Tomb of Tian Mengpi and His Wife

　　Located in Qingsheping Village, Tanlin Town, Qichun County, this is a Southern Song Dynasty tomb. Oriented east to west, it covers an area of approximately 200 square meters. The earthen mound is 5 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 1.4 meters high. In front of the tomb is a stele pavilion, re-erected during the Qing Dynasty, with a three-bay gate-style design, measuring 3.88 meters in total width and 1.43 meters in height. The central stele is made of white marble, with vertical inscriptions in intaglio regular script reading: “Tomb of the Late Song Dynasty Prime Minister Tian Gong, posthumously known as Mengpi, and his wife, Lady Wang of Huangmei.” The right stele provides an overview of Tian Mengpi’s life, while the left stele outlines the history of the construction and destruction of the tomb steles for Lady Wang of Huangmei and her two other wives. The stele frame is made of bluish-gray stone, with carvings of the character for longevity, floral patterns, and swastika motifs on the side pillars of the stele top. A pair of slanted stone slabs stand on either side to help retain the earth. Two flagstone pillars stand side by side 2 meters in front of the stele pavilion. The inscriptions indicate that Tian Mengpi once served as Prime Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. Research has confirmed that his original name was Chen Yizhong. This tomb has rewritten the historical record in the “History of the Song Dynasty” regarding Chen Yizhong’s fate and is also one of the rare high-ranking tombs from the Song Dynasty in our province, making it of considerable historical value.

　　Source: Hubei Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics