The Ming Tombs, also known as the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty, are a collection of mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Located on the slope of the Tianshou Mountain in Changping District of Beijing, the site is surrounded by mountains on three sides, including the east, west and north. On the south, the Longshan (Dragon Mountain) and Hushan (Tiger Mountain) stand across from each other, divided by the Wenyu River.
This location can be regarded as an ideal graveyard according to China’s Feng shui culture. Several constructions were carried out on the Ming Tombs over 235 years, starting from 1409 when Emperor Yongle began to build his own tomb - the Changling Tomb, to 1644 when Emperor Chongzhen was buried in the Siling Tomb. The Ming Tombs were finally built into a magnificent mausoleum cluster that covers about 80 square kilometers.
The cluster consists of 13 tombs of emperors and their empresses, 7 tombs of emperors’ concubines, a tomb of eunuchs, as well as several scenic spots and historical sites, such as the Nine Dragons Pool, the Shengji Pavilion and the Immortal Cave. The place was ever a restricted zone that was heavily guarded in the Ming dynasty. Its main gate - the Dagong Gate in the south - is the entrance to the cluster and is flanked by two steles on both sides, bearing regular-script inscriptions reading “Officials please dismount here”. When there is an important activity like a visit to the tombs or a sacrifice, all attendees, including emperors and all officials, are required to dismount here from their horses and sedan chairs to walk to the tomb areas. Walls and watchtowers used to be built at ten mountain passes along the mausoleum area, and soldiers were deployed there, patrolling day and night. Today only four scenic spots are officially open to tourists in the Ming Tombs, including Changling Tomb, Dingling Tomb, Zhaoling Tomb and the Sacred Way. The Changling Tomb, also the one you are to visit today, is the first one of the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty. Yongle Emperor Zhu Di and the empress surnamed Xu were both buried in the tomb.
The catacombs were constructed from 1409 to 1413, and the mausoleum palaces were completed in 1427. Of all the thirteen tombs, the Changling Tomb is the largest, earliest, and the best-preserved one with complete above-ground architecture. Located at the center of the entire area of the Ming Tombs, the Changling Tomb is backed by the Tianshou Mountain, towering in a magnificent manner. The entire architecture is composed of the front part of the tomb passage and mausoleum palaces. The passage in front of the mausoleum winds deep and branches out into different sub-paths to other mausoleums, and is also called the Main Tomb Passage. Measuring 7.3 km in length, the passage gathers architectures like the Stone Memorial Arch, the Great Red Gate, the Stele Pavilion of Divine Merits and Sacred Virtues, the Stone Statues of Guards and Animals, the Dragon and Phoenix Gate and bridges and culverts on a south-to-north central axis, directly leading to the gate of the Changling Tomb. The passage in the center symbolizes the emperor’s supremacy as the ruler of the vast world.
The whole tomb area is orderly in layout, complete in system and grand in scale. Among all imperial mausoleums in ancient China, the Changling Tomb is well-preserved.
