Ming Tombs Museum is located about 30 miles northwest of Beijing at the foot of the Tianshou Mountains. Located there are the tombs of 13 out of the 16 Ming Dynasty emperors. Only the Changling and Dingling tombs are open to the public.
Basic Information of Ming Tombs Museum
Ming Tombs Museum site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to the present location of Beijing. He is credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.
How the site of Ming Tombs Museum was chosen?
The site 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 area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains north of Beijing was selected. This 40 square kilometer area — enclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shui — would become the necropolis of the Ming Dynasty.
Exploring Ming Tombs Museum
The spirit way (shen dao) is not to be missed. The main entrance to the valley is the Great Red Gate, beyond which is a pavilion housing China's largest memorial stele, and beyond that the spirit way. The path, slightly curved to fool malevolent spirits, is lined on either side with willows and remarkable carved stone animals and human figures, considered among the best in China. The statuary includes pairs of camels, lions, elephants, and mythical beasts, such as the qilin, a creature of immense virtue referred to as the "Chinese unicorn" even though it has two horns.
The largest and best preserved of the 13 tombs is 4km (2 1/2 miles) ahead: Chang Ling, the tomb of the Yongle emperor (reign 1403-1424). The layout is identical to the tomb of the first Ming emperor in Nanjing. It feels like the Forbidden City in miniature, and is perhaps disappointing if you've seen the palace already. Most striking is Ling'en Dian, an immense hall in which the interior columns and brackets have been left unpainted, creating an eye-catching contrast with the green ceiling panels. Slightly wider than the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Ling'en Dian contains a three-tiered platform and building materials that are superior to those of the Forbidden City.
The Underground Palace at Ding Ling, rediscovered in 1956, was the burial place of the Wanli emperor (reign 1572-1620), his wife, and his favorite concubine. Construction of the burial chamber commenced before the emperor was 20 years old, making him "the living ancestor" in the words of Ray Huang, author of 1587, A Year of No Significance. The "palace" is a vast marble vault, buried 27m (89 ft.) underground and divided into five large chambers. It's all a bit disappointing. The corpses have been removed, their red coffins replaced with cheap replicas, and burial objects moved to aboveground display rooms.
The original marble thrones are still there, now covered in a small fortune of RMB notes tossed by Chinese visitors hoping to bribe the emperor's ghost. Outside, behind the ticket office, is the respectable Ming Tombs Museum, with short biographies of all the entombed emperors; several reproduced artifacts; a detailed, wood reproduction of the Ling'en Dian; and a 1954 photo of Mao reclining and reading a newspaper on a half-buried marble incense burner at Chang Ling.
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