the ming tombs (including dingling,changling,and zhaoling)

the ming tombs (including dingling, changling and zhaoling) (about 44 kilometres from the city) the ming dynasty lasted from 1368 to 1644. the first ming emperor had his tomb built in nanjing, the town, which he had chosen for his capital. as his eldest son died early, his grandson succeeded the throne, and he became the second emperor.

his fourth son, the prince of yah, was guarding the northern frontier near beijing with an army 100, 000 strong. the second emperor attempted to weaken his forces but was met with counter-attacks. after a 3-year war he was ousted and lost track off completely. so, the fourth son became the third emperor, emperor yongle, of the ming dynasty.

as a frontier commander, be was deeply aware that a peaceful northern frontier was of great importance to the ming regime and the unification of the country. yongle moved the capital to beijing in early 15th century. a- long with the construction of the imperial palace, he chose this valley to build his tomb. ah his successors followed his example and had their tombs built here, except one who was dethroned and buried in the western suburb. out of the sixteen emperors, thirteen lie here with their empresses and concubines. the site was chosen with the greatest care, with geomancy (geomancy refers to the superstition that the location of one's ancestors' graves influences one's fortune. the geomancers claim to be able to tell whether a particular site and its surroundings are auspicious) taken into account. the tombs are located about 44 kilometres to the north of beijing. they arc scattered over a basin approximately 40 square kilometres in area, screened by mountains on three sides and open to the beijing plain in the south. the road leading to the tombs is guarded by the tiger hill on the left and the dragon hill on the right. it was a forbidden ground except for those who were officially in charge of its upkeep. it was not allowed to cultivate land, cut wood or to take stones from here. no one could enter it on horseback, even the emperor himself had to dismount at the gate.

we are now riding on the road leading to the tombs. the road was opened up in 1979 with the increase in the number of chinese and foreign visitors. along the road, we'll find the memorial arch, the big red gate, the tablet house, the stone animals and statues and the ming tombs reservoir. we' n also see a lot of fruit trees planted after the founding of the people's republic of china.

this road was known as shendao, meaning "the way of the spirit." the body of the dead was carried over the route at funeral ceremony. it is 7 kilometres long, from the memorial arch to the gate of the main tomb.

the memorial arch, built of white marble, was erected in 1540. it is 14 metres high and 28. 86 metres wide, and has 5 arches supported by 6 pillars with beautiful bas-relief carvings of lions, dragons and lotus flowers. double lintels link the six pillars. the roofing is made of round marble tiles, with upturned comers. "the way of the spirit" used to pass beneath the memorial arch.

the big red gate was built in 1426. it used to have three huge wooden doom. the central opening was occupied by the deceased emperor alone, and living ministers and imperial family members had to use one of the side openings when they came to pay homage to the deceased emperors.

about 457 metres from the big red gate stands the tablet house built in 1435. a marble column, known as huabiao, stands at each corner of the tablet house. a huge tablet, 7 metres high, stands in the middle of the house on the back of a tortoise. the front side bears an inscription by the fourth ming emperor. on the reverse side is an inscription carved during qing emperor qianlong's reign (1736-1795). it described the reconstruction of the ming tombs in 1785 and commented on the rules and styles of the ming tombs.

now we come to the famous avenue of stone animals and statues. stone animals and statues are found at the entrance to imperial tombs from the han dynasty onwards, but none of the group is as famous as that of the ming tombs.

the avenue starts with two columns, called wangzhu in chinese, one on each side. they are hexagonal, carved with a cloud design, and the top is shaped like a round cylinder. the animals are lions, xiezhi was a mythical beast of the feline family, said to be able to distinguish right and wrong. qilin was a sort of imaginary animal with a scaly body, a cow's tail, deer's hooves and horns on its head.

with "the way of the spirit" turning slightly, the statues appear: two military officers wearing sabers, two civilian officials and two ministers of merit. six statues on each side and twelve in all.

these animals and statues all date from the 15th century. it is interesting to compare them with those at the tomb of the first ming emperor in nanjing, which are scarcely any older and yet much less fine. they were all meant to serve the dead in the next world. they do give people a sense of solemnity on the way leading to the tombs, don't they?

