Ming tombs

Lore & Background

The siting of the Ming tombs was carefully chosen according to feng shui principles to deflect bad spirits and evil winds from the north. An arc-shaped valley at the foot of Tianshou Mountain, north of Beijing, was selected, enclosed by mountains in a pristine, quiet valley with dark earth and tranquil water. A 7-kilometer road called the Spirit Way leads into the complex, lined with statues of guardian animals and officials, starting with a huge stone memorial archway constructed in 1540.

Reader's Guide

The Ming tombs represent the burial site of thirteen of the sixteen Ming emperors, excluding the Hongwu Emperor (buried near Nanjing), the Jianwen Emperor (disappeared without a known tomb), and the Jingtai Emperor (denied an imperial burial and buried west of Beijing). The tombs were off limits to commoners during the Ming dynasty. In 1644, Li Zicheng's army ransacked and burned many of the tombs before capturing Beijing. In 1725, the Yongzheng Emperor bestowed a hereditary title on a Ming descendant, Zhu Zhilian, to perform rituals at the tombs, a title that passed through twelve generations until the end of the Qing dynasty. Presently, only three tombs are open to the public: Changling (the largest), Dingling (with an excavated underground palace), and Zhaoling. The site was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in August 2003 as part of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Did You Know?

• The Yongle Emperor selected his burial site around 1409, and construction of his mausoleum began that same year, well before the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) was completed in 1420.
• The last emperor buried at the site, Chongzhen, committed suicide by hanging on April 25, 1644, and was buried in his concubine Consort Tian's tomb.
• A 50-ton stone statue of a Bixi carrying a memorial tablet is located inside the Shengong Shengde Stele Pavilion.
• Excavations and surveys have continued at the Ming tombs after 1989, including work on Zhaoling in the 2000s.