Visitors line up in front of the statues of hated Chinese historical figures including Qin Hui. Photo: Taihao mausoleum

A visitor became emotional and smashed statues of hated Chinese historical figures including Qin Hui with an iron plate during a visit in Taihao mausoleum in Central China’s Henan Province where Yue Fei temple is located. The tourist attraction released a notice on Monday that the local police have started investigating the case and called on people to behave responsibly.

Yue Fei, a military commander during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), is a household name in China, who was famous for his loyalty and courage. The legend of Yue’s story was widespread that his mother tattooed four Chinese characters on his back -- “jing zhong bao guo,” meaning serving the country with total loyalty.

At around 2:10 pm on Sunday, a visitor suddenly became emotional and shouted “Let’s restore our lost land” standing on a censer in front of Yue Fei temple, and forcibly lifted the iron plate covering the censer and smashed the statues, according to the Taihao mausoleum. The guy left the scene finally under the working staff’s persuasion. The working staff immediately called the police who are now investigating the case, said the tourist attraction.

The statues have not been damaged, fortunately, the kneeling statues are modern imitations and do not belong to historical relics, according to the Taihao mausoleum.

Taihao mausoleum received 300,000 visits in seven-day Chinese Spring Festival, a record high in three years, said the tourist attraction. The movie Man Jiang Hong, directed by Chinese well-known director Zhang Yimou, a revenge story between Yue Fei and Qin Hui, a treacherous official who murdered Yue, was released during the holidays, attracting a large number of people.

Some netizens don’t agree with this kind of “extreme” move and noted that visitors should behave civilizedly and reasonably.

The local tourist authorities immediately installed guardrails and increased security personnel to guide tourists visit in a civilized manner. The tourist attraction called the visitors to be civilized when visiting public places and respect local customs, cultural traditions and religious beliefs.