| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Ming Lou, the main building of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum | |
| Official name | Xiaoling Tomb including area from Treasure Mound to Shenlieshan Stele, including Plum Blossom Hill, and Big Golden Gate |
| Location | Xuanwu District,Nanjing,Jiangsu, China |
| Part of | Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| Criteria | Cultural: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi) |
| Reference | 1004ter-005 |
| Inscription | 2000 (24thSession) |
| Extensions | 2003, 2004 |
| Area | 116 ha (290 acres) |
| Coordinates | 32°03′30″N118°50′23″E / 32.058271°N 118.839631°E /32.058271; 118.839631 (Xiaoling Dian, Ming Xiaoling Maosoleum) |
  Location of Xiao Mausoleum in Nanjing  Xiao Mausoleum (Jiangsu) Show map of Jiangsu | |
TheMing Xiaoling (Chinese:明孝陵;pinyin:Míng Xiào Líng;lit. 'Filial mausoleum of Ming') is themausoleum of theHongwu Emperor, the founder of theMing dynasty. It lies at the southern foot ofPurple Mountain, located east of the historical centre ofNanjing. The legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the tomb, 13 identical processions of funeral troops started from 13city gates to obscure the real burying site.[1]
The construction of themausoleum began during theHongwu Emperor's life in 1381 (644 years ago) (1381) and ended in 1405 (620 years ago) (1405), during the reign of his son theYongle Emperor, with a huge expenditure of resources involving 100,000 labourers. The original wall of the mausoleum was more than 22.5 kilometres long. The mausoleum was built under heavy guard of 5,000 troops.
Da Jin Men and Sifangcheng. One enters the site through the monumental Great Golden Gates (Da Jin Men), and is soon faced by a giant stone tortoise (bixi), which resides in theSifangcheng ("Square city") pavilion. The tortoise supports a carved stonestele, crowned by intertwininghornless dragons. The well-preserved stele is known as the "Shengong Shengde Stele" (神功圣德碑), i.e., literally, "The Stele of Godly Merit and Saintly Virtue". The inscription of the stele, extolling the merits and virtues of theHongwu Emperor was written by his fourth son, theYongle Emperor. The tortoise is 5.15 metres (16.9 ft) long, 2.54 metres (8 ft 4 in) wide and 2.8 metres (9 ft 2 in) tall,[2]the stele stands 8.78 metres (28.8 ft) tall (including the tortoise)[3] and is one of the best-known examples of its genre.
It is thought that originally the Yongle Emperor planned to install a much bigger stele here. The work on making it was started in theYangshan Quarry (some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the mausoleum) in 1405, but the unfinished stele was abandoned in the quarry, as it was realized that it would not be possible to move it.[4]
Unlike thesimilar pavilion at theMing Tombs near Beijing, Nanjing'sSifangcheng roof was once destroyed during theTaiping Rebellion and left unbuilt until 2006. Recently, Chinese engineers have conducted research in regard to the possibility of restoring the roof, which was then eventually restored in between 2007-2009.[5]
The Sacred Way is an 1,800-metre (5,900 ft)-long road at the Nanjing city Government site. The windingSacred Way (Shendao) starts near the Sifangcheng pavilion. It includes several sections: the Elephant Road and theWengzhong Road. The Elephant Road is lined by 12 pairs of 6 kinds of animals (lions,xiezhi, camels, elephants,qilin, and horses), guarding the tomb. Beyond them is a column calledhuabiao in Chinese. One then continues along the Wengzhong Road. Four pairs of ministers and generals (or warrior guardian figures,Wengzhong) of stone have been standing there for centuries to guard the journey to the afterlife.
The Lingxing Gate, apailou at the end of the Wengzhong Road was destroyed long ago, but rebuilt in 2006.[6]
One enters the central area of the mausoleum complex through theWen Wu Fang Men (The Gate of the Civil and the Military). On an inscribed stone tablet outside of the gate an official notification of the local government in theQing dynasty (1644–1911) is ordered to protect the tomb. Inside the gate, there is the Tablet Hall (Bei Dian) in which five steles stand. The one in the middle, also mounted on astone tortoise, is inscribed with four Chinese characters, "治隆唐宋", which were written by the Qing dynasty'sKangxi Emperor on his third inspection tour of the South in 1699. The text is interpreted as alluding to the greatness of the Ming dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang, matching (or surpassing) that of the founders of theTang andSong Dynasties of old.[7][8]
Behind the pavilion, there used to be other annexes; however, most of them have collapsed into relics from which the original splendor can still be traced. The emperor and his queen were buried in a claytumulus, 400 metres (1,300 ft) in diameter, known as the Lone Dragon Hill (Du Long Fu). A stone wall with a terrace on top, known asMing Lou (Ming Mansion) or the Soul Tower is half-embedded into the front face of the tumulus. On a stone wall surrounding the vault, 7 Chinese characters were inscribed, identifying the mausoleum of Emperor Ming Taizu (respected title of EmperorZhu Yuanzhang).
The mountain to the south of the tomb, known as Meihua Shan ("Plum Flower Mountain"), is the mausoleum ofSun Quan, King of theKingdom of Wu in theThree Kingdoms period (220-265). The existence of this tomb is the reason why the Sacred Way is not straight.
The mausoleum complex suffered damage during the mid-19th centuryTaiping Civil War, but was partially restored during theTongzhi era thereafter.
Along with theMing Tombs north ofBeijing, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum of Nanjing was inscribed byUNESCO as part of theWorld Heritage Sites "Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties".
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In 1999, another, unfinished,stone tortoise and an unfinished stele lying on the ground were discovered in a ravine just over 100 m to the southeast from the Sifangcheng Pavilion, and even closer toMadame Chiang Kai-Shek's former villa (known asMeiling Gong). The tortoise, larger than those under the Shengde stele and the Kangxi Emperor's steles, and the matching blank stele were recognized by experts as being products of the earlyMing, but the reasons for their manufacture and abandonment became subjects for speculation among historians. A number of possible explanations – from faulty material to the overthrow of theJianwen Emperor by theYongle Emperor in 1402 – have been advanced.
In the meantime, the tortoise and the blank stele (无字碑) have been moved to the Red Chamber Culture Park (红楼艺文苑, Honglou Yiwen Yuan), located just east of the Ming Xiaoling complex.[3][7] The park (which otherwise is a modernDream-of-the-Red-Chamber-themed landscape and sculpture park) can be visited on the same ticket with the Ming Xiaoling proper.
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