The Ming Tombs is a mountainous area with natural specifications. It belongs to the remnants of the Taihang Mountains and leads to Juyong in the west, Huanghua Town in the north, and Changping Prefecture in the south. It is not only a barrier to the mausoleums, but also a barrier to the capital. Beiping. The Taihang Mountains start from Zezhou and wind up to the north for thousands of miles, reaching Juyongguan. Thousands of peaks stand and wind back to the east, rising from the ground as Tianshou Mountain (formerly known as Huangtu Mountain). The mountain is lofty and upright, majestic and broad, with strong main force. Gu Yanwu, a famous scholar from the late Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem to describe the superior situation here: "The mountains come from the south, and they are as powerful as a dragon flying; Lulong sits on the east toe, and rides Taihang on the west spine; Huanghua sits on the back hill (referring to Huanghua Town). Facing Shenjing in the front, there is the Wannian Mansion, named Kangjiazhuang, which can accommodate millions of people. This beautiful natural landscape was regarded as a Feng Shui treasure by the feudal rulers. The Ming Tombs are a unified whole, and each mausoleum is an independent unit. The size of the tombs is similar. Each tomb is built in front of a mountain, ranging from as little as half a kilometer to as many as eight kilometers apart. Siling Mausoleum is located in the southwest corner, and the rest are arranged in a fan shape around Changling Mausoleum (see picture). This layout of building mausoleums on the mountain has also been praised by foreign experts. For example, the famous British historian Joseph Needham said: The imperial mausoleum is in China. The architectural form is a major achievement, and its entire patterned content is perhaps the greatest example of the integration of the entire architectural part with landscape art. He commented that the Ming Tombs are "the greatest masterpiece that can be seen on the gate tower." Admire the view of the entire valley and contemplate its majesty on an organic plane, with all its buildings blending into the landscape, a kind of wisdom of the people well expressed by the skill of the architects and builders. The British urban planner Edmund Bacon also spoke highly of the artistic achievements of the Ming Tombs. He believed that "the most magnificent example of 'motion' in architecture is the tomb of the Ming Dynasty emperor." He pointed out: the layout of the mausoleum complex built on the mountain "how magnificent their momentum is, the entire volume of the valley is used as a memorial to the dead king." "They vividly depicted the organic combination of the Ming Tombs architecture and the natural landscape. They highly appreciated the ingenuity of the working people in ancient my country.
It has been four or five hundred years since the Ming Tombs were built. It is one of the best-preserved imperial mausoleum buildings in the past. It has a majestic building, a complete system, a long history, and has high historical and cultural relic value. In order to protect this cultural relic, the party and the government have since. Maintenance began in the early days of liberation and the Ming Tombs were protected as a national key cultural relic. In 1957, the Beijing Municipal Government announced the Ming Tombs as one of the first batch of key ancient cultural relics protection units in Beijing. In 1961, the Ming Tombs were announced. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit. In 1982, the State Council announced that the Badaling-Ming Tombs Scenic Area was one of the 44 key scenic spots and protection areas in the country. In 1991, the Ming Tombs was designated as one of the "Top 40 Chinese Tourist Attractions" by the National Tourism Administration. "One of the best". In 1992, the Ming Tombs was rated as "the most complete tomb group in the world with the largest number of emperors buried" by the Beijing Tourism World's Best Selection Committee. ”
The Shen Road is the first scenic spot of the Ming Tombs. It consists of the stone archway, Dahongmen, stele tower, Shixiangsheng, Longfengmen, etc.
The stone archway is the tomb area. The first building in front of it was built in 1540 (the 19th year of Jiajing reign). The structure of the archway is composed of five couplets, six columns and eleven floors. Cloud patterns and reliefs of unicorns and lions. These patterns were originally decorated with various colors of paint, but have been completely eroded due to age. The entire archway has a magnificent structure and exquisite carvings, which reflects the excellent level of stone construction craftsmanship in the Ming Dynasty. /p>
After passing the stone archway, you can see two hills on the left and right of the Shinto: Dragon Mountain (also called Mang Mountain), which is shaped like a leaping blue dragon; It is Hushan (commonly known as Huyu), which looks like a vigilant tiger lying on the ground. There is a legend in ancient Chinese Taoism that "green dragon on the left and white tiger on the right" are auspicious omens. The "dragon" and "tiger" are arranged on the left and right, guarding majestically. It is the gate of the Ming Tombs.
