The Song Mausoleums in Zhengzhou，a glimpse into prosperous Song Dynasty

The Song Mausoleums was built in the in the 1st year of Qiande reign (963 AD), and had been operated for 164 years until the collapse of the Northern Song Dynasty in the 2nd year of Jingkang (1127 AD).

The imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty are the concentrated embodiment of the tomb system of the Song Dynasty, which provides a rare physical basis for the study of the history, tomb system, court system, hierarchy, economy, diplomacy and other aspects of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty are located in Gongyi City, Henan Province. Of the nine emperors in the Northern Song Dynasty, seven were buried in Gongyi, which is generally known as the "Seven Emperors and Eight Tombs".

Although the group of stone carvings has been destroyed and lost, there are still 941 pieces remained. These stone carving groups are the only extant stone carving groups in the Song Dynasty, which are the precious objects for the study of Song Dynasty sculpture art. In addition, there are many tablets in Song Tomb, which are written by famous people, also are precious materials of studying the calligraphy art in our country.

The imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty are not only a large and magnificent group of royal mausoleums, but also an open-air art museum. They are very precious material materials for the study of the laws and regulations of the Song Dynasty and the stone carving art.