Anqiu Dongjiazhuang Stone Relief Tomb in the Han Dynasty

Located inside the Anqiu Museum, the Anqiu Dongjiazhuang Stone Relief Tomb in the Han Dynasty is the largest Han Dynasty stone relief tomb ever discovered in Anqiu, Weifang City, Shandong Province. It is the tomb of Sun Song, the governor of Qingzhou. With rich patterns, complex composition, and diverse engraving techniques, the vivid reliefs present the pinnacle of the stone relief art of the Han Dynasty. With a north-south length of 14.3 meters and an east-west width of 7.91 meters, the south-facing tomb comprises of a tomb corridor, the front, middle and rear chambers, and two ear chambers. The whole tomb has 224 prefabricated stone parts, 103 of which are engraved with pictorial patterns. The door and the three major chambers of the tomb are full of relief patterns, with a total of 69 images and an area of 146 square meters. Diverse engraving skills are applied in a natural and affluent manner, such as bas-relief, high relief, openwork carving and intaglio engraving on concave surface, with a magnificent effect. The reliefs contain a great variety of themes, including the traditional myths like celestial bodies, Fuxi and Nyuwa (ancestors of humans), the Thunder God's travel, and immortal birds and beasts, the experiences and life of the tomb owner like traveling by horse or chariot, enjoying performance arts, and hunting in mountains and forests, and the historical stories like salvage of holy tripods from the Sishui River, and Confucius meeting Lao Tzu. In particular, the three stone pillars on the central axis of the tome chambers are full of high relief and openwork figures and immortal beasts from legends, thus known as the "rare artistic masterpiece of the Han Dynasty art".

Because of its sophisticated architectural structure, wide coverage of pictorial patterns and superb engraving skills, the Anqiu Dongjiazhuang Stone Relief Tomb in the Han Dynasty is famed as "the best stone engraving artwork and the pinnacle of Han Dynasty stone relief", which is a precious cultural relic for studying the politics, economy and culture of the dynasty. It boasts considerable historical, cultural and artistic value for the communities of history, cultural relics and art.