In terms of type, the tombs of the Southern Dynasties can be divided into two categories: imperial tombs and tombs of princes and nobles.
There are many stone carvings in front of the imperial mausoleums. Among them, the mausoleum built by Emperor Xiao Shunzhi of Liang Wen is the most preserved. There are four kinds of eight pieces (symmetrical): a pair of stone beasts, a pair of Shinto stone pillars, and a stone tablet. A pair, a pair of remaining square stone foundations between the stone beast and the Shinto stone pillar. The structure on the stone foundation has been lost. Most of the stone carvings in front of the imperial tombs only have a pair of stone animals, and a few have only one stone animal. The stone beasts in front of the emperor's mausoleum have similar images. Their names are not lions, but Qilin, Tianlu or ward off evil spirits. These stone beasts in front of the imperial tombs of the Southern Dynasties can be regarded as immortal works in the history of Chinese sculpture art. They are huge in shape, extraordinary in momentum, exquisite in carving, exaggerated in shape, and natural and vivid. The value of these carvings is that they have shed the rigidity and clumsiness of the stone carvings of the Han Dynasty and captured the typical characteristics of the images, such as some with their heads hanging down, some crouching with their hair down, some lifting their heels as if leaping, and some If it moves or stops, it is extremely vivid. These images have not been influenced by foreign art (such as Buddhist sculptures), and they still belong to the purity of ancient Chinese sculpture art.
In this large area of ??land, there are also eighteen tombs of princes and nobles that are relatively well-done. Among them, the tomb of Xiao Xiu of King Ancheng of the Liang Dynasty is the most completely preserved, with eight pieces of three types, namely a pair of stone lions (the stone beasts in front of this tomb are stone lions, which are different from the imperial mausoleum), a pair of Shinto stone pillars, and two pairs of stone tablets. .
The tomb tables (also called Shinto stone pillars) of the imperial tombs of the Southern Dynasties are very sophisticated and rich in content. The overall image of the tomb surface is cylindrical, which can be divided into upper, middle and lower parts. The lower pillar base is engraved with two chisels, both holding beads in their mouths. Their heads have double horns and their long tails intersect, crouching opposite each other in a ring. The middle part is the column body. The surface of the column is decorated with twenty-four bamboo tube patterns. There is a rectangular stone forehead on it, and the words on the forehead are the inscriptions. There are reliefs such as dragons, ropes, and strong men carved on the top and bottom of the stone forehead. The upper part is a round cover in the shape of a raised lotus, on which a small person squats to ward off evil spirits. The image of the entire tomb is tall and beautiful, and full of commemoration.
The imperial tombs of the Southern Dynasties and the tombs of princes and nobles pay great attention to Feng Shui, which is called "looking forward to Qi". The site selection should be "backed by the mountain peaks and facing the plains". Feng Shui is also called the art of Kanyu and the art of Qingwu. It originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Judging from the topography and location of these tombs, they are basically consistent with this theory.