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Dongqian Lake in Ningbo, a port city in eastern Chinas coastal Zhejiang, is the largest freshwater water body in the province. The picturesque lake spreads against the shadow of distant hills. Whats unique about the lake is not the landscape, though. It boasts about 200 giant stone statues of human figures and animals. All of them are funeral objects meant as part of magnificent decorations for mausoleums. The tomb of Lady Shi, the wife of a high-profile family in the Southern Song Dynasty, has the largest quantities of stone statues around the lake area.

The spectacular statues are different from stone statues in Greek or terracotta warriors and horses in Xian, part of the underground army that supposedly guard the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC). All the statues at the lake are made of granite. They look vivid and spontaneous. Experts say that the millennium-old statues represent the highest level of ancient Chinas stone-carving art. In terms of artistic and archaeological value and importance, these stone statues around the lake can stand side by side with terracotta soldiers and horses in the north.

Lady Ye was a woman of the prominent Shi family of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). The Shi Family was unique because it produced altogether seventy-two cosmopolitan graduates, in the great central empire where scholars traditionally became officials through successful imperial examinations and administered state affairs in dynasties. Out of the seventy-two top scholars produced by the Shi Family were two grand dukes, three prime ministers, five ministers, in addition to numerous other high-ranking officials.

As most of the high-ranking officials from the Shi family were buried in hills around Dongqian Lake, there are altogether more than 200 stone statues scattered around fifty tombs. Most of them are seen in front of Lady Yes tomb.

The statues can be classified into three categories: warriors, scholar-administrators, and animals such as elephants, sheep, and tigers.

The magnificent human figures generally measure three meters in height and one meter in width. They weigh several tons each. The stone come from a local quarry and the texture feels fine. The animals usually stand one meter high and weigh one ton each. Some statues are carved out of one complete stone and some are composed of two parts: the head and the body. The connection was so smooth and seamless that you can hardly detect that they are actually not the one whole piece.

Each of the warriors wears a helmet and armors and holds a sword in the hands. All the warriors look awe-inspiring. A scholar-administrator wears a headgear and a long gown and holds a scepter in hands respectfully. All the scholar-administrators have delicate facial features. Horses, tigers and sheep are symbols of loyalty, filial piety and justice, important virtues for government officials.

Experts say that the fine stone statues are unique in the history of Chinese art, archaeology and stone-carving. Featuring a unique style of the Southern Song Dynasty, they serve as milestones in the history of stone sculpture in China.

In 1997 the stone statues were put under the provincial protection as cultural heritages. A Southern Song Dynasty Stone Sculpture Park was set up beside the tomb of Lady Ye. The park now is home to stone statues relocated there from other important tombs scattered around the Dongqian Lake. Some of these tombs have nothing to do with the Shi family, and two are the tombs of the ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

According to archaeologists, stone statues in front the tombs of royal houses trace back to the Spring and Autumn period and Han and Tang dynasties. They are found mostly in front of tombs of emperors and kings, dukes and military generals in the northern China. The statues around Dongqian Lake are the only stone statues from the Southern Song Dynasty. These statues, although displaying some artistic features of the northern China, show distinct southern characteristics.

It is noted that these statues have great impact on the stone-carving art in following dynasties such as Yuan, Ming, and Qing. For example, the stone statues in the Ming Mausoleum in Nanjing and thirteen Ming Mausoleums in Beijing carry clear features seen on the earlier statues around Dongqian Lake in Ningbo.

Even some important stone statues in Japan trace back to these statues. Ningbo was an important gateway city in the Southern Song Dynasty which ruled from todays Zhejiang Province. During that period of time, Japanese monks came to Zhejiang to study Chinese culture and brought what they had learned back to Japan. A few years ago, archaeologists and historians in China and Japan found hat some sutra pillars in some Japanese temples bear striking similarities to those found in Buddhist temples in Ningbo. Experts from Japan came to Ningbo to search the roots. The earliest roots they successfully traced are the tomb statues around the Dongqian Lake.□