Secret: Why didn't Emperor Qianlong and his father Yong Zhengdi be buried in Xiling?

After emperor Qianlong ascended the throne, he wanted to follow his father Yongzheng to choose the mausoleum site in Xiling as a sign of filial piety, which was also in line with Zhao Mu's system, so he chose a place in Xiling. However, he later considered that future generations would follow his example, and father and son would go to Xiling for burial, while Dongling was neglected, leaving only filial piety and respect for Erling, and the garden was deserted. In order to take care of the second mausoleum, he once again chose Wannian Jidi in Shengshuiyu of Dongling. In the seventh year of Qianlong, people were sent to survey the terrain, and ground was broken on the tenth day of February in the eighth year of Qianlong.

Regarding this matter, Qianlong made it very clear in 61 as the imperial edict promulgated by the Emperor's Father:

I visited Dabao, and I want to build an eternal auspicious place near Tailing. Because I thought the imperial examination mausoleum was in the west, I set up an eternal auspicious place, close to the imperial examination. Ten thousand years later, my children and grandchildren also thought of being closer to grandpa. They all chose Ji Jingxi, but they were far away from Xiaoling and Jingling on the East Road, which was not enough to show filial piety and declare their love. It is a holy water valley built in Dongling for thousands of years. If the emperor and grandson are heirs, because I chose to build it in the east, it is separate from the Tailing, unlike continuation. The heir, Wan Nianji, should choose his own residence in the Xiling boundary. It is said that the yamen was built near Tailing for this purpose. When Sun Ren inherited the whole concept, his auspicious place should be built in Dongling boundary. I worship, celebrate the delay of melon, accept it, choose things according to the order of Zhao and Mu, and they are connected by one vein, so as not to be handed back far away. Zunhua and Yizhou are two places with deep mountains and rivers and exquisite wind chimes. There are many auspicious places, so you don't need to make a choice elsewhere. This is a good law that has been applied for generations. My children and grandchildren should only obey my orders, trace back to the source, celebrate the jubilee and inherit the Millennium. This is my infinite blessing. This prophet.

Here, Qianlong proposed a method, that is, the giant burial system. To put it bluntly, one thing in the East and one thing in the West. Sun follows grandpa and nothing will be left out in the cold. He also tried to avoid that future generations, like his father Yongzheng, would build their own tombs no matter how far away from his father. If Nanling appears again, the situation in Beiling will not be worse. Therefore, he ordered that there was no need to make a choice elsewhere.

However, although the emperors after Qianlong did not choose other places, they did not strictly implement the system of giant burial. Jiaqing was buried in Xiling as ordered, and Jiaqing's son Daoguang should be buried in Dongling. Even the mausoleum has been repaired, but he also said that the underground palace was flooded and moved to Xiling, which changed the whole order. In fact, every emperor chooses his own mausoleum according to his own likes and dislikes. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi, who was in power later, should have been buried in Xiling, while Emperor Tongzhi was buried in Dongling, instead of being buried with his father. This is the exposure of contradictions within the royal family.