Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs are located in Changping District, about 50kilometers to the northwest of Beijing. This imperial cemetery covers an area of 80square kilometers with 13Ming emperors, 23 empresses, many imperial concubines, princes and princesses buried here. These tombs are the best preserved of all Chinese imperial tombs. There are a total of 13Ming Emperors buried in this area, so it is called the “Thirteen Ming Tombs” in Chinese. In 1961, the Chinese Government listed the “Thirteen Ming Tombs” as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation, and in 2003 the ”thirteen Ming Tombs” were listed as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO.

A scared Way is always found in an imperial cemetery. The Scared Way of the Ming Tombs is 7.3 kilometers long from the Memorial Stone Archway to the gate of Changling. The main structures along the Scared Way are: Marble Archway, Great Palace Gate, Tablet Tower, Stone Statues and Dragon and Phoenix Gate. The Scared Way originally built for Changling, Emperor Yongle’s Tomb, but since the other twelve tombs were also built in this area, either to the right or to the left of Changling, The Scared Way became the main road for all of the thirteen tombs.

The two most famous sites are Changling and Dingling. Changling is the tomb of Emperor Zhu Di and his empresses. This is the most magnificent of the tombs. The succeeding twelve emperors had their tombs built around Changling. Only the Changling and Dingling tombs are open to the public. Changling, the chief of the Ming Tombs, is the largest in scale and is completely preserved. The total internal area of the main building is 1956 square meters. There are 32 huge posts, and the largest measures about 14 meters in height. It inhumes Emperor Zhudi, the fourth son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The Lingsi Palace in its second yard is really deserves a visit. This is unique as it is the only huge palace made of camphor wood. It covers about 1956 square meters. The ceiling is colorfully painted and supported by sixteen solid camphor posts. The floor was decorated with gold bricks.

Unlike Changling, Dingling is under ground and about 27 meters deep. And Dingling is the only one of the thirteen Ming Tombs excavated so far. Excavation of the tomb occurred from 1956 to 1958, the underground chamber was discovered through sheer luck when Archeologists discovered a stone tablet left by the original builders. The stone Tablet gave instructions on how to find the tomb. And this was necessary when the tomb was reopened for the burial of the emperor. Entering the gate of Dingling, tourists can see two sketch maps. One gives a beautiful panoramic view of the thirteen tombs, and the other shows Dingling Tomb and the Underground Palace. The Underground Palace is 27 meters deep with a total floor space of 1,195 square meters. It consists of 5 chambers, the central chamber, the rear chamber and two annex chambers on the left and right of the middle chamber. The vaulted halls were built of stone, without a single beam or column.

The Underground Palace is a worthwhile visiting place and every day there are a number of domestic and foreign tourists to visit it.

China Attraction Guide