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Published: September 16th 2007
Red lacquered coffins sitting in the Ming Tomb of Emperor Wanli.
Three large, red lacquered coffins in the only excavated tomb of Ming Emperor Wanli sit in the back chamber of the underground marble palace. They are for his remains and that of his two wifes. 26 slightly smaller red trunks contained the royal treasure.The emperors of China were called "The Sons of Heaven" and their journey into the beyond was of special concern from the moment of their coronation. It had been so for thousands of years, as imperial tombs can be visited around China's former imperial cities, most still to be unearthed and opened.
Traditions make the Chinese reluctant to speak about death, and their culture has survived many other superstitions. In spite of these, or because of them, a newly-enthroned emperor pursued the search for an immediate site-location for his tomb, preparing him, a "Son of Heaven" not immortal, for the inevitable for all of us.
Careful geomantic surveys were undertaken by China's greatest "fengshui" masters to locate and to prepare the imperial cemeteries.
Thirteen of the seventeen powerful Ming Dynasty Emperors, who ruled China from the 13th into the 17th Century, "settled" on a location some 30 miles North of Beijing. They found a lovely valley as suitable. The site is guarded by mountains on three sides, re-enforced by the Great Wall. The valley lay open facing the South, toward their Capitol of Beijing.
The Ming cemetery-area occupies a peaceful place in nature despite an over-abundance of
One of three white marble thrones in Wanli's Tomb.
The three marble thrones were intended for Wanli and his two wifes to rule his empire from the world beyond. tourists. Some of the finest fruits such as peaches, pears, and apples grow in abundance in orchards cared for and harvested by the locals, and surround the burial site. They are the result of a milder climate in this wind-protected valley, short distances from the Forbidden City's palaces of the emperor of China.
Travelling an hour North from Beijing, in the direction of The Great Wall, thousands of visitors, packed in caravans of modern busses, come to visit this royal cemetery known as the Ming Tombs, which are among China's great historical treasures.
The Ming Tombs have been designated as one of China's many World Heritage Sites. The area of the cemetery spreads over 15 square miles above ground, and is admired for its natural setting and scenic beauty among the numerous fruit gardens. These become a special attraction during spring when they display their colorful blossoms. What has been carved below-ground can only be gestimated.
Hidden among these acres of trees lure some of the most impressive structures dating from the Ming Dynasty, who ruled the Empire of China during the time of the Europe's late Middle Ages, the time of Shakespeare and Martin Luther. Somber,
The Spirit Tower and its chambers below is our goal in part 2 of this journal entry.
This tower is known as the Spirit Tower and marks the entrance to the burial chamber. Behind it is an earthen mound, surrounded by a circular rampart, and covers the stone burial chamber. massive structures of stone and other spectacular halls made and shaped from wood stand as a reminder of wealth and power to the Ming dynasty's entombed emperors. (These great halls have been constructed without one single nail having been used.)
Here, among the serenety of the land just below the mountains, the Ming Dynasty had chosen their final resting place some 500 year ago. Protected and nestled between short distances from the Great Wall to the North and the Forbidden City in the South, thirteen Ming emperors constructed their palaces for their eternity. From here they would continue to rule their empire from the beyond.
The graceful architecture of the exquisite Ming wood-structures that stand above-ground would be ravished by nature, war, and man. But the thirteen huge, underground, vaulted, marble and stone palaces would survive time.
Only one of the thirteen, under-ground, imperial, burial-chambers, which contained the "royal content" of the longest reigning emperor, Wanli, at this sprawling royal cemetary has been successfully excavated. Its huge marble gates could only be opened in 1958, after one of the archeologist found a secret stone-tablet left behind by one of the tomb's designers. The tablet was found by
The valley of the royal cemetery.
A few of the above-ground buildings of the 13 Ming tombs are visible in the distance, protected in the north by the mountains on which the Great Wall is constructed. accident, and became the key to solving the problem of entry into this tomb, after having been sealed for centuries.
The vaulted, marble palace of emperor Wanli, built deep underground so that it is cool in the summer and comfortably warm in winter, consists of three main burial chambers. At the entrance to the ante-chamber is the massive, carved-marble gateway. The floor is paved with specially made "golden bricks", which were fired for 130 days and dipped in tung-oil before being laid.
The remaining Ming Tombs are now being probed by archeologist, but the secret to their entry is well beyond present archeological methods. It seems that the designers of the tombs created ingenious door locking mechanishms, that closed and sealed the marble gates behind them, to keep their secrets for many more generations to come.
Spectacular content in the tomb of Ming emperor Wanli was found inside 26 large red-lacquered chests. The treasures are on display above-ground in the magnificent Hall of Sacrifice. The artifacts are evidence of the wonders and the craftmanship extolled in the fabled stories of a few Western visitors to this "heavenly" court of the Ming Dynasty.
This one opened tomb
carved stone relief
A wall of carved stone depicts the massive construction efforts of consripted laborers and artisans in their efforts to complete the Ming Tombs. of Wanli aroused my interest and the visit was well worth the descend into this under-world. I found my place among thousands of Chinese tourist, each "pushing" forward, to be the next-first person at the entrance of the emperor's vault.
The rush down and the push toward the vault containing the coffins and marble-thrones seemed out of character for a people, who refuse the thought of death, yet rush into these deep catacombs to be near it.
