On June 6, 1916, Yuan Shikai fell ill and died in a round of insults from the Chinese people, at the age of 57. Yuan Shikai left a will before his death, "Yu Zhi's dead remains should not be paid for a state funeral, and the Yuan family will take care of it themselves." In view of Yuan Shikai's influence, Li Yuanhong still held a funeral for him that was comparable to that of an emperor.
Regarding the cemetery, Yuan Shikai also made arrangements before his death, "Fu Coffin returned home and buried me huanshang." "Some people may say that Yuan Shikai's hometown is in Xiangcheng, but he is buried in Anyang. If you know that the distance between the two places is nearly 800 miles, why not bury back to your hometown? According to the answer given by Yuan Shikai's third daughter Yuan Jingxue in "My Father Yuan Shikai",
It turned out to be related to Yuan Shikai's mother. When Yuan Shikai was the governor of Shandong, his mother Liu Shi died of illness in Tianjin. When Liu's coffin Chinese was transported back to Xiangcheng, Yuan Shikai's half-brother Yuan Shidun believed that Liu Shi's coffin was not the main house and was not allowed to leave the funeral from the main gate, so that the mother's coffin could not be buried in the ancestral grave. In the end, Yuan Shikai had to buy a new cemetery to bury. Affected by this, Yuan Shikai was reluctant to return to xiangcheng's hometown.
After Puyi ascended the throne in 1908, Yuan Shikai was dismissed from his post by the regent Zaifeng and immediately moved to Huanshang Village, Anyang. In Yuan Shikai's view, Anyang Huanshang Village is one of his blessed places, so he decided to choose the cemetery here. As we all know, Yuan Shikai's cemetery is named "Yuan Lin", which is consistent with the pronunciation of "Ling". In fact, Yuan Keding, the eldest son of Yuan Shikai, strongly hoped to name his father's cemetery "Yuan Ling", so that his status as "crown prince" was truly deserved.
Judging from Yuan Keding's position, there is no problem for him to say this. Yuan Lin was founded in June 1916, which lasted for 2 years and cost a total of 750,000 silver dollars. The specification is "imitation of the Ming Tomb and slightly smaller", and the overall style is a combination of Chinese and Western.
Judging from the aerial photos, Yuan Lin's buildings from south to north mainly include: Tuzhao Wall, Rough Stone Bridge, Qingbai Stone Bridge, Archway, Pillar, Stone Statue, Stele Pavilion, Duty Room, Gate, Auxiliary Hall, Jingren Hall, Iron Gate, Stone Five Offerings and Tomb Tombs. If you have some understanding of the architectural layout of the Ming and Qing Emperor's Mausoleum, you know that Yuan Lin is not too much to call "Yuan Ling" no matter from which aspect.
So, how did the "Yuan Ling" named by Yuan Keding eventually become "Yuan Lin"? Still that sentence, After Yuan Shikai's death, Yuan Keding did not have any power, not to mention that Yuan Shikai said that the emperor had acted perversely and was scolded and spurned by the people of the country. At the same time, Xu Shichang, who was the president at the time, also disagreed.
Just when the two sides were arguing over this, Xu Shichang thought of a way to change "Ling" to "Lin". The explanation given by Xu Shichang was, "Xiang Cheng claimed that the emperor had not yet succeeded, had never lived in Dabao, and had canceled the Hongxian era name. At this time, if you take the name of Yuan Ling, it is really inappropriate. Lin and Ling are harmonious, and the words Ling and Lin contained in the "Explanation of Texts and Characters" can be borrowed from each other, avoiding the name of the tomb, still the truth of the mausoleum, killing two birds with one stone.
I have to say that Xu Shichang does have two brushes, and he has changed it like this, and no one has objected to it anymore. It is worth mentioning that Yuan Lin has been preserved intact so far, and even in the special period of that year, it has not been destroyed. Although Yuan Shikai has been dead for more than a hundred years, his evaluation is still inconclusive.