1. The main burial methods and tomb types in ancient China
(1) Funeral methods (the following content requires more reading)
Due to the different regional natural conditions, Differences, the differences in concepts and traditional customs of different ethnic groups, have formed a variety of funeral methods for deceased relatives in the history of our country.
Mainly include: burial, cremation, water burial, sky burial, hanging coffin burial, etc.
Burial: Burial is a funeral method in which the deceased is placed in a wooden or stone coffin, buried in an underground cave that has been excavated or constructed, and covered with soil. This method is relatively common in China, both in terms of geographical scope and population class, and it also constitutes the main mausoleum architectural landscape used for tourism today.
Cremation: Cremation is a funeral method in which the deceased is burned with fire and the non-flammable bones are collected and stored. In ancient times, Buddhist monks often used cremation. The pagoda buildings inside or outside Buddhist temples were places where the ashes of monks who had reached a certain level of cultivation were stored. This kind of building is an integral part of the Buddhist architectural complex. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, cremation was generally advocated in order to prevent the limited farmland from being reduced. Cremation has now become the main method of burial.
Water burial: Water burial is a common burial method used by people who live on water for a long time.
Sky burial: A sky burial is carried out at a fixed location, where a fixed person cuts the body of the deceased into pieces and then eats it for burial by vultures. The lighter the food, the better. This method is adopted by the Tibetan, Monba and some Yugu ethnic groups in China.
The fixed location used for sky burials is called a sky burial site. It is a flat-topped boulder near a hillside, usually about 20 square meters. There must be several large pits on the boulder for crushing human bones. The person who completes the sky burial is usually a fixed person, called a sky burial master. In order to ensure that all the corpses can be eaten by vultures, there are fixed procedures for sky burial.
Hanging coffin burial: Hanging coffin burial is a funeral method in which the deceased is placed in a boat-shaped coffin, suspended on a cliff facing the water, and allowed to dry naturally. This method was often used in the mountainous areas of Jiangnan in ancient times. To this day, hanging coffins can still be seen on the cliffs of scenic spots such as the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and Wuyi Mountain.
(2) Types of mausoleums
Mausoleum: It is a general term for places where the corpse of the deceased is placed and where the deceased is paid homage.
If we talk about it separately, the mausoleum generally refers to the above-ground building, while the tomb is the underground part. The mausoleum landscapes currently used for tourism in China can be divided into three categories: no mausoleums but no tombs, mausoleums without tombs, and mausoleums and tombs.
1. No mausoleum, no tomb: Among the above five burial methods, sky burial, water burial, and hanging coffin burial belong to this category. The corpse either disappears or is left in nature.
2. There are mausoleums but no tombs: There are mausoleums but no tombs, which means there are buildings or tombstones on the ground for worship, but there are no underground tombs and corpses. There are roughly two reasons for this situation:
(1) The corpse does not exist. For ancestors with long history and heroes whose corpses cannot be found, people built their memorial places to express their grief. Such is the case with the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor and the Mausoleum of the Yan Emperor. Chinese people at home and abroad are all descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties and have the same roots. Worshiping ancestors is the common wish of Chinese people from generation to generation. Therefore, many Huangdi Mausoleums have been built. In order to commemorate the heroes of China's ancient and modern wars and battlefields, later generations built special monuments for them.
(2) Mausoleums and tombs are not in the same place. In the history of the Mongolian people, their nobles had a tradition of secret burials. According to the book "Cao Mu Zi", after the nobles passed away, they were buried on a grassland with rich water and grass. After the burial, thousands of horses trampled the place to the ground. At the same time, the camel's calves were killed in front of the mother camel at the burial site. After that, nearly a thousand people were sent to wait here. When the green grass was everywhere in the next spring and it was impossible to identify where the burial place was, the watchmen left. When you want to pay tribute, just follow the female camel and stop at the place where it made a sad cry, which is the cemetery. It is because of this tradition that there are different opinions on where the grave of Genghis Khan is. Currently, in the Genghis Khan Mausoleum located in the southern part of the Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia, within the territory of Yijinhuoluo Banner, there is only a mausoleum containing his empty coffin but no tomb.
3. There are mausoleums and tombs, that is, the type of mausoleum with earth seals on the ground, halls for worship, underground tombs, and corpses. This is a common form of burial. This type of mausoleum dominates the architectural landscape of mausoleums used for tourism today.
