The Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs is the general name for the tombs of the thirteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty. It is located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing. It is one of the largest existing imperial mausoleum complexes in the country and contain many emperors' tombs. The mausoleum area is surrounded by mountains, and there is a meandering river in front of the mausoleum. The mountains and rivers are beautiful and the scenery is special. Here you can visit the architecture, scenery, and understand the funeral specifications of ancient emperors.

The Ming Tombs is a unified whole, and each tomb is self-contained. Each tomb is built in front of a mountain, and the specifications of the tombs are similar. The distance between the tombs is as little as half a kilometer and as much as eight kilometers. Except for Siling, which is located in the southwest corner, the other tombs are arranged in a fan shape around Changling. Among the Ming Tombs, only "Changling", "Dingling", "Zhaoling" and "Shenlu" are currently open.

Shenlu

The Divine Road is located at the southern end of the Ming Tombs. It is the passage leading to the Ming Tombs area, with a total length of about 7 kilometers. It is also the first attraction of the Ming Tombs. It consists of a stone archway, Dahongmen, stele pavilion, stone statues, and Dragon and Phoenix Gate. The southernmost end of the Divine Road is the stone archway, which is the largest and earliest existing stone arch in my country.

The stone statues are located on both sides of the kilometer-long shrine starting from the two hexagonal stone pillars in the north of the stele pavilion and ending at the Longfeng Gate. 24 stone beasts and 12 stone figures are neatly arranged, with vivid shapes and fine carvings. They are the most representative of ancient Chinese cemeteries. The rare and exquisite stone carvings are also major attractions of the Shenlu.

Changling

Changling is located at the southern foot of the main peak of Tianshou Mountain. It is the joint burial mausoleum of the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chengzuwen, Emperor Zhu Di (reign name Yongle), and his queen Xu. Among the Ming Tombs, it has the largest scale of construction, the earliest construction time, and the ground buildings are also relatively well preserved. It is the ancestral tomb among the Thirteen Tombs and one of the main tourist spots in the tomb area.

Dingling

Dingling is located at the foot of Dayu Mountain and southwest of Changling. It is the tomb of Emperor Shenzongxian Zhu Yijun (era name Wanli), the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his two queens are also buried there. The main buildings include Lin'en Gate, Lin'en Hall, Baocheng, Minglou and underground palace. It is the only excavated tomb among the Ming Tombs. Its a underground palace that can be visited by tourists.

Zhaoling

Zhaoling Mausoleum is located at the eastern foot of Dayu Mountain. It is the burial mausoleum of the twelfth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Muzongzhuang Emperor Zhu Zaihe (reign name Longqing), and his three queens. There are complete Lin'en Gate, Lin'en Hall and its east and west side halls, square city, Ming Tower, Baoding, etc. Zhaoling is the first cemetery among the Thirteen Tombs to be repaired and restored on a large scale.