The Ming Dynasty from 1368 to 1644 had 16 emperors. Thirteen of them were buried in Beijing. So their tombs are called Ming Tombs. Through the 5,000 years of Chinese history many emperors left after them large or small tombs, but the Ming Tombs are well preserved today.
A Chinese imperial mausoleum usually consists of two parts, the divine road and the burial palace. The marble archway or paifang is the beginning of the divine road and of the whole Ming Tombs. This carved archway is the largest existent one in China. It bears patterns of clouds and dragons, which is a characteristic of imperial architecture.
The divine road is a passage in front of the tombs to facilitate the sacrificial ceremonies. The two hexagon stone pillars are the sign of a divine road.
Behind the pillars are 24 stone animals. They are four horses, four legendary animals called qilin, four elephants, four camels, four legendary animals called xiezhi, and four lions. Behind the stone animals are 12 stone figures. Each of these life－like statues is carved out of a whole rock.
To arrange stone figures and animals along the divine road is an institution started from Eastern Han Dynasty. The figures serve as guardians and waiters, and the animals are employed to rid evil spirits and symbolise peace.
In the Ming Tombs you often see housed and unhoused stone tablets. To set a stone tablet in front of the tomb is a tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty. This housed tablet is the only Ming－dynasty structure in the Ming Tombs. On the tablets are carved the edicts and poems of three Qing－dynasty emperors.
The most imposing building in the Ming Tombs is the Chamber of Divine Favour in Changling Mausoleum where Emperor Zhu Di is buried. The Chamber was originally called Sacrificial Chamber. It was a place to worship the memorial tablets of emperors and empresses and to hold sacrificial ceremonies. Later it was renamed to indicate that in this place one would express gratitude to deceased ancestors and receive blessing from them.
The Chamber of Divine Favour is only existent mausoleum chamber in the Ming Tombs. It stands on a marble base with a red stairway, with carved patterns of dragons and clouds on the balusters.
The whole Chamber is constructed with precious wood called nanmu. Each of the 32 pillars in the hall is made of a single log. The 4 pillars in the centre are the thickest, with a diameter of 1.17 metres.
Behind the Chamber of Divine Favour is the Treasure City, where emperors and empresses are buried. The Treasure City is like a closed fortress with dense battlement and broad passages. In front of the Treasure City are the Square City and Tower of Brightness, where stand the monuments to the buried. The top of the tomb is called Treasure Top. Underneath it is the burial chamber.
The Ming Tombs start with Changling Mausoleum, with the rest 12 lying east and west. The whole mausoleum group lies on an open and extending area at foot of the Yanshan Mountains. It demonstrates the stately overall effect of mausoleum planning in ancient China.
On September 6, 1958, the Xinhua News Agency issued a piece of news: the Dingling Mausoleum of the Ming Tombs had been opened and the grave had been found an underground palace.
Dingling Mausoleum is the grave of Zhu Yijun, the 13th Ming emperor, and his two empresses. This is the first imperial grave to be opened in scientific ways with the permission of the state government.
The underground palace is 27 metres under the earth surface. It covers an area of 1,195 square metres and consists of five halls.
The unfurnished front hall has only square logs on the ground. These are ruts left by carriage wheels when the coffins were carried in.
The middle hall has marble seats. The middle one with patterns of clouds and dragons is for the emperor. The other two at its both sides are for Empresses Xiaoduan and Xiaojing.
The spacious rear palace is the major part of the grave. On the coffin platform lie three red painted coffins. The middle one is for the emperor. The left one is for Empress Xiaoduan, and the right one, for Empress Xiaojing. At both ends of the platform are red painted wooden boxes containing burial articles. Most of them are rotten.
The emperor Zhu Yijun ascended throne at the age of 10 and reigned for 48 years. Among the Ming emperors he reigned the longest time. During his reign he was lazy in administrative affairs, but he spared no pains to manage his grave. The Dingling Mausoleum was built in six years at the cost of 8 million liang, or 12 million ounces, of silver, which was two years' national revenue of that time. Three thousand precious objects were unearthed from his tomb. They were displayed in the Chamber of Divine Favour and showrooms of Dingling Mausoleum.
A large number of the unearthed objects are gold and silver ware, like basins, kettles, wine cups, bowls, boxes and so on.
The most noteworthy is the gold crown. It is woven in gold threads with patterns of two dragons sporting a pearl. This is the first one unearthed in China.
Excavated are four crowns for empresses to wear in nuptial ceremonies. Each of these crowns has 5,000 pearls and 100 gems. The refined gold and jade hairpins bear the Chinese characters for "happiness" and "longevity".
Chinaware of the Ming Dynasty is exquisite. The firing technique for blue porcelain was advanced. These blue porcelain bottles were luxury articles of the Ming chinaware.
Brocaded silk of the Ming Dynasty is reputed. The brocaded silk unearthed from Dingling Mausoleum was woven in golden threads and has beautiful patterns. The dragon robe for the emperor has 12 patterns of different dragons on it.
The Empress Xiaojing's robe has patterns of 100 children, each vivid and lifelike.
The Ming Tombs are crystallisation of wisdom and hard work of ancient Chinese architects and labourers.
