Fragrant Concubine - Apak Khoja and Xiang Fei Tomb

Apak Khoja and Xiang Fei Tomb

The Afaq Khoja Mausoleum (mazar) located outside Kashgar was built in 1640 and, in addition to encompassing a larger complex that includes a functioning mosque and Qur'anic school, houses the coffins of five generations of the Apak Khoja family, including what is purported to be the body of the Fragrant Concubine. In fact, the real Rong Fei died of illness in 1788 and was buried in a royal tomb in Beijing; the legend of the Fragrant Concubine first became closely associated with the Kashgar tomb in the late 19th century, and the connection has since been officially established and endorsed through a proliferation of signs and guided tours. Critical Western academic observers have noted that the superimposition of the Fragrant Concubine myth on the preexisting tomb has effectively commercialized and trivialized what was once a major functioning Sufi shrine through the influx of tourism.