The Tomb of Cui Fen, a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Site

Located on the southern slope of the Haifu Mountain in Yeyuan Town, Linqu County, Shandong Province, the Tomb of Cui Fen dates back to the Northern Qi Dynasty. In 2006, it was rated by the State Council as a national key cultural relic protection site.

According to the epitaph, Cui Fen (503-550 AD), with his courtesy name Bomao, was born in Dongwucheng, Qinghe Prefecture (now Wucheng County, Dezhou City). He was from the distinguished Cui's family in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the Last Year of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, he served as the Supervisor of the Commander-in-chief of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and the Liewei General, with military exploits. He passed away in the First Year of Tianbao Reign of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550 AD) at the age of 48, and was buried a year later (551 AD).

The Tomb of Cui Fen was discovered in April 1986 during the construction of a silk factory in the county. This south-facing tomb comprises of a tomb passage, a corridor and chambers. The inner walls of the tomb chambers and both sides of the corridor are decorated with sleekly-outlined and brightly-colored mural paintings. These mural paintings have a total area of over 20 square meters. Though more than 1,400 years have passed, the colors remain bright and clear.

The general layout of mural paintings consists of five parts, i.e. warriors, celestial bodies, the Guardian Deities of Four Directions, travel of the tomb's owner, and screens and figures, where the style of the latter two parts was apparently influenced by the Southern Dynasties.

The unearthed cultural relics include celadon jar with eight lugs, chicken-spout pot, Dou-shaped utensil, bowl, bronze mirror with pattern of divine beast, mud coin, etc.

The Cui's family from Qinghe Prefecture was a highly distinguished and influential family in China's history. The Tomb of Cui Fen epitomizes the System of Dominant Family during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties. Its mural paintings vividly reflect the north-south cultural fusion, and fill the gap of tomb murals of this period in China's art history. The tomb is very valuable for archeological, social and artistic research.