Dai Hongci’s Tomb

Dai Hongci’s Tomb

Dai Hongci’s Tomb is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangzhou City.

Dai Hongci’s Tomb is located at the back of Nengren Temple on the southern slope of Baiyun Mountain, about 10 meters below the upper exit station of the current Baiyun Cable Car. The tomb faces south and is built with granite in a traditional “crossed-hands” style.

A pair of granite flagpole stands still remains in front of the tomb, inscribed with the text: “Dai Hongci, selected as a Hanlin Academy scholar, rose to the rank of Minister and Grand Secretary of the Grand Council, erected this.” Dai Hongci (1853–1910), styled Guangru and also known as Shaohuai, was a native of Nanhai, Guangdong. He passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the second year of the Guangxu reign (1876). In 1905, during the famous “Five Ministers’ Overseas Tour,” Dai was one of the five. He was sent as an envoy to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, as well as Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy. After his tour of Europe and America, his worldview broadened significantly, and he strongly advocated replacing the then political system with a constitutional one. He was a high-ranking official of the late Qing Dynasty with relatively open thinking and political vision. According to the Nanhai County Annals: “In the more than two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, Dai Hongci was the only person from Guangdong who rose from the Grand Council to become a Prime Minister.” On August 9, 1993, it was designated as part of the fourth batch of cultural relic protection units by the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government (Document No. [1993]78 of the Guangzhou Government).

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Guangzhou Cultural Relic Protection Units