound area and the Yeshi Pavilion. The perimeter of the tomb wall is 250.8 meters, and that of the Yeshi Pavilion is 190 meters. The burial mound of Yuan Yishan is 2.5 meters high, round in shape, with a diameter of 5 meters. In front of the tomb stands a stone stele inscribed with “Tomb of the Poet Yuan Yishan,” erected on the 22nd day of the fifth month in the 19th year of the Zhiyuan era (1282 AD). Next to it is a stele inscribed with the “Epitaph of Mr. Yishan,” composed by Hao Jing of the Yuan Dynasty, erected in the seventh month of the fourth year of the Dade era (1300 AD) by his eldest son Fu and second son Zhen. There is also a three-room ancestral hall, a stele inscribed with “Record of the Reconstruction of Yuan’s Tomb” (reconstructed in the 60th year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, i.e., 1795 AD, by Wang Benzhi, Prefect of Xinzhou), a stele inscribed with “All Respect Mr. Yishan” (first year of the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, i.e., 1796 AD), a stele inscribed with “Reconstruction of Yuan’s Tomb in the Tongzhi Era” (Xinzhou Prefect Ge Jirong), a stele inscribed with “Record of the Reconstruction of the Tomb of Mr. Yuan Yishan” (Qing Dynasty, Qianlong era), and a stele inscribed with “Reconstruction of the Tomb of Yuan Yishan” (fourth year of the Republic of China, i.e., 1915 AD). Other items include “Self-Written Record of the Reconstruction of Yuan’s Tomb,” “Brief Biography of Yuan Yishan’s Descendants,” and tomb maps. In front of the pavilion are a pair of stone statues (stone figures), a pair of stone sheep, and a pair of stone tigers. In front of and behind the tomb of Mr. Yuan Yishan are six earthen mounds, belonging to his great-grandfather Yuan Chunshan, grandfather Yuan Tongshan, father Yuan Dongyan (courtesy name Mingde), second uncle Yuan Longcheng, eldest son Yuan Fu, and eldest grandson Yuan Ruozu.

The Yeshi Pavilion is 22 zhang long from north to south and 10 zhang wide from east to west, covering an area of 3.83 mu. The pavilion is situated in the center of the courtyard, with a platform 6 chi high, hexagonal in shape, and topped with a pointed roof. The central wall of the pavilion features an inlaid stone portrait of Mr. Yuan Yishan (painted in the 30th year of the Republic of China, i.e., 1941 AD).

Inside the courtyard of the Yeshi Pavilion is a stone stele inscribed with “Record of the Reconstruction of the Yeshi Pavilion” (14th year of the Republic of China, i.e., 1925 AD, composed and written by Peng Zanhuan, Magistrate of Xinxian County). The main hall in the north features inscribed poems and prose from literary figures of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. On the east and west sides of the hall are four main rooms each, with the east wing room containing a list of donors for the reconstruction of the Yeshi Pavilion of Yuan Yishan. There are four southern rooms on either side of the main gate to the south.

The Tomb of Yuan Yishan is a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit. In 1962, the provincial government allocated funds for maintenance. From 1979 to 1982, the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute allocated a total of 21,000 yuan for the restoration of the tomb, the construction of a new surrounding wall, the leveling of the courtyard, and the planting of over 4,000 trees including pines, cypresses, poplars, and willows, as well as flowers such as roses. In April 1981, 15 mu of land was reclaimed, enclosing both the tomb and the Yeshi Pavilion within a surrounding wall. The site is now well-preserved and holds significant archaeological and historical value.

Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), courtesy name Yuzhi, art name Yishan, was a native of Xiurong in Taiyuan (present-day Xinzhou, Shanxi). He was a renowned writer, historian, and literary leader of the late Jin and early Yuan periods, a principal representative of the northern literary scene during the Song-Jin confrontation, and a key transitional figure in literature between the Jin and Yuan eras, revered as the “Literary Giant of the North” and the “Literary Sage of His Generation.” He excelled in all forms of poetry, prose, ci poetry, and qu opera. Yuan Haowen also wrote fiction; his collection of short supernatural tales, Continuation of Yi Jian Zhi, contains four volumes and 202 stories. Excluding four entries without text and one incomplete story, there are actually… More details about Yuan Haowen++

Further reading:

· First Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Shanxi Province