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Beijing attractions |
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Changling Tomb |
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All in, thirteen of sixteen Ming Emperors were buried in this royal necropolis, including Empresses and many concubines, some buried alive to accompany the Emperor to his next world. |
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Changling, the biggest mausoleum, was built for the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, and took 18 years to complete. Zhu Di was the Emperor who built the Forbidden City, commissioned the Great Dictionary of Yongle (Yongle Dadian) and sent the eunuch Admiral Cheng He to South-East Asia, Ceylon, India, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
Changling is surrounded by sixteen satellite tombs for Zhu Di’s concubines, and the tumulus has not yet been excavated.
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Construction |
Changling, built from 1409 to 1427, is located at the foot of the Heavenly Longevity Hill.
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Architecture |
The buildings are square in the front part and round in the rear, representing earth and heaven respectively. For earth was believed to be square and heaven round. It is divided into three courtyards and the main buildings arranged on the central axis are still standing there.
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| | | Function of Ling'en Hall | | Ling en Hall (the Hall of Eminent Favor), also called offerings hall, used to be the place to keep memorial tablets inscribed with the names of deceased emperors. Sacrificial ceremonies were held here too. | | | | | | Architecture of Ling'en Hall | The hall is supported by 60 pillars made of nanmu (phoebe nanmu). The 32 inside the hall are over 12 meters high and the four in the innermost are the biggest, each being 14.3 meters high and 1.17 meters in diameter, so big that two men can not put their arms around it.
They were make out of single tree trunks, rarely seen in the world. Nothing was painted inside the hall to maintain its natural colour. The hall is the
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largest and the most magnificent building of nanmu wood that still exists in China.Nanmu, a kind of valuable timber, was cut in southwest China and carred all the way to Beijing. |
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The soul Tower
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The soul Tower was built at the top of Square City in front of the earth mound. It is the mark of an imperial tomb. Above the gate is a plaque inscribed with the name of the tomb, and inside the tower is a stone tablet carved with characters Tomb of Emperor Cheng Zu of the Great Ming, Cheng Zu being the posthumous title of Emperor Yongle.
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Human Sacrifice in Changling |
| According to historical records, there were 16 imperial concubines buried alive in the east and west pits as funeral objects of the emperor. They were called pits because they were vertical shafts without horizontal tunnels. |
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In the slavery society, human sacrifice was commonplace. From the Qin and Han dynasties onwards, wooden or earthen figures were used instead. However, the cruel system was not abrogated thoroughly and the first Ming emperor restored the old system with 46 imperial concubines buried with him. This practice ended when the sixth Ming emperor issued an edict in mid-15th century to abolish the system of human sacrifice. | |  |
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| Admission Fee: | CNY 30 (Nov.1 to Mar. 31)
CNY 45 (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31) | | Opening Hours: | 08:30 to 17:30 | Recommended
Time for a Visit: | Two hours | | Tourist Bus Route: | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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