Why is only Changling among the Ming Tombs inscribed with inscriptions?

There is a general view that because the emperor is the king of a country, his great achievements can not be concealed by a small inscription, so the emperors of the Ming Dynasty do not engrave inscriptions. Moreover, according to legend, Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty once said that "the inscriptions on the imperial tombs are all washed white by Confucian ministers, which may not be enough for future generations." The inscriptions written by courtiers are all good words, and it is impossible to judge whether they can be recognized by future generations. Therefore, later officials did not dare to burn their political achievements on the emperor's tombstone, and only the emperor who inherited the throne had the power to set up inscriptions.

As a matter of fact, the six emperors after the Ming Dynasty had no stone pavilions, and the six stone pavilions were built by Emperor Sejong Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. Later, in order to show the achievements of Ming Chengzu, Emperor Jiajing added a stone tablet and a pavilion for him. Emperor Jiajing once gave Xia Yan, a great scholar, an imperial edict: "In the past, workers in the mausoleum told the Qing Dynasty that the only mausoleum had a merit tablet, but the sixth mausoleum did not, so it could not show merit. Now properly add positions to show the company's route. "

After the completion of the project, Yan Song played Emperor Jiajing and asked for an inscription. He said: "The inscription of Emperor Chengzu Wendi's" Shengde Shen Gong "was written by Renzong Zhao. Today's tomb inscriptions such as Changling, please ask the emperor to write the words in person, engrave the inscriptions, record the merits, and display them in the world. " If the inscription was written by Emperor Jiajing, it met the requirements of writing the inscription on the imperial tomb in the Ming Dynasty. However, Emperor Jiajing never completed this great cause. Some people think that Emperor Jiajing was so addicted to singing and dancing that he had no time to take care of the writing of inscriptions. Others say that it is because Emperor Jiajing was influenced by Taoism. Opinions vary.