Haikou >> Tomb of Hai Rui

Attraction Typ: Historic Site

Location: City Centre - Central

Recommend: 4 Star

Tomb of Hai Rui

Tomb of Hai Rui was built to represent people's esteem towards Hai Rui, an upright and uncorrupted official.

Tomb of Hai Rui (Chinese: 海瑞墓; pinyin: Hǎiruìmù) was originally built in 1589 during the Ming Dynasty to represent people's esteem towards Hai Rui, an upright and uncorrupted official.

It is located in the western outskirts of Haikou City, 5 kilometers away from the city center. The Tomb of Hai Rui is a key site under state protection and rated as the Key Cultural Relic Preservation of Hainan Province, today some of the constructions in the tomb garden remain intact.

Hai Rui, born in Qiongshan, Hainan Province, was a famous official in the Ming Dynasty. He is famed as a statesman for his honesty and performance of his duty as well as his clean life. His integrity also gained people's recognition, so that he was usually called "Just Judge" and "Baogong in the South".

When Hai Rui was died, on the day they buried him, all the people ceased their own matters to attend the funeral, crying and grieving. When the coffin was carried to the very spot where the present tomb is situated, the rope of the coffin broke and people believed this was the place that Hai Rui chose for himself. Thus the tomb was built on that spot.

The Tomb of Hai Rui is very simple but grandeur. The road to the tomb is made of granites. On each side of the tomb road, there are stone men, stone sheep, stone horses, stone lions, stone turtles and other stone carvings. There is an exhibition hall nearby in which are some related historical relics about Hai Rui's life. Green grasses and flourish coco, pine and bamboo are surrounding the tomb and make it quiet and cool.