on your right is the ming tombs reservoir, one of the 17 large and medium-sized reservoirs built in beijing in the last 50 years. the 627-metre-long and 29 metre-high dam was built in less than five months in 1958. the late chairman man, the late premier zhou enlai and other leading members of the chinese government came to join in its construction. during construction, 400, 000 volunteers including workers, farmers, business people, students, soldiers, government cadres, foreign diplomats and foreign friends were involved in the project. the reservoir's total area is 300 hectares (750 acres). the project cost 16 million yuan (us$ 1. 935 million). it provides water for irrigation in the beijing area and works the turbines of a hydro-electric power station. it can generate 1.2 billion kilowatt each year. in beijing area, there are altogether 83 reservoirs with a total capacity of 9.27 billion cubic metres of water.

on your left at the foot of the hill stands the underground palace of dingling amidst pines and cypresses. dingling is the tomb of emperor wanli, the 13th ming emperor. he was born in 1563, and was chosen and named crown prince when he was six years old. he ascended the throne at the age of 10 and ruled for 48 years until he died in 1620.

dingling (tomb of security) is the only one of the ming tombs excavated so far. excavation work took more than two years from 1956 to 1958. you may find the following background information interesting.

emperor wanli had two wives. the first wife empress xiaeduan died only a few months before his death. the second wife empress xiaojing died in 1612, eight years before and was buried in a nearby tomb reserved for imperial concubines.

the first wife had no son while the second wife had one. he succeeded emperor wanli and died 29 days after his succession. he left the throne to his son. as xiaojing was the second wife, she was not entitled to the privilege of sharing the emperor's tomb. when her grandson became emperor, she was promoted to the rank of empress dowager, and it was decided that her body be moved into the tomb.

construction of the tomb and the underground palace started in 1584 when emperor wanli was only 22 years old. eighteen years and 8 million taels of silver (250, 000 kilos of silver) were spent on it. the bricks were brought from shandong province, the stone from the nearby district of fangshan, and the wood from the southern provinces.

in 1644 when the ming dynasty collapsed, the buildings were damaged in a peasant uprising and were not restored until the reign of qing emperor qianlong. they were burned down again at the beginning of the 20th century.

in 1956, a decision was made by the chinese government to open up the tomb. it was the first time that an imperial tomb was excavated in china in a scientific way.

dingling is now a museum made up of three sections: the underground palace and two exhibition rooms. the objects on display are mostly originals. the trip to the ming tombs certainly gives us a better understanding of the ming dynasty art, the tomb structure and the emperor's extravagance in building the tomb.

i’ll tell you more as i show you round. thank you for your attention. here are two sketch maps. one shows the underground palace of dingling and the other gives you a panorama of the 13 ming tombs.

we just passed through the gate of dingling. we are now here at the sketch maps. the two exhibition rooms are here, one on each side. that's the soul tower; behind it is the tomb mound. beneath the mound lies the underground palace totaling 87 metres in length.

this map shows the 13 ming tombs in this area. the soul towers show the location of the tombs. this one is dingling and that one is changling, the first ming tomb built in beijing for the third emperor, but not yet opened up.

when you pay a visit to the ming tombs area you will definitely be impressed by the beauty of the location and the tranquility of the surroundings. it is now a favourite picnic spot for foreign residents in beijing, and if you go them, on a weekend you will find many families sitting on the grass under the old pine trees that dot the grounds.

souvenir shop. the ming tombs tour area near beijing witnessed the opening of its first souvenir shopping centre in late 1999. the store is located on the southern side of the square out of dingling. near the tomb of emperor wanli (1573-1620), a business area of 1,100 square metres car- ties furniture, carpets, arts and crafts (stones, paintings, carvings, and cloisonné), clothing items, fabrics, chinese medicines and souvenirs from the area.

the first exhibition room

1. the model of the tomb mound

in may 1956, an archaeological team started excavating dingling. it took them one year to uncover three deep tunnels and find the exact entrance to the underground palace. some decayed bricks at the southwestern end of the surrounding wall showed that there had been an archway. the team later found a narrow, brick walled tunnel, which runs zigzag to the back of the mound.

in opening up the second tunnel, a stone slab was uncovered on which the inscription reads: 48.8 metres further and 10.7 metres deep to the "diamond wall, the sealing wall of the underground palace. this tablet provided important clue to the further excavation of the underground palace. archaeologists said that the tablet was meant to guide the builders who might need it for reopening the tomb.

