The tomb of Huo Qubing

The tomb of Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing's tomb is located in the northwest of Daochang village, Nanwei Town, Xingping City, Shaanxi Province, about 1 km east of Maoling. The tomb is mountain shaped, commonly known as "shilingzi".

Huo Qubing (140-117 BC) was a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty and a military strategist. He was born in Pingyang, Hedong (now southwest of Linfen, Shanxi). When he was 18 years old, he fought with the army and made outstanding achievements. He was the champion of the cavalry general. The bottom of Huo Qubing's tomb is 101.5 meters long, 56.70 meters wide in the south, 58.40 meters wide in the north and 18.38 meters high, covering an area of 5841.33 square meters. According to the natural form of the original stone, the stone carvings of Huo Qubing's tomb are carved by means of round carving, relief carving, line carving and other techniques. They are thick, deep, broad, bold, concise and vivid. They have a far-reaching influence on the later Chinese mausoleum stone carvings and have been inherited by the later Han Dynasty mausoleum stone carvings.

On March 4, 1961, Huo Qubing's tomb was announced by the State Council of the people's Republic of China as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Historical evolution

Huo Qubing's tomb was built in the first year of Yuanding (116 BC) of the Western Han Dynasty. According to the biography of Huo Qubing in Weiqing of the Han Dynasty, the tomb is like Qilian Mountain, which is called shilingzi by local people.

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566), some of the stone carvings in front of Huo Qubing's tomb were upside down or drowned because of the earthquake.

In 1697, a local official erected a stone tablet in front of Huo Qubing's tomb.

According to the records of Xingping county annals compiled in the 42nd year of Qianlong (1777), Bi Yuan, governor of Shaanxi Province, inscribed a monument for Huo Qubing's tomb in the 41st year of Qianlong (1776).

In the early 20th century, Western and Japanese Sinologists began to investigate the tomb of Huo Qubing in the modern sense.

In 1914, a team of French sinologists conducted a field investigation on the historical sites of Sichuan and Shaanxi in China, and published a survey report.

In the 1930s, Ma Ziyun and TENG Gu investigated and recorded the tomb of Huo Qubing and its stone carvings.

In 1931, Zhang Ji, the head of the Preparatory Committee of Xijing, set up Maoling primary school in the north of Huo Qubing's tomb, and set up a "Maoling office" in the school to manage Huo Qubing's tomb and Maoling's cultural relics. He also built two tile roofed houses on both sides of the south side of the tomb and moved nine stone carvings indoors.

In 1962, archaeologists carried out a large-scale investigation and exploration of Maoling, and published an official archaeological bulletin.

In March 1980, French archaeologist Francois Mitterrand visited the Maoling Museum and handed over two pictures of Huo Qubing's tomb and stone carvings in front of the tomb taken by his father in 1914 to the Maoling Museum for collection.

Site features

structure

The bottom of Huo Qubing's tomb is 101.5 meters long from north to south, 56.70 meters wide from south, 58.40 meters wide from north and 18.38 meters high. It covers an area of 5841.33 square meters and is sealed with 62961.24 cubic meters of soil. Up and down the tomb, around the cemetery, there are jagged rocks, green pines and cypresses, which shade the tomb. In the East and West corners of the south of the tomb, there are two winding sutras leading to the top of the tomb.

characteristic

According to the natural form of the original stone, the stone carvings of Huo Qubing's tomb are carved by means of round carving, relief carving and line carving. They are thick and deep, bold and bold, concise and vivid. They are the earliest and well preserved group stone carvings in the existing era.

These stone carvings use the romantic freehand brushwork method of fine carving in key parts and slight carving in other parts to highlight the look and movement of objects.

Cultural relics

The cultural relics of Huo Qubing's tomb are mainly stone carvings, with a total of 14 pieces. His representative works are "Horse Treading on Xiongnu", "Crouching Tiger" and "jumping horse".

