The Ming Tai Mausoleum is the joint burial mausoleum of the ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Xiaozong, Emperor Zhu Youtang and his queen Zhang. The construction began after the death of Ming Xiaozong. According to ancient records, after Xiaozong's son Wu Zong ascended the throne, he began to prepare for Xiaozong's funeral. At that time, Li Jie, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, Ni Qian, the deputy of the Qintian Supervisor, and Dai Yi, the eunuch of the Ministry of Rites, all told Wu Zong: "There is a place called Shijiatai to the west of Maoling. It is an auspicious place to build a mausoleum. Emperor Daxing A mausoleum can be built there." Therefore, Xu Tianxi from the Ministry of Industry also suggested to Wu Zong that he should send someone from the court who was proficient in Feng Shui to go and have a second look. He also suggested: "If you have any doubts, move the article to Jiangxi and other places urgently. Seek out magicians and visit famous mountains to ensure that the main power is strong, the atmosphere is gathered, the water and soil are deep, the acupuncture methods are correct, and the power is complete, such as in the Song Dynasty Confucian Zhu Xi said, "You can worship the gods and pray for eternal life for the country." The Ministry of Rites also agreed with this proposal. Therefore, Wu Zong ordered the eunuchs Fu'an, Li Xing, Qin Guan and the right minister of the Ministry of Rites Wang Hua to go and have a look, and finally decided to build Xiaozong's mausoleum in Shijiatai.
On June 5, 1505, the construction of the cemetery was officially started, and the mausoleum was named "Tailing". After four months, Xuan Palace was completed, and Xiaozong was buried in the mausoleum at noon on October 19 of that year. On March 22, 1506, all the ground construction of the cemetery was completed.
According to records, the entire mausoleum building of Tailing includes: a Jinjing Baoshan City, a Minglou, and a glazed screen wall, a stone tablet with a holy name, a surrounding area of ??142 feet, three one-word gates, and an incense gate. There are five rooms in one palace, two left and right chambers, and two paper stoves each. One palace gate has three rooms, one each for the divine kitchen, the sacrificial room, and the fire room. There are 5 bridges, and one for the divine palace supervisor, the divine stable house, and the orchard. .
Although the construction of Tailing only took about 10 months, it was not all smooth sailing. According to relevant records, when the Xuangong Golden Well was being excavated, spring water gushed out, and "the water hole was like a giant cup, gushing out endlessly." Yang Ziqi, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, saw it with his own eyes and immediately reported it to the court.
In ancient Feng Shui concepts, water coming out of a golden well is an ominous sign. As a result, Tailing must be relocated. But in order to avoid the trouble of moving the tomb, the supervisor at that time secretly ordered people to block the spring.
People in the court never knew that water came out of the golden well, and mistakenly thought that Yang Ziqi was lying. After Empress Xianzong heard about this incident in the palace, she issued a decree saying: "Forget it if there is no water, why blame others!" Therefore, Yang Ziqi avoided a fatal disaster. But other people in the palace never knew that Tailing had such an ominous sign.