Tomb of Liao Shouwen and His Wife

Tomb of Liao Shouwen and His Wife

The Tomb of Liao Shouwen and His Wife is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Tomb of Liao Shouwen and His Wife is located in Xiache Village, Shajing Town, Longmen County. The tomb faces southeast and is situated northwest. It has an oval layout, measuring 13.5 meters in length and 12 meters in width, and is constructed from red sandstone, granite, and blue bricks. The upper left corner of one brick bears the seal “Liao Family Tomb Brick.” At the center of the burial ground, a stone house is built from carved granite, flanked by octagonal pillars and covered with lotus-shaped column bases. In the middle is embedded a tombstone with a double-eave roof and a ridge adorned with a mythical dragon-fish ornament. The tombstone is inscribed in intaglio regular script: on the left are the birth and death dates of Liao Shouwen and his wife, as well as the date of burial; in the center is the inscription “Tomb of the Late Father: Liao Gong, Scholar of Yu Zhai, and the Late Mother: Lady Zheng”; on the right is recorded “the tenth day of the second lunar month in the 28th year of the Wanli era of the Great Ming [1600], at the hour of Chen, and the names of descendants who erected the stele.” The top of the stele is inscribed in intaglio regular script with the stone plaque “Commendation for Righteous Relief,” bestowed by Wang Xuzhi, the magistrate of Longmen County. In front of the stele is a stone offering table.

On both sides of the front of the tombstone, embedded in the stone pedestals, are two inscribed stelae each, carved in intaglio regular script with neat and elegant characters. The left one is a congratulatory message written in 1572 (the sixth year of the Longqing era of the Ming Dynasty) by Hu Tinglan from Zengcheng, recounting how Liao Shouwen donated grain to aid disaster relief; the other is a self-composed epitaph by Liao Shouwen dated November 22, 1576 (the fourth year of the Wanli era), describing the life of his wife Lady Zheng and the construction of the burial site. On the right are two stelae: one has a weathered surface with illegible text, while the other is clearer—it contains a poem composed by Liao Shouwen reflecting on his parents during the construction of the burial site. In front of the tomb is a semi-circular stone railing. The entire structure is relatively well preserved.

Liao Shouwen (1518–1587), courtesy name Baishan, style name Yuzhai. His wife, Lady Zheng (1518–1587).