Before Yue Fei’s tomb, a group of figures kneels. The posture is part of the story the memorial tells: honour given to Yue Fei is answered by blame placed on those associated with his downfall.
Qin Hui was a senior minister of the Southern Song. Remembered for his role in the accusations against Yue Fei, he appears in the group with his wife Lady Wang, Zhang Jun and Moqi Xie.
A judgement given a shape
The kneeling figures were made by later generations and have been recast and replaced over time. Through those changes, their arrangement has kept the two names facing one another in public memory.
A hall raises one figure to a place of honour; a low posture places another at the other end of the story. Architecture, inscription and sculpture work together here. The memorial gives a long-told history a form that can be understood in a glance.