Yao’s tomb is located west of Guocun Village and north of Laohe
River, about 35 kilometers northeast of the county town of Linfen,
Shanxi Province. It was built in memory of Yao, the leader of a
tribal alliance of patriarchal clan communes of the late primitive
society in China. Yao's surname was Tao Tang, so people call him
Tang Yao.
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History sees him as a sagacious leader. He is said to have
established a department to chart seasons and formulate a calendar.
He also consulted with leaders of other tribes and named Shun as
his successor. He observed Shun for three years, let him act as
regent at first and then handed over the crown to Shun. So "Yao's
Domination" and "Yao's Time" are used to give tribute to times of
prosperity and sagacious supreme rulers.
There are several locations for Yao's tomb recorded by different
historians and in various documents. One was said in Jizhou (one of
the country's nine territorial divisions in history of Yangtze, to
the south of the Yellow River), according to Wang Chong, Maoshan
Hill (according to Mo Tzu) and Puzhou (according to The Annals
of Local History). But a new commonly held is that Yao's tomb
is in Linfen, and people for many centuries have held memorial
ceremonies for him here.
Among hills is the tomb of Yao hills and the Laoshui River runs
to the south of the tomb. In front of the tomb are grand temples,
green pines and cypresses. According to inscriptions on a tablet
built in the second year of the Tai He Period of the Kin Dynasty
(1202), Emperor Li Shimin (599-649) of the Tang Dynasty once
arrived here on an expedition to the east. He paid homage to the
tomb and set up a temple in which his statue was installed. During
the Zhong Tong Period of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Taoist
priest Jiang Shall was ordered by the court to rebuild Yao's
mausoleum. History then saw its reconstruction and repair during
the Cheng Hua, Jia Jing period of the Ming Dynasty, and the Yong
Zheng and Qian Long periods of the Qing Dynasty.
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Inside the mausoleum are doors with single eaves, a memorial
archway, a devotion hall, a buttress hall, a bedroom hall, a tablet
pavilion and chambers. All these structures are well arranged with
red walls, green tiles and precise wood carvings. It is a
comparatively complete architectural complex of the Ming and Qing
dynasties.
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There are more than ten tablets with inscriptions about the
achievements of Tang Yao and the history of the mausoleum's
construction in the temple. There is a full drawing of Yao's
mausoleum in a tablet which is fully preserved from its
construction in the 18th year of the Jia Jing Period of the Ming
Dynasty (1539). Materials in the mausoleum are valuable historical
contributions to an understanding of China's architecture.