Shaohao Tomb

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Coordinates: 35°36′39″N 117°01′59″E / 35.610802°N 117.033°E / 35.610802; 117.033

An earth tumulus (right) with the "Shaohao Ling" (Shaohao Tomb) stele in front of it and a stone-faced pyramid (left)

The Shaohao Tomb (Chinese: 少昊陵; pinyin: Shǎohào Líng) is a pyramid shaped monument located in the north-east of Jiuxian Village, on the eastern outskirts of the city of Qufu in Shandong Province, China. The monument honors Shaohao, the son of the first mythical Chinese emperor (the Yellow Emperor) and one of the mythical five emperors himself. The monument is unique in China because of its pyramid-shaped stone construction. It consists of a tomb mount that has been covered with stone slabs during the reign of the Song Dynasty emperor Huizong in 1111 CE.[1] The entire pyramid is 28.5 meters wide and 8.73 meters high. On its flat top stands a small pavilion that houses a statue of Shao Hao. The tomb stands inside a compound with many old trees, chiefly thujas planted on the orders of the emperor Qianlong, who visited the site in 1748.[1]

The rather unusual design of this monument has long attracted visitors' notice. As Rev. A. Williamson, who visited the site in 1865, wrote:

The pyramid was not at all to be compared to the Egyptian ones for size, but of the same shape, and instantly reminded one of them. Anywhere but in China would we look for such structures. But this is another indication of the antiquity of the Chinese, and the oneness of the human race.[2]

  • Stele

  • Courtyard

  • Gates of the tomb

  • Gable figure

See also

  • Shou Qiu, nearby site traditionally regarded as the birth place of the Yellow Emperor

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Peter Valder, Gardens in China, Timber Press, 2002, p. 111
  2. ↑ Legge, James (1867). Confucius and the Chinese classics. p. 390.  - Rev. A. Williamson's account of his visit to Shaohao Tomb (Shaou-Haou, in his transcription) in 1865.


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