My Hangzhou Stories：Yue Fei’s Tomb in Dwelling Sunglow

Hi, I'm Marlon. I'm from the Netherlands. I'm a teacher. I've been in Hangzhou for about eight years. Let me introduce you to UEFA's tomb in the Dwelling Sunglow. For Chinese people, UEFA is a heroic name in history. He was a great military general and a very gifted writer. Of all his memorials across China, the Yuewang Temple in the city of Hangzhou draws most attention. Now, aged at 801 years old, it's the country's largest tomb and memorial complex for the general. Both history books and archaeological findings prove that UEFA was buried at the foot of Qixia Ridge close to Westlake. UEFA was born into an average peasant family in Tangyin County, Henan Province, in 1103. He later became a man of great power and was able to pick up a 150-kilogram crossbow before he was 20 years old. When he was still very young, the troops of Zhequan Jin Dynasty invaded the Song, his homeland. UEFA's mother pushed him to join the army. Before leaving, she tattooed four characters, 金忠保国, or serve country with loyalty, on his back to remind him of his country's great shame. UEFA soon became the commander of an invincible land army. He led a troop widely called General Yue's Army fighting against the invaders. Imperial court, however, preferred surrender. Into the threshold of the 12th century, as UEFA won some big victories, the court picked up its pace of begging for peace agreements. Emperor Zhaoguo feared if his army won, he would lose his throne as his elder brother was set free. UEFA received 12 edicts in one day, being ordered to withdraw his troops. Meanwhile, the emperor asked his minister, Qin Hui, On the New Year's Eve in 1142, UEFA was killed in prison, together with his eldest son, Yue Yun. The general was only 39 years old, and his son 23 years old when they died. It was not until 20 years later that UEFA was rehabilitated and posthumously named King of Erwang by the next emperor. His corpse was found and buried at the foot of Qixia Ridge, northwest of the West Lake. A temple was then built in 1221 by his tomb in recognition of the general's merits by the court ruling. The buildings have survived long years. Today's complex is in fact a rebuilt one in line with the fashion back to the Qing Dynasty. It has two parts, the temple and the tomb. Into the main hall sits the statue of General Yue Fei, 4.75 meters high, and over the head, a plaque of his own handwriting, which means, Get my homeland back! This is the general's lifelong goal. There is a withered cypress tree standing by the pavilion in the west side courtyard. Legend has it that the tree was actually relocated from the court of Xiao Zhiqiao. As Yue was killed, the tree also died. It was later moved to the temple site and named Cypress of Loyalty. Not far away from the cypress, there are plain-looking tombs. The one with the tombstone in the middle is for General Yue Fei, and the one aside is for his son. The screen wall of the tomb structure also bears the four characters and flanking the tomb path, there are century-old stone figurines, horses, tigers, and sheep. On both sides of the back of the tombs, there are four iron statues, all on the knees and with both hands tied behind their backs. They are Qin Hui, Zhang Jun, and other two accomplices that murdered the general. As Yue Fei and his son were killed in Fengbo Pavilion, some guards admiring the general stole their corpses and found a place to bury them. It was not until he was rehabilitated that the body remains were reburied in Qixia Ridge, making it a sacred place to remember the hero. Therefore, other tombs of Yue Fei across China may contain only his clothing and weapons, but the one in Hangzhou has his body. Yue Fei's tomb was named by the State Council as a State Cultural Site in 1961. The ridge is named Qixia for the wealth of peach blossoms in springtime, which looks like that the ridge is drenched with rosy clouds. The little path to the ridge is also named Qixia. It is only 500 meters long, but along the path, there are several cultural sites and attractions like temples, memorials, and caves. The residence of Qixia Ridge is the former residence of Huang Binghong, a master of traditional Chinese painting. In the autumn of 1948, Pan Qianshou, the president of the Chinese Academy of Art, invited Huang to work as a professor of Chinese painting in the school. Huang came with his family from Beijing and took the ridge home, where he lived a restful life. He once said to his friend that the seven years he spent in Qixia Ridge was the most memorable part of his life, and it was the same period that he came to the final stage of his evolutionary painting style, showing the world in simply more black and less white. Huang's former residence is a brick and wood structure in Western style. At the center of the courtyard stands a marble statue of Huang Binghong, while everything he used for painting has still remained intact inside his studio. Outside, through a window, in front of his painting desk, there is the lush green of Qixia Ridge, a beautiful scene that surely inspired a lot of the great painting works back then. Yue Fei's temple now nestles by the Qixia Ridge, sitting north of the Siu Causeway. The stunning site of Yue Fei's tomb, drenched in a spectacular sunset, is therefore named Yue Mu Qixia, which literally means Yue Fei's tomb in dwelling sunglow. The general's heroic deeds and righteousness made himself a legend in history. The Rolling Hills have fortunately become a place to keep heroes' remains, as the saying goes. The West Lake is renowned not only for its breathtaking views and cultural heritages, it is also proud of national heroes like Yue Fei, who devoted his life to saving his country and people.