Ming Tombs -Abridged Dictionary

The Stone Archway is the southernmost structure of the Ming tombs and is the first glimpse of this serene area that visitors see.

This memorial archway was erected to emphasize imperial virtues and symbolized the merits and deeds of the tomb occupants.

The structure has five openings increasingly taller from outside to the center. The pillar bases are engraved with dancing dragons on all four sides. Stone lions - all facing the center - rest on both sides of the elevated pillar bases.

Whereas noone can miss the prominent Big Red Gate, further up the road, the Stone Archway is poorly marked and easily missed on the way to the area.

The combined walled area directly in front of the Precious Mound was named the Precious Citadel. It included the Square City and the walled yard right behind it.

The name probably stems from the fact that this part of the mausoleum has a big similarity to a fortress with its massive pile of earth and large, brick reinforced walls. The Citadel was perceived as a structure which stood in front of- and protected the Underground Palace.

The smaller, semicircular closed yard behind the Square City and in front of The Precious Mound is called "Ya Ba Yuan" or crescent Castle.

The picture shows the Crescent City on the left; large trees can be seen growing in the courtyard. The crenellated walkway leading to the Square City is seen right.

The Big Red Gate is the main entrance to the Beijing Ming tombs.

It is a large construction with a single-eave gabled roof covered with yellow glazed tiles. The three openings are of equal size and are equipped with double, wooden doors.

On both sides of the Grand Palace Gate are Dismounting Tablets. All visitors to the tomb area - including the Emperor and his entire entourage - had to dismount their means of transportation here and walk on foot through the gate!

In imperial days, the Big Red Gate was heavily guarded. Nowadays the gate lies peacefully alone and merely divides traffic on the main road to and from the tombs.

Originally, a wall extended from both sides of this gate and all around the whole mausoleum area. Now only tiny, symbolic wall remnants are left.

The burial chamber was located some 10 meters underground beneath the Precious Mound. It is not necessarily placed in the dead center of the Tomb Mound.

Of all the Ming tombs only the burial chamber of Dingling, the mausoleum of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1573-1620), has been excavated. All other mausolea have so far been left unopened and none of them show any signs of looting by grave robbers.

The nickname of "Underground Palace" reflects that the layout of the burial chambers of Dingling resemble the layout of the key palaces in The Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Underground Palace consisted of 5 main chambers: the rear (and main) burial chamber (picture), two side chambers, a central chamber with marble thrones and an outer hall. Self-locking Doors between the main chambers made passage very difficult.

The area between the Square City and the Precious Mound formed a small courtyard called Mutes' Yard, - Ya Ba Yuan in Chinese.

Seen from above the yard was shaped like a crescent and hence it is also called the "Crescent Castle".

At both ends stairs lead up to the crenellated wall around the "Square City". Other access ways could be through a tunnel in the base of the "Square City". This tunnel ended in the center of the yard.

Directly opposite the tunnel opening was a screen wall decorated with glazed tiles (left, with many tourist in front).

The nickname "Mutes' Yard" originated in the myth that workers constructing the tomb were mutes, who could not reveal its secrets. This is incorrect as the workers were either killed or sent to desert locations after completion. Rather, the expression describes that behind here were hidden parts or components.

A large stone block was placed in the center of the stairs leading up to Ling'en Hall and Ling'en Gate.

It was exquisitely carved, showing a phoenix and a dragon in a lively "dance" amongst the clouds and high above mountain peaks and a river.

The dragon symbolizes the emperor and the phoenix the empress. The contents however vary, in some tombs the phoenix has been replaced by another dragon.

The one pictured is from Dingling and is probably the best one in all the Ming tombs.

Few imperial structures contained both the dragon and phoenix symbols at the same time. Another good example would be the Dragon-Phoenix Gate.

When in 1956 the archaeologists commenced the excavation of Dingling they soon unearthed a small stone tablet.

It was engraved with Chinese characters literally meaning, "from this stone to the front of the Diamond Wall, it is 16 zhang long and 3 zhang and 5 chi deep".

The Diamond Wall was the entrance to the Underground Palace.

Indeed, when they finally made it to the tomb entrance it was confirmed to be 52.8 meters horizontally and 11.5 meters vertically from where the tablet was found (1 zhang = 3.3m, 1 chi = 0.3m) !!

The image shows the original Direction Tablet. It is on display in Exhibition Hall No.1 inside Dingling tomb, but there is no signage explaining how important this piece of rock really was.

