Tomb of Emperor He of the Southern Han Dynasty

Tomb of Emperor He of the Southern Han Dynasty

The Tomb of Emperor He of the Southern Han Dynasty is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Tomb of Emperor He is located on the northern slope of Qinggang in Beiting Village, Xiaoguwei Subdistrict, Panyu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, commonly known as "Tomb of King Liu." The tomb faces north and was built during the Southern Han period. The entire structure is constructed from plain gray bricks and consists of four parts: the entrance passage, sealed gate, front chamber, and rear chamber. The tomb is 36.47 meters deep and 5.82 meters wide, covering an area of 212 square meters. The entrance passage has a gentle slope, with a remaining length of 12 meters and width of 3.20 meters. It contains 190 celadon jars and 82 glazed pottery jars arranged neatly in rows, likely remnants of offerings placed in front of the tomb at the time. The sealed gate is 2.6 meters thick and has a remaining height of 2.16 meters. The tomb chambers are built with large, plain gray bricks. The ceiling is formed by wedge-shaped bricks arranged in four layers of arched vaults (the lowest layer uses double-angle bricks, which can be counted as a fifth layer). On both sides beneath the outer arched ceiling, additional brick walls were constructed to reinforce and protect the tomb chambers. The interior is 13 meters long and 3.14–3.80 meters wide. The front chamber is rectangular, measuring 6.27 meters north-south, 3.14 meters east-west, and 3.04 meters high, with walls about 1.30 meters thick. Near the inner side of the sealed gate lies a large square stone, 1.36 meters long, 1.25 meters wide, and 0.18 meters thick. This stone is plain, without any inscriptions or patterns, and may have been an uncarved epitaph stone. Each of the east and west walls features two rows of nine tower-shaped niches, totaling nine on each side. The rear chamber is nearly square, measuring 3.46 meters long, 3.80 meters wide, and 3.45 meters high. Each of its side walls has five niches, while the rear wall has been severely damaged. As the space where the coffin of the tomb owner was placed, the rear chamber is spacious and tall, making it the most magnificent brick-vaulted tomb with a domed roof discovered in Guangzhou since the Han Dynasty. A partition wall separates the front and rear chambers. The burial objects inside the tomb were looted long ago, with only fragments of green-glazed pottery houses found in the disturbed soil. Although no definitive inscriptions or dates have been found in the tomb, based on its structure, design, brickwork, and unearthed artifacts, it can be identified as a tomb from the Five Dynasties period. Its characteristics also align with those of the Kang Tomb and Zhao Tomb of the Southern Han Dynasty. Therefore, it is inferred to be the tomb of Liu Yin, the founding figure of the Southern Han Kingdom. According to historical texts such as the "Zizhi Tongjian" and "New History of the Five Dynasties," six years after Liu Yin’s death, his younger brother Liu Yan ascended the throne and posthumously honored him as Emperor Xiang, designating his tomb as the Tomb of Virtue (德陵). The Tomb of Virtue is located by the sea coast, near Changhua Garden. Beiting Village is still referred to as Changhua Market today. Xiaoguwei Island, abundant in lychee trees and surrounded by water, was historically known as Lychee Isle — fitting the description of a coastal location. This tomb holds significant research value. In May 2006, along with the Kang Tomb, it was designated by the State Council as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit under the name Tomb of Emperor He of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Beiting Village: Located in Xiaoguwei Subdistrict, Beiting Village is 20 kilometers from downtown Panyu and 3 kilometers from the Xiaoguwei Subdistrict Office. It neighbors Guangzhou University and South China Normal University in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center. Before the construction of the Higher Education Mega Center, villagers were primarily engaged in agriculture. After the development of the university town, some villagers continued to live in the original area, while others affected by demolition relocated to the newly built Gucun New Village. The village now covers an area of approximately 3.98 square kilometers, with a registered population of over 4,300 and a floating population of nearly 3,000. The collective economy mainly relies on income from leasing village-owned land, as well as revenue from unused land in the old village and shops in Beiting Plaza... More details about Beiting Village++