Yue Fei's Temple

Yue Fei's Tomb is situated at the southern foot of Qixia Hill. This tomb was built to commemorate Yu Fei who is a famous general in Southern Song and an outstanding national hero of China. In 1961, the State Council declared it as a major national protected monument.

Facing the lake with hills behind, Yue Fei's Temple looks towering and lofty. It is made up of three parts including the tomb grounds, Loyalty Garden and Devotion Garden. Yue Fei's statue in martial attire locates in the middle of Loyalty Garden. A plaque inscribed in “Recover Our Lost Territories” is hanged. The Devotion Garden used to be dedicated to Yue Fei's parents, wife and sons, now it serves as Yue Fei's memorial hall. Yue Fei's tomb grounds situates on the left side of Loyalty Garden. The tomb is built with rocks in a round shape. Beside it, there is the tomb of his son, Yue Yun. On the screen wall of the tomb grounds, four huge Chinese characters are carved: “Be Loyal to the Motherland” which is Yue Fei's life time motto. On both sides of the path leading to the tomb, there are stone horses, stone tigers, stone sheep and stone figures dating from the Ming Dynasty. Blow the stages of the path, there are four cast iron statues of the traitors: Qin Hui, the Prime Minster of Southern Song; Wang Shi, his wife; Moqi Xie, a court official and Zhang Jun, a general. All these four statues kneel down in pairs with their hands tied behind their back. A carving couplet is on the gate: “The green hill is fortunate to be the burial ground of a loyal general, the white iron was innocent to be cast into the statues of traitors.” In the southern and northern tablet corridors of the courtyard, there are 127 carving or steles including some poems by prominent personages throughout history to express their respect for the national hero and some Yu Fei's calligraphy.

Publishes at : 07-08-06 23:11

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