A memorial stele was erected in front of the later Ming mausoleums. The first traditional stele was erected at Tailing, the tomb of 10th Ming Hongzhi emperor.

Mounted on a Bixi, a tortoise-shaped mystic animal, which rests on a stone platform, the blank stele stands 5 meters tall as a silent tribute to the tomb occupant.

In a strange twist, it was the 12th (Jiajing) Emperor, who ordered the "first" memorial stele erected at Tailing, his uncle's tomb. But when it was completed four years later he had lost all interest in the matter and left the stele bare.

Subsequent Ming emperors followed suit by erecting memorial steles at their tombs, leaving them blank in order not to offend previous emperors.

The stele was originally housed in a square building, but these buildings have long since collapsed.

Visitors to the Ming Tombs would first arrive at the main mausolea entrance, the Big Red Gate, guarding the beginning of the Sacred Way.

But in respect to the tomb occupants, visitors were only allowed to proceed through the main entrance on foot. So on both sides of the Big Red Gate was a so-called "Dismounting Tablet" where riders would have to dismount. Even the emperor and empress had to step out of their palanquins.

The tablet is basically a double level stone platform with a tall stone tablet in the center. The word "dismount" is inscribed on both sides.

Nowadays very few tourists arrive on horseback or in palanquin and the Dismounting Tablets mostly lie forgotten and almost hidden in the roadside foliage.

Styled after the traditional Pailou found spanning many main streets of Chinese cities, the Double Pillar Gate or Ling Xing Men - can be found in most Ming dynasty mausoleums.

The gate is always erected in the rear, restricted access burial section of the mausoleum, built across the Internal Sacred Way and between the sacrificial Stone Vessels and the Inner (Triple) Gate.

Its primary purpose was purely symbolic, namely to remind visitors of the exalted tomb occupant. The idea of this structure stems all the way from the Western Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 25). Its original purpose was to solicit blessing from the Lingxing Star for a good harvest.

The gate serves the double purpose of protecting the tomb from evil spirits since it was believed that they could only travel in straight lines. In most Ming tombs only the two side stone pillars each having a Qilin on top are extant. Pictured is the restored Double Pillar Gate of Dingling.

Located on the Sacred Way at the end of the path lined with Stone Sculptures, the Dragon and Phoenix Gate stood as a symbol of the nobility of the Monarchial system.

The dragon symbolized the emperor and the phoenix the empress. This gate is one of the few imperial structures which contains both symbols. Another tomb item with both symbols would frequently be the Danbi Stone.

The gate had three openings; between them were vermilion painted, decorated wall pieces covered with yellow glazed tiles. A carving of a flaming pearl decorates the horizontal bars over the three doors wherefore the gate was also popularly called the "Flame Gate" or "Arch of Flames".

After their death, the emperor and empress were always carried through this gate on their way to the funeral. Many people therefore called it the "Gate of Heaven".

Also called the "Precious Top". Once the Burial Chamber had been sealed, it was literally buried under a huge pile of earth, which was nicknamed the Precious Mound.

In a few cases an additional mound was erected on top of the center of the mound itself (see picture). The additional mound was circular and similar in size to those used for concubine tombs.

The pile of earth was kept in place by an encircling wall, which had a crenellated walkway at its top perimeter.

Nowadays, the Precious Mound is overgrown by grass and trees. The soil has also began to settle which has flattened the top significantly.

The later Qing dynasty covered the mound with mortar (soil, lime and sand) to create a more robust and durable mound.

The tomb mound covering the Burial Chamber was held in place by a crenellated, encircling wall, nicknamed "The Round Wall".

The wall was constructed with the traditional, oversized gray bricks.

Contrary to the walls around the front courtyards, which were covered with a layer of mortar (picture, front), the encircling wall was generally left in its natural state (picture, rear).

The bricks were manufactured by the best factories of the empire. To this very day many of the bricks still carry inscriptions of either the name of the tomb they were made for or the name of the manufacturer.

Trees have often over time penetrated the brick wall (see picture), but by and large these tomb walls have withstood the colossal pressure of the earth mound inside as well as the tides of time.

The last structure on the Sacred Way is the Five-arch Bridge.

It is a little difficult to locate! It sits inconspicuously as a normal passageway at a place where your attention is naturally drawn to its larger sister, the Seven-Arch Bridge.