Massive blocks of smooth, cold, marble shape the wide and high-domed passages. These lead the shoving and impatient visitors to the vaults containing the Wanli tomb's only remaining content: the now empty red lacquer coffins of Emperor Wanli and his two wifes, 26 red lacquer trunks, whose precious content is on display in the museum above, and three beautifully carved white-marble thrones, that are located in the central chamber, placed one behind the other.
In front of each of these white marble thrones are five drumshaped stools for holding offerings and a large glazed pot known as the "Ever Bright Lamp". The lamps would have been filled with oil and lit before the tomb was sealed.
The back chamber
Remembering "The Spirit Way", as it is the beginning of the ceremonial funeral route.
The long journey of the body of the emperor to the burial chambers first passed through the "Spirit Way".
It's story is Part 1 of Journal entry #83. was the actual repository of the royal coffins. On being opened by the excavation team they were found to be stuffed with over 300 assorted garments.
Even more lavish, countless pieces of jewelry, curios, and procelain stowed in the 26 lacquer chests, were also deposited to provide for a luxurious life in the nether world.
Visitors quickly recognize their insignificant size, walking like dwarfs along and among the smooth, giant chambers.
Interred here, deep below the earth was the emperor Wanli, believed to be divine, who ruled China for 48 years and died in 1620, during America's earliest colonial years. History has judged his excesses and follies as one of the reasons for the decline of the Ming Dynasty.
Burried with him "alive" in these cold and stark chambers where concubines and eunichs, to help him on his journey. It must have been frightning for them, as the oversized marble gates of the tomb closed behind them, to seal their fate.
The tomb is a deep, below-ground, marble fortress fashioned by China's best craftsmen of the time. Its enormous, dirt-dome is hardly visible to the visitors walking above, among the trees.
The gigantic stretches
The Spirit Way connected to the final route to the chambers.
On a North-South Axis, the route connected to the entrance of the Ming burial grounds. of corridor inside the tomb were created for a giant. No doubt the emperor viewed himself as such. The tomb's five. gigantic chambers are also layed out in geomantic and geometric patterns. They immitate the master-plan of The Forbidden City in Beijing, the emperor's home while ruling the earth.
This below-ground stone fortress, (there are 12 more to be opened in the future), is just another monument to the fabulous Ming Dynasty, the builders of many of China's great historical attractions, including the largest sections of The Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, and the Forbidden City, at a human cost of millions.
Today, the burial grounds are overwhelmed by sweating and pushing tourists, who arrive in modern and air-conditioned busses. Hundreds of tour-groups are rushed as each is admonished not to linger, and to follow the little raised colored flag of the tour-guides. (Tour-guides make sure there is time for the obligatory, un-necessary visit to the jade factories and to newly established medical facilities for those who may be in need of them as they age. The guides take this time to lure the coins from the pockets of the "rich" Westerners. This of course limits the
Entrance Gate to the Ming Tombs
We have left the Spirit Way, and our direction continues north toward the entrance gate of the royal cemetery. The protective mountains are visible in the distance. time for what visitors truly came to see in China.)
Some visitors return from the walk in this royal cemetary disappointed, their expectations left unsatisfied. They will walk for hours above, on beautifully landscaped spaces, guided forward on a central stone-street heading from South to North, among some of China's great ancient architecture, through forboding, massive towers and gates that house the story of the great Ming dynasty, carved into huge stelees. (These are up-right stone tablets that carry inscriptions and messages for eternity).
Few of these disappointed visitors recognize nor appreciate, that it had taken 600,000 laborers over six years to construct just this one, massive, underground fortification honoring death.
In the summer heat they stroll among trees, which have been watered by the sweat and the tears and the blood of laborers and conscripted peasants. Today's visitor can easily seek shade from the summer heat among these trees, and forget the sorrows and sufferings of those not privileged to have been named a "Son of Heaven".
******In the last journal entry, #83, we strolled and admired the Ming Tomb's "Spirit Way", guarded by the 36 stone sculptures of animals and men. This photo-journey, #84,
View toward the Gate of Eminent Favor.
Passing through the entrance gate of the cemetery area, we are first greeted by the Gate of Eminent Favor just ahead. continues the path into the actual burial grounds of the Ming Tombs. The photos in this Blog-entry capture some of the wonders above and below the earth. There are 33 photos and I encourage you to enlarge them for greater details.
I hope you continue to enjoy sharing my adventures in China, and I send you greetings and good wishes, always. Thank you for your kind comments and your thoughts in remembering me. I miss everyone very much.*******
The students of Taizhou Teachers College have returned to commence another year of studies. It will be the beginning of my second year at the school, and I look forward to presenting the photos of their return in the next journal entry.
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jasmine.wang
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truth
Wow,that's amazing!Although I'm a chinese,I know less about Ming Tomb than you.In fact,it's a pity that many young Chinese people don't care about the history,We(besides me ) always head for something fashionable such as hot clothes,pop music,and even handsome boys or pretty girls... What the most important thing is that we forgot our responsibilities.When I saw what you have written in your blog,i was embarrassed ,for many foreigners tend to know our history,however, we chinese(some of us)abandoned our historical knowledge...B...U...T,those pictures you've displayed upside were really very nice,it must be a wonderful journey,right?