2. The composition of the mausoleum landscape and its tourism value
The composition of the mausoleum landscape: it includes three parts. One is the mausoleum building, including ground buildings, underground tombs and coffins; The second is the cultural arts such as paintings and sculptures on the mausoleum architecture; the third is the burial objects. (Remember)
The ancient Chinese believed that death is only the end of physical life, and the soul still exists, but it just moves from the world of heaven to the underworld. In order to make your life in the underworld the same as before, all the things you used, all the activities you engaged in, and all the scenes you experienced or your understanding of nature must be brought to the tomb or painted on the coffin and tomb. on the four walls. At any historical stage, the higher the status of the owner of the tomb during his lifetime, the more substantial the content of his life during his lifetime, and the richer the content of the tomb landscape. Among all people, the status of emperors, princes and nobles is the highest, and the original historical appearance reflected in the landscape of their tombs is the most substantial and comprehensive. It is a favorable basis for future generations to understand and understand the lost world, and it is also the most valuable evidence to make up for the lost history in written materials. More importantly, these real historical relics are a useful aid in tracing the origins of culture and history.
The tombs of emperors and nobles of the past dynasties are the main targets of modern tourism development. (Remember)
3. The evolution of the funeral system of ancient Chinese emperors
(1) The evolution of the burial system of ancient Chinese emperors
The evolution of the funeral system of ancient Chinese emperors : It has experienced the evolution process from single burial system, accompanying burial system to group burial system. (Remember)
1. Single burial system
The so-called single burial system means that one emperor has a complete tomb area. The selected sites are scattered and the cemetery is independent. (Remember)
Emperors before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty all had this burial system. Famous mausoleums include the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang in Lintong, Shaanxi Province. (Remember)
2. Funerary system
The so-called funerary system means that there are tombs of loved generals, heroes and noble relatives who were alive outside the imperial cemetery, forming a generation of emperors’ tombs. As the center of the mausoleum area. (Remember)
This burial system began in the Han Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, it became a fixed system for officials to be buried with them. Famous mausoleums include the Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty located in Maoling County, Shaanxi Province, and the Qianling Mausoleum of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, where Li Zhi and Wu Zetian are buried together, located in Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province. (Remember)
3. Mass burial system
The so-called mass burial system is a burial system in which the tombs of emperors, concubines, and children of the same dynasty are concentrated in one cemetery. (Remember)
This kind of burial system began in the Northern Song Dynasty and was used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This mass burial system also affected the Xixia dynasty of the Dangxiang Qiang people who were the same generation as the Song Dynasty.
There are six such mausoleum groups: the Northern Song Dynasty Emperors’ Tombs in Gong County, Henan; the Southern Song Dynasty Emperors’ Tombs in Shaoxing, Zhejiang; the Qingdong Tombs in Zunhua, Hebei; and the Qingxi Tombs in Yi County; The Xixia Royal Tombs are located at the foot of Helan Mountain in Yinchuan, Ningxia; the Ming Tombs are located in Beijing. (Be sure to remember)
(2) The evolution of the earth sealing system in ancient emperors' tombs
The earth sealing system: It is a system about the shape and scale of the mounds of earth piled above the emperor's tomb. The construction of large mausoleums is a stipulation of filial piety in Chinese feudal ethics, and it is also a maintenance of the emperor's behavior of arranging a "luxury life" after death. "Thick burials in order to express filial piety" originated from the Zhou rites. Since the Zhou Dynasty, the shape of the earth sealing of the emperor's tombs has gone through the evolution process of the "covering the bucket on top" style, "making the mountain a mausoleum" style and "the treasure city and the top" style. (Be sure to remember)
"Inverted bucket" style: It is to pile loess on top of the underground palace to form a three-level square rammed earth platform that shrinks gradually. The shape is very similar to an upside-down bucket. This land-conferring system was used in the most dynasties, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty. Later, it was selected by the Song Dynasty. Among the many mausoleums using this earth-enclosed structure, the tomb of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is the largest.
The "mountain is a mausoleum" style: the tomb is built in the mountain, and the entire mountain is used as the tomb, which is grand and majestic. This method of earth sealing was used in the tombs of emperors of the Tang Dynasty.
The "Baocheng Baoding" style: above the underground palace, a circular (or oval) wall is built with bricks, filled with loess, compacted, and the top is made into a dome shape. The circular wall is called the treasure city, and the dome is the treasure roof. This shape was used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Baocheng Bao in the Qing Dynasty was at most oval.