The water flow that the bridge spans has long since dried up and been replaced by weeds.

The photo shows all five arches. Note that the front arch in the picture is the southernmost one. The northern -fifth- arch has almost been buried in soil over time and is completely overgrown with weeds.

The classic Front Gate was a large structure with three entrances and a single-eave hip and gable roof covered with yellow glazed tiles. It was kept in the imperial vermilion color.

However it was only Ming mausolea with a proper front yard as well as a ceremonial section and a rear burial section, which had a classic front gate. In all other mausolea the entrance - Ling’enmen to the ceremonial section - doubled up as a mausoleum front gate.

The center entrance was for the exquisite use by the deceased emperor and empress and was slightly larger than its sidekicks.

Ming tombs with a proper Front Gate were those of Xiaoling (1st Hongwu Emperor), Changling (3rd Yongle Emperor), Yongling (11th Jiajing Emperor) and Dingling (13th Wanli Emperor). The picture shows the Front Gate of Yongling.

In dynastic days some colors were for the exclusive use by the imperial family. One of these was "imperial yellow" - a rich and warm color.

It was for instance used for the tiles covering the roofs of buildings such as Tian’anmen and The Forbidden City.

The emperor always wore robes in imperial yellow for official state affairs as well as for major ceremonial events. On penalty of death nobody else could use an imperial color for any purpose.

In technical terms the color is hexadecimal "FF D1 19". What that is? It is the color of the frame on the left and the background color of the above heading of this dictionary entry.

I have chosen to keep all my web pages of the Ming Mausoleums in two primary colors: Imperial vermilion and imperial yellow.

Access from the main sacrificial area into the restricted Burial Section was through the Inner (Triple) Gate.

The center gate was normally more exquisitely decorated than the two side gates. Only the emperor or empresses could pass through the center gate.

Contrary to the main tomb entrance gate, these inner gates were not constructed as a hall but merely as wall passages with a roof covered with yellow glazed tiles. The openings were typically built into the dividing wall between the sacrificial and burial sections.

In some tombs the dividing wall would connect directly to Ling’endian in which case there was no Inner Triple Gate.

Depicted is the Triple Gate of Xianling. Due to the unusual layout of Xianling this particular gate is not elevated as it would be in most other Ming mausolea.

Each tomb had its own Sacred Way. Except for the very first tomb this was a subsidiary main way leading from the common Sacred Way to the front of the individual tomb.

In addition, each tomb would also have its own Internal Sacred Way. It was typically the center line of the mausoleum starting from the Memorial Stele and all the way through to the Soul Tower only interrupted by buildings, gates and ceremonial structures.

The internal Sacred Way was paved with 1-2 meter wide marble blocks. Only the emperor and empress could walk or be carried on this path.

Pictured is the Internal Sacred Way of Yongling, the tomb of the 11th Ming Emperor Jiajing (r.1521-1566).

Only in Xianling, the mausoleum of the 4th Ming Hongxi Emperor, is the Internal Sacred Way not aligned with the center line of the entire tomb.

This hall is by far the most imposing part of any Ming mausoleum. Also called the "Offerings Hall" or "Sacrificial Hall", memorial tablets with the names of the tomb occupants along with their thrones were kept here.

This large structure can cover up to 4,400 square meters although many were much smaller. The hall normally sits on a platform of beautiful, white marble. Three flights of stone lead up to the plateau of the hall itself. The Danbi Stone block is placed in the center of the stairs (see picture).

Sacrificial ceremonies were held inside the hall on the anniversaries of the deceased.

The picture shows the restored Ling’endian of Zhaoling, but most of these offering halls are either dilapidated or gone altogether apart from some remaining wall ruins.

This is the main entrance into the ceremonial area of a Ming mausoleum. It is also nicknamed the "blessing and grace" gate carrying the meaning of offering a sacrifice to the tomb and in return feeling thanksgiving and blessing from Heaven.

In most Ming tombs the gate is a 3 bay wide and one bay deep building with a single-eave roof covered with imperial yellow glazed tiles. The outer wall of the mausoleum joins up to the gate on both sides. The gate would normally sit on an elevated stone platform with three flights of stairs.

Just like the outer wall and most other tomb structures, the gate is painted in the imperial vermillion color.

The picture shows the inside of the restored Ling’enmen of Deling.

In mausoleums with three courtyards, Ling’enmen would be located in the wall separating the entrance yard from the ceremonial area.

