Located in the west of Xingjiapu Village at the south foot of Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, the Shaoshi Watchtower are at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain, 6 kilometers away from the county seat.
The Shaoshi Watchtower was the tomb passage watchtower for the Shaoshi Mountain Temple in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). They were under construction approximately from the 5th year (118) of the Yuanchu reign to the 2nd year (123) of the Yanguang reign during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Together with the Taishi Watchtower and the Qimu Watchtower located here, they are collectively called as Three Watchtowers of the Han Dynasty in the Central Sacred Mountain.
Shaoshi Mountain is a part of the Songshan Mountain Range. It includes 36 peaks rising one after another and forming beautiful scenery. According to the historical record, Shaoshi Mountain was once the residence of the younger sister of the wife of Xia Yu (the Great Yu in the the Xia Dynasty), who was also said to be a concubine of Xia Yu. Therefore, the Shaoshi Temple is also widely known as the Shaoyi Temple (the Young Concubine Temple).
The Shaoshi Watchtower is well preserved. The east and west watchtowers are basically the same in terms of structure, facing each other with one in the east and the other in the west. The east watchtower is 3.37 meters in height and the west 3.75 meters. The distance between them is 6.75 meters. The body of the watchtower consists of two parts: the main watchtower and the subsidiary watchtower. The main watchtower was built by piling up rectangular stones, and putting carved huge square rocks on the roof. It is 3.96 meters in height and 1.82 meters in width. Representing the bounding wall, the subsidiary watchtower is 1.31 meters lower than the main one and the roof is in the shape of a half square. The east watchtower was carved with the name (the Shaoshi Tomb Passage Watchtower) of the watchtower in seal script on the front. On the west watchtower, most of the epigraph in the official script flaked off and is illegible. The surrounding walls of the watchtower were decorated with 60 colored pictures. The pictures depict traveling vehicles and horses, circus, taming elephants, the palace of the moon and animals. The circus picture is about two carved fine horses rising high into the air and speeding along. There is a girl in tights standing on her head on the saddle of the first horse and here hair is coiled up on both sides of her head. The lady on the second horse is tipping backward with her long sleeves unfolding and dancing with the wind. These expression techniques fully display the postures of the running horses and the breathtaking skills of the equestriennes. The carving tact in the Han Dynasty is very exaggerative, while the style is natural and elegant. These pictures are the magnum opus of carving art in the Han Dynasty.
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