Features of Huo Qubing’s Tomb

The bottom of Huo Qubing’s tomb is 105 meters long from north to south and 73 meters wide from east to west. The top is 15 meters long from north to south, 8 meters wide from east to west, and the tomb is about 25 meters high. There are 16 existing stone carvings in front of the tomb, which are the earliest existing physical materials of stone elephants in my country. There are 14 identifiable stone elephants, 3 of which are carved with two shapes each, totaling 17 living creatures and 12 different types of objects. There are weird people, monsters eating sheep, crouching cows, humans hugging beasts, crouching pigs, prancing horses, "horses trampling on Huns", crouching horses, crouching tigers, crouching elephants, short-mouthed fish, long-mouthed fish, otter, bat, and Zuo Sikong. Carved stone and plain carved stone. The stone carvings are based on the shape of the stone, with slight carvings. The technique is concise, the personality is outstanding, and the style is rich. They are the earliest and best-preserved large-scale stone carving art treasures in China. Among them, "Horse Trampling the Huns" is the main image of the stone carving in front of the tomb. It is 1.9 meters long and 1.68 meters high. It is carved from gray-white fine sandstone. The stone horse stands with its head held high, its tail long dragging the ground, and the carving holding a bow, arrow, dagger and long beard under its belly is struggling on its back. The image of the Huns is the most representative monumental work. This group of stone carvings are all carved from a single piece of stone using the techniques of line carving, round carving and relief carving. The selection of materials and carving techniques are coordinated with the body shape, some focus on form, some highlight expression, and have both form and spirit. The beasts are shown to be ferocious, the horses are shown to leap forward and stare ahead, and the ox and elephant are shown to be docile, with different expressions. It can be inferred from the inscriptions and stone carvings that these stone carvings must have been supervised by Shaofu Zuo Sikong. Stone carvings such as stone figures, stone horses, stone elephants, and stone tigers are arranged in front of the tomb, which had a profound influence on the stone carvings of subsequent Chinese mausoleums and has been inherited by the art of stone carvings in all mausoleums since the Han Dynasty.

The original total number of stone carvings on Huo Qubing’s tomb is unknown. Some were turned upside down and some were buried due to earthquakes during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Before 1949, 9 pieces were originally placed in front of the tomb, and 7 were newly discovered in 1957.