(3) The evolution of the architectural layout of ancient emperors’ tombs
The cemetery buildings of the emperors’ tombs in the past dynasties are composed of three parts:
The first is the sacrificial building complex. Built in front of the tomb, it is a closed square courtyard. The gate of the courtyard is called the Lin'en Gate. The buildings in the courtyard include the main hall, the Lin'en Hall, and the side halls on both sides;
The second is the Shinto, which is a road leading from the cemetery gate. The main road leading directly to the Qin'en Gate;
The third is the place where the people who guard the tombs of the emperors live, called the mausoleum guards. (Be sure to remember)
(Read more below) The entire cemetery is surrounded by walls, just like the emperor's palace, and is not allowed to be entered casually. The emperor's tombs are all built in areas with beautiful environment. A cemetery is a natural garden. Before the Sui Dynasty, the mausoleum buildings were mainly sacrificial buildings and mausoleum guardians. The Shinto was relatively short and the number of stone figures and stone animals was small. Among them, the Han Dynasty had the largest scale of mausoleum guardians. Officials and wealthy people from all over the country moved to the mausoleum area to guard the mausoleum for the emperor. As a result, a mausoleum area formed a prosperous city.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the Shinto in the mausoleum area was lengthened, and the number of stone statues on both sides of the Shinto was determined to be 18 pairs. Among them, the Qianling Shinto of Emperor Gaozong, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian is the longest and has the most stone statues. On the shrine of about eight miles long, in addition to the traditional 18 pairs of stone figures and stone beasts, there are 61 giant statues of a few from the Tang Dynasty. Stone statues of national leaders and foreign envoys.
The main shrine of the Ming Tombs of the Ming Dynasty is 14 miles long. The sacrificial building complex consists of three courtyards. At the same time, a square city tower was built in front of the Baocheng Baoding.
(4) The evolution of the structure of ancient imperial tombs and cemeteries
According to historical records and excavated underground palaces of various dynasties, imperial tombs and coffins were mostly made of stone before the early Han Dynasty. . The Western Han Dynasty mainly used special wood to build underground palaces. Generally, yellow cypress wood was peeled and cut into square logs of equal length. The head was centered on the periphery of the wooden coffin, forming a square tomb. The square logs were all constructed with mortise and tenon joints, and the gaps were filled with charcoal. , sealed with plaster and mud, this kind of underground palace construction method is called "Huang Chang Ti Cou".
After the Eastern Han Dynasty, coffins and coffins were all made of wood; except for the underground palaces in the Tang Dynasty, which were built directly in excavated caves, they were all built with bricks and stones. Before the Song Dynasty, underground palaces were mostly made of bricks, with scenes of the tomb owner's activities during his lifetime painted on the walls.
Since the Ming Dynasty, underground palace architecture has reached its peak, with large tombs built with giant strips of stone. Judging from the tombs that have been opened so far, except for the carvings of Buddhist statues on the side walls of Qianlong's tomb, there are no paintings or sculptures. The layout of the tombs of emperors of the past dynasties should be the same as the palaces they lived in during their lifetimes, with multiple connected spaces representing courtyards arranged in front and back.
(5) The evolution of the burial system
The people or objects buried with the deceased are burial objects. The burial objects of ordinary people are only the main daily necessities and beloved objects during their lifetime. As an emperor's burial objects, in addition to the above-mentioned items, it also includes production tools, scientific inventions, musical instruments, weapons, various important books, historical records, artworks, jewelry and even species during his reign. The figures in the funerary objects were sacrificed by living people during the Shang and Zhou dynasties; starting from the late Warring States period, due to the shortage of labor force due to the large number of people being sacrificed, they were sacrificed as figurines. However, the phenomenon of human sacrifice was not completely eliminated. According to records, all the concubines of Qin Shihuang who had not given birth were buried with them; after the death of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, 30 maids were hanged and buried with him.
4. Famous existing ancient tombs in China
There are two ways to display the landscape of ancient tombs in China:
The first way is ground and underground buildings. They are all very large in scale and are open to the public for display under strict protection. For example, the terracotta warriors and horses in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin; the Han Dynasty Tombs in Tianshan, Yangzhou, and the underground palace of King Yan of the Han Dynasty in Beijing, both of which have been restored; the sacrificial buildings of Changling and the underground palace of Dingling in the Ming Tombs; the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty; and Qing Xiling etc.
