North and South Song Tombs

Author: Chen Zhaoyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: The Song (imperial mausoleums) in ancient China possess many unique characteristics. Due to reasons of war, the Northern and Southern Song imperial mausoleums are distributed in two locations: Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and Gongyi, Henan. The Northern Song mausoleums in Gongyi, Henan, include the "Seven Emperors and Eight Mausoleums" of the Northern Song dynasty, as well as numerous mausoleums for empresses, imperial relatives, and meritorious officials. This area now holds the largest number of mausoleum steles since the Han and Tang dynasties. Shaoxing served as a temporary burial site for six Southern Song emperors and several empresses. This book examines the formation process of the Northern and Southern Song mausoleums and the principles followed in selecting their locations. It provides specialized research and summaries on the construction of imperial mausoleums, the development of the mausoleum system, funeral rituals, and temple buildings, as well as Shangdai stone carvings and anecdotes of the Song emperors. It is the most comprehensive and systematic study to date on the history and exploration of Southern Song mausoleums.