Xu Guangqi Tomb
The Tomb of Xu Guangqi & Guangqi Park
(West side of Caoxi Bei Road south of Xujiahui)
Phone: (021) 5383-2171
Hours: 7:00 AM - Dusk
Admission: Free
Nearest Public Transit: Xujiahui Station, Line 1
The tomb of Xu Guangqi is located in Guangqi Park, No.17, Nandan Road. It was declared as the state-class historic and cultural site under state protection by State Council in Jan. 1988.
Shanghainese Xu Guangqi, successfully held the posts of Minister of Rites, double as Secretary of the Grand Council of Dong Cabinet and Wenyuan Cabinet. During Emperor Chongzhen's reign in 1641, Xu Guangqi was buried in Xujiahui.
The former graveyard covers an area of 20 Mus, and there are 10 tombs in total. Xu Guangqi and his wife Wu were buried there, and the tombs of his four grandchild couples are besides him. Before the tombs are some steles, stone statues, ornamental pillars and other stonework. Tributes found at his tomb include “A man of great merit in civil and military, A senior assistor in the prosperous court, and A learned Confucian with ability to assist a king.” The praise was from the Crowned Prince at the time of Xu's death.
In 1978, the graveyard was opened up as the Nandan Park. In 1981, an ellipse big tomb was established in the northern part of the park. The tomb covers an area of 300 square meters, and is 2.2 meters high. The tombstone is engraved “The tomb of Xu Guangqi of the Ming Dynasty”, which was written by the famous mathematician Su Buqing. In 1983, the path facing to the tomb was rebuilt to a granite tomb platform with an area of 150 square meters, and a granite half-length statue of Xu Guangqi with his highest-ranking official robe was unveiled. Some dragon cypresses and evergreen trees are planted on the left and right of the tomb. In the east side of the tomb, there is a corridor of steles engraved by Xu’s scripts, which include parts of the scripts of Preface of Geometry Original Manuscript and Preface of Flower Classics and his Descent Testification. On the back of the corridor is engraved the Biography of Xu Guanqi written by Cha Jizuo who was a scholar from the end of Ming Dynasty to the beginning of Qing Dynasty, and also an engraved the portrait of Xu Guanqi copied by Cheng Shifa who is a famous painter today. In the west side of the tomb, there is a stone horse. Some stone stools encircle the tomb, and trees are everywhere. In Nov. 1983, in order to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the death of Xu Guangqi, Nandan Park was renamed “Guangqi Park”.