The second method is that if the underground scale and layout are not easy for people to move around, they should be displayed in multiple locations and replicated. For example, China's No. 1 Ancient Tomb Museum in Luoyang displays dozens of Eastern Han Dynasty ancient tombs in Mangshan.
(1) Famous imperial mausoleums
The famous imperial mausoleums include: Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, and Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. (Remember)
1. Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor: The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor is the tomb of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, the common ancestor of all ethnic groups in the Central Plains. It is the oldest imperial mausoleum preserved in China and was first built in the Spring and Autumn Period. "Historical Records" records: "The Yellow Emperor died and was buried in Qiaoshan".
Qiaoshan is located in the north of Huangling County, Shaanxi Province, with a total area of ??more than 8,500 acres. There are more than 86,000 cypress trees growing there, most of them are over a thousand years old. It is the largest group of cypress trees in my country. The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor is located on the top of Qiaoshan Mountain, and there is Xuanyuan Temple at the foot of the mountain to echo it. (Be sure to remember)
The earth surrounding the Huangdi Mausoleum is a mound-shaped mound, which is said to be a tomb for clothes. It is 3.6 meters high, 48 meters in circumference, covers an area of ??200 square meters, and is surrounded by a 1.87-meter-high brick flower wall. A stone tablet is erected in front of the mausoleum. The inscription "Qiaoshan Dragon Control" was erected during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. In front of the stele is an eight-pillar sacrificial pavilion, and inside is a stele with the "Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor" handwritten by Guo Moruo.
There is a tall mound outside the mountain gate in the south of the cemetery. In front of the mound is a stone tablet with the inscription "Hanwu Immortal Platform". It was built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty when he returned from the war in triumph. He passed by here and built this platform to worship the late emperor.
2. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan is located on the Gandeli Aobao (earth and rock hills) in the southern Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia, in the Yijinhuoluo Banner. The total area of ??the cemetery is more than 40,000 square meters, with a construction area of ??1,500 square meters. The architectural shape of the mausoleum is the product of the combination of Mongolian and Chinese cultures and has a strong national style. The entire building complex consists of three parts, namely the stone archway, Lingxing Gate and the mausoleum. A spacious and clean stone walkway more than 380 meters long connects the three parts into a whole.
The white marble archway with four pillars and three doors is the gate of the mausoleum area. The shape of the archway is a traditional form of Han culture. However, the four yurt-style top decorations on the top of the four pillars have a strong influence of traditional Mongolian culture. color. From a distance, Lingxing Gate looks like the closed door of the Great Wall without gates. The entire top of the wall of Lingxing Gate is in the style of a stacked wall, and there are also two yurts on top. The main body of the mausoleum consists of three interconnected yurt-style halls. The central main hall is 24.81 meters high. The top surface is made of blue and yellow glazed tiles with a cloud pattern. The top is a golden dome, and the edges are blue octagonal double eaves. The eight built-in giant pillars reaching the sky are decorated with flying dragons playing with beads. . The east and west halls are both 18 meters high. The top style is the same as the main hall, the halls are the same, and the eaves are single-layered.
The tall seated statue of Genghis Khan carved from white marble is placed in the center of the main hall. On both sides are displayed items such as swords, helmets, bows and arrows that are said to be Genghis Khan's. Three yurt-style mausoleums covered with yellow satin are enshrined in the apse, and the coffins of Genghis Khan and his family are placed on the square table inside. There are murals on the inner walls of each hall and two corridors of the mausoleum, depicting Genghis Khan's military career, great achievements, and the social conditions, religious beliefs, and living customs of the Mongolian people. The cemetery also displays artifacts used in the war.
3. Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin: The Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin is located at the foot of Lishan Mountain in Lintong, Shaanxi. Among the tombs of emperors with single burials in the past dynasties, the tomb of Qin Shihuang is the largest. The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang was named the eighth wonder of the ancient world, and in 1977 it was included in the World Cultural Heritage List as the most common heritage of people all over the world. (Be sure to remember)
The outer wall of the cemetery is rectangular with a circumference of 6.3 kilometers; the inner wall is approximately square with a circumference of 2.5 kilometers. The current measured length of the bottom of the square tomb is 345 meters from east to west and 350 meters from north to south. In the cemetery, all the above-ground sacrificial buildings have disappeared. It has been discovered that there are 3 underground pits for soldiers and horses, one pit for stables, 31 pits for sitting figurines, 31 pits for rare birds and exotic animals, and 103 pits for tomb builders. There are 18 tombs for executed court officials. According to records, its underground palace was a stone coffin. Inside the coffin, there were sun, moon and stars made of jewels and jade on the top, rivers made of mercury on the bottom, geese made of gold and silver, turtles and fish made of colored glaze, and whale salamanders carved from jade. Bows and crossbows are equipped with poison arrow mechanisms to prevent tomb robberies. In recent years, measurements of the air above the tomb have revealed unusually high levels of mercury vapor. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit No. 1 discovered in 1974 contains more than 6,000 terracotta warriors and horses as big as real horses, recreating the military appearance of the battle formations more than 2,000 years ago. This world-shaking discovery led to the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang being named the eighth wonder of the ancient world. In 1977, it was included in the World Cultural Heritage List as the most common heritage of people all over the world. In 1980, another bronze chariot and horse pit was excavated on the west side of the mausoleum. There are two painted bronze chariots and horses, which are 1/2 the size of the real thing. Each ride consists of four horses, an imperial official figurine and the chariot. The structure is complete and lifelike. 3,000 The many parts made of gold, silver, and copper are not only exquisite in craftsmanship, but they can also rotate freely to this day. The unearthing of the bronze chariots and horses has given countries around the world a deeper understanding of China's civilization more than 2,000 years ago.
(2) Famous tomb groups
The famous tomb groups include: Ming Tombs, Qing Eastern and Western Tombs, and Qianling Tombs.
(Remember)
(Read more below) Ming Tombs: The Ming Tombs are located in a small basin at the foot of Tianshou Mountain in Changping County, northwest of Beijing. The tomb area covers an area of ??40 square kilometers. One of the three famous royal tombs in the Qing Dynasty. Thirteen emperors and numerous concubines of the Ming Dynasty who established their capital in Beijing are buried here. Thirteen imperial mausoleums are distributed on the piedmont hills in the basin like a fan. The entire mausoleum area consists of a main Shinto and twelve branching auxiliary Shinto, forming a Shinto network leading to each tomb. The Changling Tomb of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, is located at the top of the main Shinto. The tombs of emperors of each generation are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the main mausoleum according to the relationship between generations. The underground palace is sealed with a circular or oval Baocheng Baoding. In front of the underground palace is a square city tower where the emperor's posthumous title tablet is placed. In front of the Ming Tower is the sacrificial building complex of Sanjin Courtyard. The stone elephants and other ornaments on the Shinto are arranged on both sides of the main Shinto. There is a "mausoleum guard" next to each mausoleum to guard and sweep the mausoleum. The lower tomb chambers of the Ming Dynasty mausoleums were made of huge stones, forming an "underground palace" with several connected tomb chambers.
The Ming Tombs are world-famous for the Changling Tomb, a magnificent above-ground building, and the Dingling Tomb, the only one with an open underground palace.
2. Qingdong and Xiling
Qingdong Tomb: Located in the west of Malanyu Valley in Zunhua, Hebei, at the foot of Changrui Mountain, covering an area of ??about 2,500 square kilometers. Qing Xiling: Located at the foot of Yongning Mountain in Yixian County, Hebei Province, covering an area of ??225 square kilometers. The Eastern and Western Mausoleum Groups of the Qing Dynasty: These are the two major mausoleum groups of the emperors and concubines after the Qing Dynasty made Beijing its capital. It is a large-scale royal tomb group with a complete architectural system in my country. Its architectural system structure is basically the same as that of the Ming Tombs.
Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty: Buried are the five emperors Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi, as well as the fifteenth queen and one hundred and forty-one concubines. The underground palaces of Qianlong's Yuling Mausoleum and Cixi's Mausoleum have been excavated and are open to the public (must remember).
The four walls, rolling roof and stone gate of Yuling Underground Palace are all embossed with Buddha statues, patterns and scriptures. The gate tower is carved with eaves, tile ridges, owl kisses and brackets, etc., just like a wooden structure. Among the mausoleums and palaces excavated in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they are the most luxurious and unique in style. Among the ground buildings of the tombs in the Dongling Tomb, Cixi's Mausoleum is the most gorgeous. The dragon and phoenix stone in front of the Ming'en Hall adopts the openwork technique, with the phoenix on top and the dragon on the bottom, with the dragon flying and the phoenix dancing, and the look is vivid. The inner walls of the east and west side halls are inlaid with brick carvings, and the brackets, beams, and ceilings are all gilded. The bright pillars in the main hall are decorated with golden dragons coiled around them, and the hall is magnificent.
