--- title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Harvesting history in fields of stone description: Harvesting history in fields of stone canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-17T17:32:20.918Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-17T17:22:32.109Z og:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Harvesting history in fields of stone og:description: Harvesting history in fields of stone og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ae7de82f2191271/6a83422f21d985d839c496af/2._Harvesting_history_in_fields_of_stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Harvesting history in fields of stone twitter:description: Harvesting history in fields of stone twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ae7de82f2191271/6a83422f21d985d839c496af/2._Harvesting_history_in_fields_of_stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harvesting history in fields of stone  _Farmers work in a summer wheat field in Gongyi, Henan province, with Song Mausoleum figures nearby. WANG XIANGYANG / FOR CHINA DAILY_ By SHI BAOYIN, QI XIN and SHAN JUAN As 51-year-old Bai Suli walked around the perimeter of Yongtai Mausoleum, her eyes carefully scanned the imposing stone statues. She has been protecting the site — one of the Northern Song Mausoleums in Gongyi, Henan province — for 18 years. Unlike the imperial tomb complexes of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, many of the mausoleums from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) stand in harmony with the surrounding farmland. Striking stone figures of officials, mythical creatures and animals form silent, eerie-looking rows against a backdrop of shimmering fields and distant hills. This summer the Northern Song Mausoleums were celebrated online as the “guardians of the wheat fields,” with the statues gaining widespread popularity on social media. Local authorities, experts and village leaders have to carefully balance tasks relating to preservation of the relics and tourism. The open-air stone statues need to be protected and safeguarded and villagers’ incomes maintained. Digital technology also plays an important role in stopping permanent erosion of the stone relics, while also helping make them accessible for modern tourists. The Song Mausoleums are a nationally protected cultural site. The elaborate stone sculptures reflect the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty, an era that saw major advances in movable-type printing, the compass and gunpowder, according to Zhu Xingli, director of Gongyi’s cultural relics bureau. What makes these relics valuable is the complete ancient imperial tomb layout designed for royal funeral ceremonies, Zhu said. Stone pillars, stone lions, stone elephants and giant statues line the central axis, following a full ancient imperial funeral format. “Our best protection is to let these stones stay rooted where they have stood for 1,000 years, rather than moving them away,” Zhu said. To protect the relics, the local government follows the “minimum intervention” rule. In order to prevent human damage and theft, the cultural relic authority has established 11 protection posts with 96 full-time guardians. The guardians take turns keeping watch 24 hours a day, supported by security cameras. A major land regulation project placed about 520 acres of farmland at the center of the mausoleum zone. Farm machinery is required to stay at least 6.6 feet away from all stone statues, Zhu said, and agricultural workers must use manual tools rather than large farm vehicles near relics to avoid hitting them. Thanks to these protection initiatives, visitors can enjoy the unique view all year round, such as when the monuments are surrounded by green wheat, sorghum and rapeseed flowers. Since 2025, Gongyi has cooperated with Fudan University, Lanzhou University, Zhengzhou University and other academic institutions to conduct comprehensive 3D digital archiving and physical performance testing of the relics, Zhu said. “High-precision scanning technology captures all subtle features of the stone carvings, including facial textures, garment folds, micro cracks and delicate carved ornaments,” he said. Full digital modeling has been completed for Yongding Mausoleum, one of the Song Mausoleums, and some scattered stone statues. Permanent digital replicas are stored on cloud platforms, with the original stone monuments preserved in their original locations, Zhu added. Protecting the stone relics is not only about maintaining the physical statues, but also about sharing their rich history and stories with visitors. Guides undergo training to learn how to clearly explain to visitors the royal rituals and burial customs at the sites. Wang Junzhen, one of the tour guides, said the biggest benefit from the training is grasping the essence of successful cultural communication. She said she has learned how to make ancient Song Mausoleum culture come alive for modern audiences. “As more people pay attention to cultural relics, the Song Mausoleums’ historical records and vivid stories have won greater popularity,” Wang said. She said she has noticed that foreign tourists are particularly interested in heritage sites like the Song Mausoleums. Bai has witnessed great changes at the site. It used to be divided into separate private farm plots full of weeds and rubbish. After becoming a cultural heritage area, the statues are now surrounded by vast wheat fields in summer. The local government launched the land consolidation project in 2021, following multiple rounds of communication with villagers. Fortunately, most residents supported the plan. Baling village in Gongyi was chosen as the pilot village for mausoleum land consolidation. Cao Xianghui, a village official, said different mausoleum areas develop in different ways. For example, some lie in the city area, while others sit in open farmland. Some residents now work as tour guides, homestay hosts and _hanfu_ experience staff. This creates a stable rural economy that balances farming, villagers’ income, relic protection and cultural tourism. “For people living in Baling village, these stone statues are not cold museum exhibits, but old companions they have known their whole lives,” Cao said. There are plans to build more support facilities including parking lots, public restrooms, and cultural service areas to improve tourism services, he added. [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. With a combined print, online and mobile readership of more than 470 million, it serves a vital role in telling the world about China, providing valuable insight into the world’s second-largest economy. [LEARN MORE](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Harvesting history in fields of stone ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/"},"headline":"Harvesting history in fields of stone","datePublished":"2026-08-17T17:32:20.918Z","dateModified":"2026-08-17T17:22:32.109Z","description":"Harvesting history in fields of stone","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/harvesting-history-in-fields-of-stone/","name":"Harvesting history in fields of stone"}}]}] ```