Yemaotai Liao Dynasty Tombs

Yemaotai Liao Dynasty Tombs is situated in the northwest and north hills of Yemaotai village, Faku county. It is the family tombs of the ancient prime minister in Liao Dynasty, which was established by Khitan people. It was first discover in the year of 1974, since then, more than 20 tombs have been unearthed. It is of great importance for the study and research of Liao dynasty. In recent years, more and more tourist come here to get to know more about Liao history.



In the early period of Liao history, Khitan people didn’t like building tombs because they were nomadic people and always on the way. Even they had to build tomb, they rarely use coffin, this had become a burial custom of Khitan people. The 5 tombs unearthed in Yemaotai didn’t use coffin either, instead, it was made of bricks and wooden sticks to settle the body. However, after the middle age of Liao dynasty, coffin was begin to appear. Most of those were made from stone or wood, with delicate designs on it. Stone coffin were mostly used by notable family of Khitan people and it can be found in some of the tombs in Yemaotai tombs.



The tombs here have many forms such as octagonal-shaped stone grave, round stone grave, grave made from bricks, etc. Archaeologists unearthed a lot of precious antiques, epigraph and wall painting. The two silk painting unearthed from No.7 tomb, One is about the reclusive life in the mountains, with vivid sceneries, people playing chess, old man with walking stick, a world with leisure life; the other is about three sparrows and with two rabbits, a great picture of the nature. Together with colored-embroidery clothes and blanket, stone coffin with carvings, all play an important role in Liao archaeological history.



According to the distribution, location and landscape character of the tombs, there are three tourists spots in the area. First tourist spot is the tombs of the prime minister called Xiaoyi. Here you can experience the rich customs of Liao culture. The second one is called “Saint Relic Mountain Sight-seeing Spot”. There are 6 interesting folk stories behind the beautiful scenery of the mountain.

Holy Spring Pond is where the concubines of the prime minister took baths; Moon-watching platform is where the prime minister’s mother enjoyed the night view; Hunting Grounds is for the Emperor of Liao; Fun-water Lake is where the concubines sailed around. They even could think up a story for a rock, named it as the “Horse-riding Stone”, prime minister had to step on that stone every time he need to ride a horse. That sounds lame to me. The last one called “Golden Pony Cave”.



In the third tourist spot, tourists can get to experience some exciting stuff. There are Aerial Cableway and Skyway cable-car that travels from mountainside, offering the change to have fun and enjoy the great view at the same time.