Ming tombs

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(Redirected from Ming Dynasty Tombs)
This article is about the Ming tombs in Beijing. For the Ming tomb in Nanjing, see
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.
Ming tombs
Tumbas ming1.JPG
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Location People's Republic of China Edit this at Wikidata
Coordinates 4015'12?N 11613'03?E
Includes Changling
De Ling
Kang Ling
Mao Ling
Qing Ling
Si Ling
Tailing
Xianling
Yu Ling
Dingling (Ming)
Jingling
Yong Ling
Zhaoling Edit this on Wikidata
Criteria Cultural (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (vi) Edit this on Wikidata
Reference 1004-004
Inscription 2000 (24th Session)
Extensions 2003, 2004
Ming tombs is located in China Ming tombs
Location of Ming tombs
[edit on Wikidata]
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming
dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital
Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near
Beijing and collectively known as the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty
(Chinese ????; pinyin Mng Shsan Lng; literally Ming Thirteen Mausoleums). They
are within the suburban Changping District of Beijing Municipality, 42 kilometres
(26 mi) north-northwest of Beijing city center. The site, on the southern slope of
Tianshou Mountain (originally Huangtu Mountain), was chosen based on the principles
of feng shui by the third Ming emperor, the Yongle Emperor. After the construction
of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his
burial site and created his own mausoleum. The subsequent emperors placed their
tombs in the same valley.

From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming dynasty emperors were buried in the same
area. The Xiaoling tomb of the first Ming emperor, the Hongwu Emperor, is located
near his capital Nanjing; the second emperor, the Jianwen Emperor, was overthrown
by the Yongle Emperor and disappeared, without a known tomb. The temporary emperor,
the Jingtai Emperor, was also not buried here, as the Tianshun Emperor had denied
him an imperial burial; instead, the Jingtai Emperor was buried west of Beijing.[1]
The last Ming emperor buried at the location was the Chongzhen Emperor, who
committed suicide by hanging (on 25 April 1644). He was buried in his concubine
Consort Tian's tomb, which was later declared as an imperial mausoleum Si Ling by
the emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty, Li Zicheng, with a much smaller scale
compared to the other imperial mausoleums built for Ming emperors.

During the Ming dynasty the tombs were off limits to commoners, but in 1644 Li
Zicheng's army ransacked and set many of the tombs on fire before advancing and
capturing Beijing in April of that year.
In 1725, the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty bestowed the hereditary title of
Marquis on a descendant of the Ming dynasty imperial family, Zhu Zhiliang, who
received a salary from the Qing government and whose duty was to perform rituals at
the Ming tombs, and was also inducted the Chinese Plain White Banner in the Eight
Banners. Later the Qianlong Emperor bestowed the title Marquis of Extended Grace
posthumously on Zhu Zhuliang in 1750, and the title passed on through twelve
generations of Ming descendants until the end of the Qing dynasty.

Presently, the Ming Tombs are designated as one of the components of the World
Heritage Site, the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which also
includes a number of other locations near Beijing and in Liaoning province.

Contents [hide]
1 Layout
2 List of the Imperial Tombs
3 Excavation of Dingling tomb
4 Images
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Layout[edit]

An overview of the Changling tomb

Statue in the Ming Tombs grounds

The siting of the Ming dynasty imperial tombs was carefully chosen according to
Feng Shui (geomancy) principles. According to these, bad spirits and evil winds
descending from the North must be deflected; therefore, an arc-shaped valley area
at the foot of the Jundu Mountains, north of Beijing, was selected. This 40 square
kilometer areaenclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark
earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shuiwould become the
necropolis of the Ming dynasty.

A 7-kilometer (4 mi) road named the Spirit Way (pinyin Shndo) leads into the
complex, lined with statues of guardian animals and officials, with a front gate
consisting of a three-arches, painted red, and called the Great Red Gate. The
Spirit Way, or Sacred Way, starts with a huge stone memorial archway lying at the
front of the area. Constructed in 1540, during the Ming dynasty, this archway is
one of the biggest stone archways in China today.

Further in, the Shengong Shengde Stele Pavilion can be seen. Inside it, there is a
50-ton stone statue of Bixi carrying a memorial tablet. Four white marble Huabiao
(pillars of glory) are positioned at each corner of the stele pavilion. At the top
of each pillar is a mythical beast. Then come two pillars on each side of the road,
whose surfaces are carved with the cloud design, and tops are shaped like a rounded
cylinder. They are of a traditional design and were originally beacons to guide the
soul of the deceased, The road leads to 18 pairs of stone statues of mythical
animals, which are all sculpted from whole stones and larger than life size,
leading to a three-arched gate known as the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.