Qingxi Mausoleum: The four emperors Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Guangxu and their concubines are buried. (Be sure to remember)
3. Qianling Mausoleum
Qianling Mausoleum: It is the joint burial mausoleum of Gaozong Li Zhi, the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Empress Wu Zetian. Located in Liangshan, Qian County, Shaanxi Province. (Remember)
Qianling Mausoleum: with the main peak in the north as the mausoleum and the two peaks in the south as the que, the mausoleum area imitates the layout of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, with an outer wall of more than 80 miles. There are more than 120 large-scale stone sculptures on both sides of the Shinto, and there are 17 tombs for princes, nobles, relatives, heroes and generals. It is the crown of all the tombs of emperors of the Tang Dynasty. It is known from records and archaeological excavations that the Qianling Mausoleum may be the only tomb of a Tang Dynasty emperor that has not been robbed. The underground palace has not yet been excavated. Among the large stone sculptures, two are famous for being unique: one is the wordless stele, which is 7.53 meters high and is a complete huge stone with no words when it was first erected. There are two theories about the reason why there are no words. One is that Wu Zetian's "high achievements and great deeds" are difficult to express in words; the other is that Wu Zetian believed that her merits and demerits should be evaluated by future generations, so there are no words. The current text on the stele is an inscription made by later people when they visited Shangyuan, and most of the content is an evaluation of the history between Li Tang and Wu Zhou. The second one is the stone statues of exotic figures from Shinto.
5. Famous modern mausoleums in China
(1) Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum It is the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It is located at the southern foot of Maoshan Mountain, the second peak in the middle of Zhongshan Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing. It was built in January 1926 and completed in the spring of 1929. On June 1 of the same year, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's body was moved here from Biyun Temple in Xiangshan, Beijing for burial. The mausoleum is in the style of a wooden dome, built close to the mountain, and ascends gradually from south to north, followed by the archway, tomb passage, mausoleum gate, stele hall, platform, and finally the sacrificial hall and tomb chamber. The tomb chamber is 158 meters above sea level. The distance from the entrance to the tomb passage to the tomb chamber is more than 700 meters. There are 392 stone steps in total. In the memorial hall is a seated stone statue of Sun Yat-sen. Surrounded by reliefs of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary deeds, his posthumous work "Outline of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" is engraved on the four walls. Behind the sacrificial hall is the tomb chamber with a spherical structure. In the middle is a round marble cenotaph, and in the middle is a rectangular tomb. On the coffin is engraved the image of Sun Yat-sen lying in rest.
(2) Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is located at the southern end of Tiananmen Square. Construction started in November 1976 and was completed in August of the following year.
It is a building facing south and north, facing Tiananmen Square in the north and south. The memorial hall is a majestic square building with Chinese national style. On the maroon granite pillars, there is a roof covered with golden glazed tiles, and a huge white marble plaque with the words "Chairman Mao Memorial Hall" in gold is inlaid directly above the door. There are two groups of large group sculptures on each side of the memorial hall, surrounded by flowers, plants and trees from all over the country. The whole building is majestic and solemn.
The memorial hall consists of three parts: the North Hall, the Paying Respect Hall and the South Hall. In the center of the North Hall is a seated statue of Chairman Mao carved in white marble over 3 meters high. A giant velvet embroidery depicting the mountains and rivers of the motherland hangs on the wall behind it. This is the place where commemorative activities are held. The viewing hall is the core part of the memorial hall. The white marble wall in the front of the hall is inlaid with golden characters "The great leader and mentor Chairman Mao Zedong is immortal". The crystal coffin is placed in the brilliant flowers in the center of the hall. Chairman Mao's body is covered with Chinese* The flag of the Communist Party of China. On the white marble wall of the hall facing the hall, Chairman Mao's poem "Man Jiang Yue" is engraved. "Comrade Guo Weiruo" is written in gold, and there are rest rooms on the east and west sides. In December 1983, memorial rooms for Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi and Zhu De were set up in the memorial hall.