The Dahongmen is located directly south of the mausoleum area. The gate is divided into three holes, also known as the Dagong Gate, and is the main entrance of the cemetery.
There was originally a stone tablet erected on both sides of the gate, with the words "Officials and others are waiting to dismount here" engraved on it. Anyone who comes to pay homage to the mausoleum must enter the cemetery from now on to show the supreme dignity of the imperial mausoleum. There were originally two corner gates on both sides of the gate, connected by an 80-mile-long red wall. In the winding wall, there is another small red gate and ten entrances and exits, all of which are heavily guarded. It is a forbidden area that is inaccessible to the common people. These walls have now collapsed, and some remnants are still visible.
Shinto The avenue behind Dahongmen is called Shinto, also known as Tomb Road. It starts from the stone archway, passes through Dahongmen, and leads to Changling. It was originally built for Changling, but later it became the main tomb road in the entire mausoleum area. The road runs through the north and south of the cemetery, with a total length of 7 kilometers. There are a series of buildings along the road, which are well-proportioned and spectacular.
The stele pavilion is located in the center of the Shinto. It is a tall square pavilion with double eaves and four raised corners. It was built for Changling. There is a stone tablet with a dragon's head and a turtle's head erected in the pavilion, which is more than 6 meters high. It is titled "Stele of Divine Merits and Virtues in Changling of the Ming Dynasty". The inscription is more than 3,500 words long. It was written by Zhu Gaochi, Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty, and written by Cheng Nanyun, a famous calligrapher in the early Ming Dynasty. On the negative side of the stele is also engraved "Thirteen Rhymes of Aiming Mausoleum" written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The inscription on the stele was written in 1425 (the first year of Hongxi), but the stone was not carved until 1435 (the tenth year of Xuande). The inscription records in detail the dilapidated condition of Chang, Yong, Ding and Si tombs. On the east side of the monument is the record of the Qing court's expenditure on building the Ming Tomb. On the west side, Emperor Jiaqing discusses the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. There are four white stone huabiao standing on the four corners of the stele pavilion. On the top of each of them there is a strange beast named Wangtian Piangkong. The Chinese watch and the stele pavilion set off each other and look very solemn and vigorous. On the east side of the stele pavilion, there was originally a palace, which was used as a dressing place for emperors and empresses when they came to pay homage to the mausoleum, but it no longer exists.
Stone sculpture group The stone sculptures of humans and animals placed in front of the mausoleum were called stone statues in ancient times (the stone figures were also called Weng Zhong). Starting from the two hexagonal stone pillars in the north of the stele pavilion and ending at the Longfeng Gate, there are 24 stone beasts and 12 stone figures neatly arranged on both sides of the kilometer-long shrine. The shapes are vivid and the carvings are fine, making them deeply loved by tourists. Their large number, large shape, exquisite carving and good preservation are rare among ancient Chinese cemeteries. There are 6 types of stone beasts, each with 4 animals, all standing and kneeling. Displaying them here has a certain meaning. For example, the lion is mighty and good at fighting; the Haechi is a legendary mythical beast that is good at distinguishing between good and evil, and is accustomed to use the horn on its head to attack evil people. Both the lion and the haechi symbolize the guards guarding the tomb. Qilin is the legendary "benevolent beast" and represents auspiciousness. Camels and elephants are loyal and kind, and can carry heavy loads for long distances. Horses are good at running and can be used as mounts. The stone figures are divided into four types: honorable ministers, civil servants and military ministers. They were the emperor's close servants during his lifetime. They are all standing statues holding sceptres in their hands, majestic and pious. The installation of such stone statues in imperial tombs dates back to the Qin and Han Dynasties more than 2,000 years ago. It is mainly used as a decoration to symbolize the emperor's dignity during his lifetime. It means that after his death, the emperor will have hundreds of civil and military officials and various livestock to drive around, and he can still dominate everything.
Lingxing Gate is also called Longfeng Gate. There are three door openings formed by four stone pillars. The door pillars are similar to Huabiao, with cloud panels and strange animals on them. The central part of the three door arches is also decorated with a stone-carved fire bead, so the door is also called the "Flame Archway". On the northwest side of Longfeng Gate, there was originally a palace, which was the resting place for emperors and empresses when they paid homage to the mausoleum.