Mount Mangdang, Historic mountain summit in Yongcheng, China.
Mount Mangdang is a hill of 156.8 meters in Yongcheng, Henan, made up of more than ten peaks including Bao'an, Xi, Fuzi, Tiejiao, Huangtu and Zhou hills. Its slopes hold the tombs of the Han dynasty Kings of Liang, cut into the rock, and the shrine commemorating Liu Bang's slaying of the white serpent.
Chen Sheng, leader of the first rebellion against the Qin, was buried at the foot of the main peak, where his tomb and a stele inscribed by Guo Moruo stand. In 210 BC Liu Bang, the future Emperor Gaozu of Han, began his revolt here by slaying a white serpent. A shrine to him was built under Emperor Wen and rebuilt over the centuries; the present buildings date from the Qing dynasty.
The Liang kings' tombs were cut into the rock of Baoshan, and the tomb of King Xiao of Liang is entered through a 37.7-metre open-air east corridor sealed with some 3,000 stone blocks, each weighing 1,000 to 2,000 kg and carved with numbers, dimensions and the names of the masons. The murals of the Sishen Yunqi Tu, showing the tomb owner riding a dragon to heaven, were removed to the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou.
The mountain is accessible from the nearby city of Yongcheng and has designated parking facilities for visitors. Marked trails guide people toward the main viewpoints and observation areas across the slopes.
Cao Cao created the offices of Mojin Xiaowei and Faqiu Zhonglangjiang to fund his army by looting the Liang tombs at Mount Mangdang; the sources record that he took 72 boatloads of treasure. The tomb of King Xiao of Liang was sealed with nearly 3,000 stone blocks, each weighing 1,000 to 2,000 kg.
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