In the hills outside the old capital of Nanjing in southeastern China lies the ancient stone quarry of Yangshan.
Today, the quarry is hardly known even among locals living in Nanjing.
The base of the unfinished stele at Yangshan Quarry.
Yongle had become emperor in 1402 by staging a rebellion and deposing his nephew, Zhu Yunwen.
When Yongle invited Confucian scholar Fang Xiaoru and asked him to write an inaugural address, Fang flatly refused.
I am fine with ten!.
Yongle Emperor
Fang was granted his wish.
Altogether, some 870 people are said to have been executed.
Fang himself was cut in half at the waist.
In 1405, the Yongle Emperor ordered the cutting of a giant stele at the Yangshan Quarry.
Yongle wanted the memorial to his father to be the biggest in China.
If the stele had been finished and put together, it would have stood 73 meters tall.
After huge expense and unimaginable labor, the three parts were chiseled almost entirely free from the mountain.
It was installed at the Xiao Mausoleum in 1413.
The stele consist of a stone tortoise which supports a carved stone stele, crowned by intertwining hornless dragons.
The stele stands barely 9 meters tall, but its an impressive monument nonetheless.
The Shengong Shengde stele at the Xiao Mausoleum.
It was he who ordered the repairs of theGrand Canalthat connected northern and southern China.
The Yongle Emperor’s reign was marked by both remarkable achievements and severe brutality.
His contributions to Chinese infrastructure, culture, and global influence are undeniable.
On the top right of the image is visible the body and the crown of the stele.
Towards the bottom is the base.
Photo credit:Megalithic China
The body and the crown of the stele.
