This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
Shen Congwen's cemetery is a uniquely styled grave. It faces the clear and bright Tuo River in front and is backed by the beautiful Tingtao Mountain, with birdsong and flowers in all seasons and picturesque scenery.
From the Rainbow Bridge outside the East Gate Tower of the ancient city, go downstream along the river for 3 li to reach Tingtao Mountain. Turning right from the mountain path and climbing the steps, before long one can see a stone tablet inscribed with five vigorous large characters: "Shen Congwen Cemetery." A little farther on stands a vertical stone tablet engraved with an inscription written by the painter Huang Yongyu for his uncle Shen Congwen: "A soldier either dies on the battlefield or returns to his hometown." The cemetery is built on a narrow strip of small lawn. There is no grave mound, only a natural multicolored stone weighing more than 6 tons, which has become the unique marker of Shen Congwen's grave. On the front of the stone is engraved Shen Congwen's philosophically rich handwriting: "Think as I do, and you can understand me; think as I do, and you can know people." On the back is a elegiac couplet composed and written by Shen Congwen's sister-in-law, Zhang Chonghe, professor at Yale University in the United States, and engraved by Professor Liu Huansu, famous sculptor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and husband of Shen Congwen's niece: "Unbending and uncompromising, his writings are like stars; both kind and yielding, he was a man of pure heart." The last four characters of the couplet, "Congwen yields to others," reveal the gentleman's noble character throughout his life. Shen Congwen's cemetery is quiet and serene, surrounded by green trees, and on the cemetery and the surrounding lawns are placed countless wildflowers and some bamboo-woven butterflies, all left by travelers who come to pay homage.
Mr. Shen Congwen was a famous Chinese writer, historian, and archaeologist. He was a native of Fenghuang County, born on December 28, 1902, and died of illness in Beijing on May 10, 1988, at the age of 86.
During his lifetime, Mr. Shen wrote 5 million words of works and articles. Border Town, Long River, and Autobiography of Congwen are his representative works. In his later years, his monograph Studies of Ancient Chinese Clothing filled a blank page in the history of Chinese material culture. Mr. Shen went from Fenghuang to the world literary stage and won honor for his hometown and his people.
The site of Shen Congwen's cemetery was formerly a place for literati and poets to relax and sightsee in Fenghuang. Also known as "Dumu Garden," it was a garden built by Tian Xingxu, a Miao native of Fenghuang who once served as an imperial commissioner and Yunnan-Guizhou military commander in the Qing dynasty, to honor his mother, Mrs. Du. The ancient stone road leading to the garden is a relic of the Ming and Qing dynasties and was then the only route from Fenghuang Ancient City to "go east to Chenyuan and west to Guizhou and Sichuan," anciently called the "official road." In the 17th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty (AD 1837), Governor-General of Huguang Lin Zexu once came from here to inspect Fenghuang.
In November 1911, after learning of the success of the Xinhai Revolution in Fenghuang, President Li Yuanhong of the Republic of China gladly wrote four large characters, "Xingfei Zhouzhi," which were engraved on the cliff stone wall here. After Mr. Shen's death, at the request of the people of his hometown, Mrs. Shen, Zhang Zhaohe, respecting Mr. Shen's last wish, buried his ashes here on the memorial day four years after his death, that is, May 10, 1992.
