Xue Xuan’s Ancestral Temple and Tomb

Xue Xuan’s Ancestral Temple and Tomb

Xue Xuan’s Ancestral Temple and Tomb is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Xue Xuan’s Ancestral Temple and Tomb

Era: Ming Dynasty

Address: Pingshan Village, Liwang Township, Wanrong County

Xue Xuan (1389–1464), a scholar of the Ming Dynasty. His courtesy name was Dewen, his pseudonym Jingxuan, and he was also known as Zhenzi. He was a native of Pingshan Village, Liwang Township, Hejin County (now Wanrong). He served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and was posthumously honored with the title "Wenqing." He followed the Cheng-Zhu school of thought and was known as the leader of the "Hedong School." His major work is the Collected Works of Xue Wenqing. The village contains the "Ancestral Temple of Master Xue" and his former residence.

The ancestral temple originally had front and rear courtyards; only the front courtyard remains. It faces south and measures 31.6 meters in length from north to south and 13.4 meters in width from east to west. The temple houses 1,080 wooden printing blocks of the Collected Works of Xue Wenqing, carved in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign (1615) of the Ming Dynasty. There are also two stone steles from the Ming Dynasty, one engraved portrait stele of Xue Xuan, three pairs of wooden couplets (one written by Fu Shan), and a well-preserved former residence. The residence faces east and measures 14 meters in length from north to south and 11.8 meters in width from east to west. The western room has three bays in width and one bay in depth, and is completely preserved.

The "Tomb of Wenqing’s Ancestors" is located 300 meters west of the village. It faces south and consists of a brick screen wall, a memorial archway, horse-tying stone pillars, stone tigers, stone sheep, and stone horses arranged from north to south. The tomb site stretches 160 meters from north to south and 101 meters from east to west. It is surrounded by an earthen wall, with 19 surviving stone stelae from the Ming Dynasty and over a hundred tomb mounds. Xue Xuan’s tomb is on the eastern side of the site, with a mound 1.50 meters high and a circumference of 18 meters. It is well-preserved.

In May 2013, Xue Xuan’s Ancestral Temple and Tomb were designated as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Group of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units