The Tomb of Marshal Jiu 久元帅墓

A busy day in Xiaowengbie

In March I was taken to see the tomb of Marshal Jiu (1842–1870), who spent the whole of his short adult life battling the Chinese government as a veteran of both the Taiping and Miao uprisings. Jiu is buried at Xiaowengbie village, basically just a couple of houses grouped about an intersection in the hills above Kaitang town (凯堂乡小翁別寨). Although close to the road the tomb was almost completely overgrown with vegetation.

As there seems to be no mention of Jiu anywhere online, even in Chinese, thought I’d post the text of his gravestone and an accompanying tablet, just for the record.

The modern tablet reads:

Marshal Jiu (1842-1870), a Miao, surnamed Zhang, named Jiudiu (his Miao name), was from Kaishao Village, Kaitang Township, Kaili City. In the early years of Emperor Xianfeng, he went to Guangxi to work as a stonemason and participated in the Taiping Uprising. He became one of the leaders of the He Wang’s Army in Guangxi and became known as Marshal Jiu. Soon after, he returned to Guizhou and was elected as the leader of a Miao rebel force.

On October 15, the ninth year of Emperor Tongzhi (1870), Marshal Jiu was killed by the traitor Bai Dawu with a musket during a meeting and his body was sent back to his hometown by the rebel army for burial. His tomb is located on the hill behind Xiaowengbie village, Kaitang Township.

His nephew originally erected a monument in March of the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922). The monument was destroyed in the 1960s. On November 22, 1988 [it says 1989 on the tombstone], his fourth-generation grandson restored the tomb and re-erected the monument. The tombstone is 77 cm wide and 135 cm high. The tomb is 3.5 meters wide and 5.5 meters long. It faces northeast. The tomb has material value for studying the peasant uprising in Kaili during the Qing Dynasty.

Tombstone from the 1980s

His tombstone reads:

Zhang was born during the hour of the tiger [3–5am] on September 15, the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang, in Guanyin Mountain district, and became known as Xiao Wengsun. He went to Guangxi at the age of ten, became a marshal in the He Wang’s Army at the age of fifteen, returned to his hometown to fight the Qing Dynasty at the age of sixteen, and was assassinated by a traitor on October 15, the ninth year of Tongzhi. He died at the age of twenty-nine.

Apologies if I’ve got the original Chinese wrong:

久元帅墓, 久元帅 (1842-1870)、苗族、姓张、名久丢 (苗名), 凯里市凯棠乡凯哨村人。咸丰初年到广西做石工、参加农民起义。 成为广西贺王军首领之一, 得名九元帅。不久返多, 被推举为苗族义军首领。同治九年 (1870) 十月十五日、久元帅在开会时被奸细白大武用火枪杀害, 遗体被义军送回故乡安葬。其墓位于凯堂乡小翁別寨背后岭岗上。民国11年(1922) 3月, 其侄孙曾立言碑。20世纪60年代碑被毁坏。1988年11月22日其嫡系四代孙又塞土, 重立碑。碑宽77厘米, 高135厘米。墓宽3.5米, 长5.5米。面向东北。该墓对研究凯里市清代农民起义具有实物价值。保护范围:东、南分别至山路, 西至公路, 北至拜台延伸1米。建控范围:保护红线向四周分别延伸5米。

张公乆条 道光二十二年九月十五日寅时生 观音山， 后回小翁孙。十岁赴广西， 十五岁任贺王军元帅，十六岁回乡打清，同治九年十月十五日西时被内奸暗害干㕜定，終年二十九岁。