2. jade belt

jade belt used to be one of the decorative objects on the emperor's robe. in the ming dynasty, a limited number of ministers also wore such belts, as grants from the emperor. the belt is made of gold and gems linked together by a leather belt. the gems are transparent and beautiful, like pomegranate seeds. they are products of south china sea islands and reflect friendly exchanges between china and the southeast asian countries during the ming periods.

3. gold coins

these gold coins, each weighing 38.5 grams, were minted specially for the dead. they bear characters that read: "longevity and away with misfortune." lots of porcelain wares uncovered from dingling are blue and white porcelain. they are bright and clear, pretty and artistic. they were not only used in the court in large number, but were also one of the major export commodities of the time.

4. silk fabrics

a large quantity of silk fabrics was uncovered from dingling. here on display is a piece of gold thread gauze with a rabbit design and a piece of figured satin with a design of lotus and buddhist emblem swastika. they show the level of textiles in those days.

5. jade objects

these jade objects were unearthed from the underground. the carving is intricate and delicate. they show the exquisite workmanship of jade carving in the ming dynasty.

6. helmet and sword

these are helmet, sword and armor worn by emperor wanli. the originals had decayed. they are reproductions.

7. funerary objects and wooden figurines

the funerary objects were symbolic utensils made especially for the dead. slaves were buried alive with their deceased masters. wooden figurines were later used as burial objects to replace human sacrifice.

8. gold crown

the gold crown, for the emperor, is woven with extremely thin gold wire. the weaving is done from top to bottom. the tiny holes must be the same in size. it is neat and graceful, displaying the high artistry in arts and crafts in the ming dynasty.

9. "pi bian" the emperor wore the "pi blah" when he issued imperial decrees, worshipped gads and received tributes.

10. "mian" (heavenly hat)

the emperor wore the hat when he went to worship heaven, the earth or his ancestors.

the second exhibition room

1. phoenix crowns

the empresses wore the phoenix crowns on big occasions. here on display is the crown (the crown is emblematic of the power of a king) with 12 dragons and 9 phoenixes. the other one has 6 dragons and 3 phoenixes. each phoenix crown has over 5,000 pearls and more than 150 gems of different colours.

2. silverware.

the silverware unearthed from the tomb was mostly used by the emperors and empresses during their lifetime. they are valuable material for the study of court life in the ming dynasty.

3. silver ingots

silver ingots, each weighing 1.9 kilos, were the type of money in use at the time. they were land tax collected from zhejiang province.

4. gold ingots

these gold ingots uncovered from dingling weigh 385 grams each, marked with the name of the place they came from, date of collection, name of the official in charge as well as their weight and purity.

5. jewelry

over 200 pieces of jewelry were unearthed from the tomb. they are in the shape of plum blossom, lotus flower, peony, turtle, phoenix, rabbit and butterfly, patterns symbolizing happiness and good luck.

6. jade pendants

these jade pendants are made of pearls and small jade pieces, carved into the shape of dragon amidst clouds, tree leaves, fish and cicadas. the jade pieces are linked together by a length of silk thread. they were to hang on beth sides of the waist. when the wearer moved, they dangled and sent out clear and pleasing sound.

7. dressing articles

here on display are dressing articles used by the emperors and empresses. the shape and style earl still be seen. they had decayed though.

8. yu bi (jade piece) and beads

yu bi is a round flat piece of jade with a hole at its centre, used by aristocrats for ceremonial purposes in ancient china.

buddhist monks used the beads when they chanted buddhist sutras. in the ming dynasty most of the emperors believed in buddhism or taoism. so the beads were also brought to their tombs.

 

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