The Dongqian Lake Stone Carvings Group is located along the Guojiazhi to Tiantong highway on the north shore of Dongqian Lake in Yin County, Zhejiang Province. It was built around 1118 (the eighth year of Zhenghe in the Northern Song Dynasty) to around 1584 (the twelfth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty). Mainly refers to the ground stone carvings group on the burial pathways of the prominent Shi family in the Southern Song Dynasty and Yu Youding, the crown prince in the Ming Dynasty.
The tomb pathway stone carvings group of the prominent Shi family in the Southern Song Dynasty is a masterpiece of stone carving art integrating ancient philosophy, aesthetics, ecology and more. It includes the tomb pathway of Lady Ye, wife of the Duke of Jiguo, and the tomb pathway of Shi Zhao, the Duke of Yueguo and grand mentor in the Song Dynasty. These tomb pathways range from 50 meters to several hundred meters in length and are relatively intact at present. The stone carvings have moderate proportions, smooth lines and are vivid and lifelike.
Among the Yuan and Ming tomb pathways in the stone carvings group, the tomb pathway of Yu Youding, a junior guardian and concurrently grand tutor to the crown prince in the Ming Dynasty, is the core. His tomb pathway is 200 meters long and 25 meters wide. The whole set of stone carvings is majestic in momentum and exquisitely carved, which is relatively rare among the existing Ming tombs in China.
The tomb pathway stone carvings of the Southern Song Dynasty in the Dongqian Lake Stone Carvings Group have become a relatively large-scale, numerous and exquisitely carved relic of tomb pathway stone carvings in the Southern Song Dynasty of China, filling the gaps in the art history, cultural relics archaeology history and carving art history of the Southern Song Dynasty in China.The Yuan and Ming stone carvings part is an important physical object for researching Yuan and Ming official positions, clothing and headwear, carving, tombs and other contents.
