The Ming Tombs
All but one of the Ming emperors are buried here. One emperor is buried outside Nanjing. Most of the outside statuary and buildings surrounding the tomb in Nanjing have been destroyed during the wars and revolutions in this century. The thirteen Ming tombs outside Beijing have been better preserved, benefiting from their remote location. Only the Ding tomb of Emperor Wan Li (Zhu Yijun) and his two wives is open to the public.
The tomb was built below ground in a great vaulted brickwork cavern. The story is that the workmen repeatedly set fire to the timber tomb which had been originally planned to put off the day of completion once the rumor spread that they would be interred in the tomb when they finished. A good plan, but then the designs where changed to use stone. The vault must be at least thirty feet high and supports a rather large hill on its roof. You enter from the top and it there seemed to be about five or six full flights of stairs to the bottom. Fortunately, there are only two flights up to the exit
While the tombs are impressive, the real attraction is outside. There are wonderful gardens of recent vintage and a feeling of being inside the hills of China. There are pagodas on the top of distant hills remind you that you are in China. They are placed for prayer, contemplation, and remove from the life of the ordinary.
When a Ming emperor died, it was the death of a Son of Heaven. To provide a proper setting for the entombment, a concourse was built to be used only for the funeral processions leading to the hills in which the tombs were built. Great stone beasts and figures of ministers and warriors lined the path on either side. Their brooding presence gave stiff attention to the event. The gate at the end marked the passage to another life and the assumption of the Mandate to Rule by the new emperor. The Sacred Way is about 4 miles, measured from the gate to the entrance of the central tomb.