The tomb of Chiang’s mother Wang Caiyu is located in the green mountains and jungles. The tomb of Chiang’s mother is very grand. It includes group buildings such as "Stone Archway", "Xia Jiao Pavilion", "Tomb House", "Octagonal Pavilion", "Tomb" and "Pebble Road". The "Stone Archway" has three door openings, and the middle door is engraved with "Pathway to Chiang's Mother's Tomb". There are two side doors on the left and right. From here to the tomb, it is collectively called the "Tomb Path of Chiang's Mother".
The stone archway is located at the entrance of the tomb passage, with four pillars and three doors: the middle door, the left door and the right door (the middle door is 3.7 meters wide, and the left and right doors are each 2.1 meters wide). There are Taoist reliefs on the square pillars such as flowers, Hehexian and longevity stars. The four-character "pathway to Chiang's mother's tomb" is written by Sun Yat-sen. The sedan pavilion built across the road looks like a Taoist priest's hat or an ancient scholar's square scarf hat from a distance, and is used for resting. There are tall and straight pines and cypresses planted on both sides of the road, making it a spectacular sight. When Chiang Kai-shek and his descendants came to pay homage, they walked to the cemetery in a sedan chair underground. Chiang's descendants and close friends followed suit to show their respect. Over time, the local people called the pavilion "Xia Jiao Pavilion". The ticket booth is newly built with cornices and raised corners. On the pavilion is a four-character plaque inscribed by Sun Yiqing, the current president of the Chinese Poetry Society. The couplet hanging on both sides, "Weizitong Guanyong style ceremony, Shudehoufuke enjoys the age" was written by Li Zongren. The Octagonal Pavilion, also known as the Filial Son Pavilion, was built by Chiang Kai-shek in the middle of the long tomb passage in consideration of the difficulty of walking for his little-footed old mother under Jiuquan. The purpose was to let the dead soul of his mother rest and fulfill his filial piety. Villagers are accustomed to calling it "Filial Son Pavilion".
Ci'an was first built in 1923, the 60th birthday of Chiang's mother. It is located on a hill about 160 meters away from the cemetery. It has three new-style bungalows (it was renovated in 1930 and has five main rooms). , with six attached rooms), where Chiang Kai-shek often lived when he visited his tomb. Chiang Kai-shek said that he would always live next to his loving mother's tomb throughout his life, so he often chose this place to live when he returned to Xikou to show that he would not forget his mother's kindness and guard the cemetery. This place is also named Ci'an (local people generally call it a cemetery or a tomb) in order to commemorate a loving mother. A two-room suite on the left side of Ci'an is where Chiang Kai-shek often stayed when he returned to his hometown to visit his tomb or go to the countryside to rest. After the Xi'an Incident, he stayed here for more than 110 days, which was the longest stay. He also lived here for a long time after he went to the countryside for the third time in 1949. . The two rooms on the right are for entertaining relatives and friends, and the attached room is where the tomb-keepers live and cook and eat. There is a portrait of Wang Caiyu hanging in the middle hall of the main room. The two walls are inlaid with the "Essay on Crying the Mother" written by Chiang Kai-shek and the "Essay on Condolences to Commander-in-Chief Chiang" written by the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. "Crying Mother" expresses Chiang Kai-shek's deep feelings for his mother Wang Caiyu, and also reveals the inside story of brotherly discord and family conflicts. "Condolences to Commander-in-Chief Chiang" reflects the intrigues and conflicts within the new warlords of the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek's role in the struggle. In the middle is a stone tablet engraved with Sun Yat-sen's handwritten "Essences in Commemoration of Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek", which describes the relationship between Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen's high opinion of Chiang's mother; the "A Brief History of Mrs. Wang Taifu" published in the back of the stele records the life of Wang Caiyu and Chiang Kai-shek's childhood. naughty. In addition to its commemorative significance, the monument in the middle is like a screen wall in the courtyard, which blocks the space and shields the main hall, adding a sense of layering and momentum to the building.
After leaving Ci'an and climbing hundreds of steps, you will reach the tomb of Chiang's mother. It is said that in order to select a suitable cemetery, Chiang Kai-shek spent a lot of money to recruit famous Feng Shui masters from Shanghai, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places to come to Xikou to choose a site, and finally chose Yulin'ao on Baiyan Mountain. From a bird's-eye view of Wuling, the entire Yulin'ao mountain looks like Maitreya Buddha meditating; looking up from the "Maitreya Buddha's belly", the mountains to the east look like the No. 1 scholar pulling a horse to watch a list; overlooking the mountain, you can see the Sanrong Village of Xikou Town with smoke curling up. The smoke from rural earthen stoves is like an endless stream of three sticks of green incense, and incense is burned every day without interruption. With the development of society and economy, rural areas are now connected as a whole, and gas stoves have also replaced earthen stoves that use firewood. From then on, The death of the smoke and incense has become a permanent regret - more coincidentally, this place is far away from the cemetery of Chiang Kai-shek's father, which not only fulfilled Chiang Kai-shek's mother's last wish to be buried separately after her death, but also satisfied Chiang Kai-shek's fear that his mother would be buried here. The worry of unbearable loneliness.