Before 1949, nine pieces were placed in front of the tomb, including Ma TA Hun, Nian Niu, Fu Hu, wild boar, monster eating sheep, Li Shi holding bear, and stone man. In 1957, five more pieces were found, namely, crouching elephant, frog, toad, and a pair of fish. There are also two Han Li calligraphy stones, one engraved with "Zuo Sikong" and the other engraved with "Huo Juyi" cross at Su Bo Kou in plain Leling.

The stone carving of "Horse Treading on Xiongnu" in Huo Qubing's tomb summarizes the long cherished ambition and great achievements of the tomb owner. It is a representative work of stone carving in the Western Han Dynasty.

A stone tablet was erected to the south of Huo Qubing's tomb, with the inscription: "Tomb of Huo Gong Qubing, the champion of Hushi General of Han Dynasty.". The above paragraph is "to give the Jinshi and the Minister of the Ministry of war the book of Bi Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi Province and the right deputy censor of the duchayuan". The following paragraph is "Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went to mengqiu in his second year of life, and he knew that Xingping county was a place where he had a good reputation as Lei Lishi.".

Organization setup

In 1956, Maoling Wenguan office was set up to protect 16 large stone carvings of Huo Qubing's tomb.

In December 1979, Maoling cultural management office was upgraded to Maoling Museum.

On February 19, 1989, Wudi mausoleum police station was established, which is mainly responsible for the safety of cultural relics in Maoling field and the public security of surrounding natural villages.

History and culture

historical figure

Huo Qubing (140-117 BC) was a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty and a military strategist. He was born in Pingyang, Hedong (now southwest of Linfen, Shanxi). He was an outstanding young general in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. At the age of 18, he fought with the army and fought against the Huns. He led the army to fight for six times and made outstanding achievements. He was the champion of the general Hussars. In the sixth year of Yuanshou (117 BC) of the Western Han Dynasty, he died of illness at the age of 24. Emperor Wu regretted that he was buried in the east of Maoling mausoleum.

Cultural relic value

Huo Qubing's tomb stone carving group is the largest stone carving group in China, with the earliest art time, the most complete preservation and the highest artistic value.

Stone carvings such as stone man, stone horse, stone elephant and stone tiger were placed in the front of Huo Qubing's tomb, which had a far-reaching influence on the stone carvings of Chinese Mausoleums in the later dynasties and has been inherited by the stone carvings of Chinese Mausoleums in the later dynasties.

Cultural relics protection

In 1956, Maoling Wenguan office was established with only three tile roofed houses to protect 16 large stone carvings of Huo Qubing's tomb.

On March 4, 1961, Huo Qubing's tomb was announced by the State Council of the people's Republic of China as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

In the first ten days of June, 1967, with the help of local people, Maoling Cultural Management Office dug three cellars with a depth of 9 meters and an area of 15 square meters, built walls with soil around the stone carvings, and filled the walls with loess to protect the large stone carvings from damage.

In 1977, with the investment of the state, the Maoling cultural management office was renovated and expanded to build a cultural relics exhibition room with the architectural style of the Han Dynasty.

In 1980, the Maoling Museum raised funds to build the second cultural relics exhibition room imitating the Han architectural style.

On February 19, 1989, Wudi mausoleum police station was established, which is mainly responsible for the safety of cultural relics in Maoling field and the public security of surrounding natural villages. The stone corridor on the East and west sides of Huo Qubing's tomb was built. From March 1, 16 large-scale stone carvings will be relocated, and all of them will be in place on March 15.

Tourism information

geographical position

Huo Qubing's tomb is located in the northwest of Daochang village, Nanwei Town, Xingping City, Shaanxi Province.

Opening Hours

March 1 to November 30.

Ticket Price

80 yuan per person.

Traffic information

1. Xi'an railway station takes the western tour bus directly to Maoling Museum.

2. Take the bus from Xi'an to Xingping at Xi'an Chengxi passenger station, and transfer to bus No.11 through fujiaqiao station to Maoling Museum.

Address: about 15 kilometers northeast of Xingping County, Shaanxi Province

Longitude: 108.593694

Latitude: 34.344351