Tomb of Cangjie

Tomb of Cangjie

Cangjie tomb is located in the northwest corner of guwangji village, 12 kilometers northwest of Yucheng County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province. It is said that Cangjie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor and the originator of writing, was buried here after his death.

geographical position

Cangjie tomb is located 18 kilometers northwest of Yucheng County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province.

Historical evolution

According to Yucheng County annals revised in 1991, Cangjie's tomb is located in the west of guduipo village, guwangji Township, northwest of the county, where Cangjie primary school is now. There is a temple in front of the tomb, which covers an area of about 4000 square meters. The tomb is 3 meters high and 45 meters long. The official script of the tombstone: "Cangjie ancient tomb" is a key cultural relic to be protected in the county. The temple was built in the early Han Dynasty and expanded in the Tang Dynasty. There is a statue of Cangjie in the hall, which was later abandoned. In the ninth year of Kangxi (1670), a hall was rebuilt and a holy statue with characters was made. Several cypresses are planted in front of and on both sides of the hall, and two of them exist today. Ancestral halls and courtyards have become primary schools.

After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the tomb of Cangjie was designated as a key protected cultural relic at the county level by the people's Government of Yucheng County.

In 1978 and 1984, the archaeological team made two explorations on Cangjie's tomb, and found pottery pieces of Han Dynasty, such as checkered pattern, blue pattern, rope pattern, additional slope pattern, polished pottery pieces, lime soil, clam shell, etc., which were identified as the Longshan cultural site more than 4000 years ago.

In 1990, Tang Bingren, a native of Liaoning Province, set up a stone tablet of "Tomb of gucangjie". According to the original inscriptions, "there are chrysanthemums around the tomb, and the fragrance can be filled with tea.". Therefore, chrysanthemum is called tea chrysanthemum. The flower is light yellow and looks like copper coin. It can be used as tea and medicine to improve eyesight. Unfortunately, such a precious Cangjie chrysanthemum is almost extinct.

In July 2002, Cangjie tomb was designated as a cultural relic protection unit in Shangqiu City.

Documentation

"Chan Tong Ji" records: "Cangjie lived in Yangwu and buried in Lixiang.".

According to Yucheng County annals, "Cangjie was buried in the pavilion of Lixiang, my town."

According to song Zhou's political records, there is a tomb of Cangjie in Yucheng County

architectural composition

The tomb of Cangjie in Yucheng County of Shangqiu City is 3 meters high and 45 meters long. The inscription of the tombstone is "ancient tomb of Cangjie". There are more than 10 cypress trees planted around, and a circle of brick walls (abandoned before the founding of new China). It is impossible to know when the tomb of Cangjie was first built.

In front of Cangjie's tomb, there is a hall with luxuriant ancient cypresses. It is Cangjie's ancestral hall, covering an area of about 4000 square meters. It was built in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago, expanded in the Tang Dynasty, and then abandoned and built again and again. In the middle of the ridge of the hall stands the brick with the character "rebuilt in the ninth year of Kangxi". Inside the hall is a statue of Cangjie with four eyes. The main hall is a three room building with a height of 0.6 meters. On both sides of the hall door, there are wooden carvings decorated with couplets of "the ancestor of the world's articles, ancient and modern calligraphers". The base beam is inlaid with sandalwood, and the top is buckled with eight bricks. There is a clay statue of Cangjie with four eyes in a two meter high shrine near the back wall of the main hall. In the early 1950s, it was regarded as a superstition to be broken, and after a long period of wind and rain erosion, the main hall became a dangerous house. Today's Cangjie hall was rebuilt by the masses and cadres of nearby villages at the initiative of retired cadres such as Zhao Futian, Zheng Shuhua and Ge Mingliang. The ancestral hall is in the shape of "convex" and is now occupied by Cangjie primary school. The two cypress trees in front of the hall are vigorous and straight, and still green and luxuriant. The two ancient cypresses in Cangjie are Han cypresses, or Sabina chinensis, which has a history of more than 300 years.

Cultural legend

During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was on a tour with his disciples. When he passed by Cangjie cemetery in Yucheng County, he saw a naked skull in his arms and knelt down to cry. The disciples were puzzled. When he was sad, Confucius explained to his disciples that the skull he was holding in his arms had four eyes on it. It was not Cangjie, the originator of word making, but who would it be. So Confucius ordered his disciples to dig a pit to build a tomb and bury Cangjie's body again.

Sacrifice for later generations

In the Han Dynasty, local people in Yucheng built ancestral temples and planted trees in front of Cangjie's tomb to commemorate him. They held sacrifices in spring and autumn every year, and incense kept burning throughout the ages until today. In order to make their children intelligent and successful in their studies, local people still go to Cangjie temple to burn incense and pray.

Tourism information

Address: 020 County Road, Liangyuan District, Shangqiu City

Longitude: 115.71430856885

Latitude: 34.512893275922

Chinese PinYin : Cang Jie Mu