Also nicknamed the "Soul Tower". Located on top of the Square City in front of the Precious Mound, the memorial tower marks an imperial burial place.

The memorial tower is a square building with openings on two or four sides and covered with a double eave roof with yellow glazed tiles. On the front under the roof overhang is a plague with the name of the tomb itself (e.g., Xianling).

The building contains a stone tablet inscribed with the name of the main tomb occupant.

In most Ming tombs the crenellated walkway around the tower is connected to a walkway on the wall, which encircles the Precious Mound.

The "Square City" together with a small courtyard right behind it were combined nicknamed "the Precious Citadel".

The Stele Pavilion is located in a small park area on the Sacred way in front of the Stone Sculptures.

In all four corners of the park is an Ornamental Column (huabiao).

Small dragons beautifully decorate the column bases and one dragon snakes its way around each column from the base to the top. A griff-like animal sits watchful on top of each column.

If you visit this place then make sure to make the extra effort to go up close to one of these columns and enjoy the exquisite stone masonry skills of the Ming dynasty.

The purpose of the ornamental columns was to emphasize the solemnity of the area.

Shenbo Ovens - popularly known as "Silk Burners" - were normally erected symmetrically on both sides of- and close to Ling'enmen.

They are rectangular miniature temples decorated with green- and yellow glazed ceramic tiles and covered with a yellow-glazed, single-eave gable and hip roof. The typical size is 2.9 meters long and 2.2 meters wide.

These ovens played an essential role in the memorial ceremonies; silk pieces or small pieces of paper inscribed with characters calling back the spirits of the dead were burnt in them. Ceremonies ended with burning paper with names of those attending the rituals in order to get earthly favors from the spirit in return for honoring the deceased.

Pictured is the restored western silk burner of Xiaoling, the mausoleum of the first Ming emperor Hongwu. The only extant original oven is located in Tailing tomb north of Beijing.

A 7 km path called the Sacred Way led from the overall mausolea entrance to the front of Changling, the first tomb built in this area.

Subsidiary Sacred Ways would branch off the main road to the lesser (later) tombs. Each tomb would in addition have its own Internal sacred Way.

In front of the Sacred Way is the Stone Memorial Arch followed by the Grand Palace Gate -popularly know as the Big Red Gate.

Next is the Shengong Shengde Stele Pavilion with Ornamental Columns at each corner, followed by the famous path lined with 12 pairs of Stone Animals and 6 pairs of Stone Statues. The path ends at the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.

The last two structures are the SEVEN-arch Bridge and, at the very end of the main Sacred Way, the FIVE-arch Bridge.

The tunnel to the Burial Chamber ended in the Crescent Castle. A large screen wall sealed off the tunnel opening.

The screen wall symbolizes the throat blockage of a mute, i.e. behind is a hidden part or component, which cannot be unveiled.

The screen wall was mostly painted in the imperial vermillion color and richly decorated with carvings and/or glazed, colored tiles.

Access to the Burial Chamber was however not a simple matter of breaking down the screen wall and leisurely stroll through a tunnel on the other side. The access tunnel was concealed, redirected and/or completely filled in.

But some help can sometimes be found: When excavating Dingling in 1959 the archaeologists soon discovered a small stone tablet, the Direction Tablet, the inscriptions on which gave directions to the Burial Chamber.

An ingenious yet simple method of self-locking doors was used to make entry into the sealed Burial Chamber very difficult.

Simply put, a thick pole with beveled ends was lodged between a bar at the inside of the door and the ground.

Before the doors were closed the pole would merely rest against the outside of the bar but when the doors were closed gravity would ensure that the pole locked itself in place under the bar making it impossible to push the door open again.

It took quite a while to figure out a way to bypass the locking mechanism during the excavation in 1957.

The colors on the above image are for illustration purposes only. The original doors are all made of white marble.

The second to last structure on the Sacred Way before reaching the individual tombs is the Seven-Arch Bridge spanning the reservoir which collected the waters from all the local rivers and brooks.

The bridge has been restored to its current stage and carries a heavy flow of buses and cars loaded with tourists eagerly heading for their first real Ming tomb, Changling.

The reservoir has dried up completely as clearly evidenced by the photo. This is due to the current draught conditions prevalent in northern and central China.

The photo shows the southern four arches (and my car).

The Stele pavilion is located on the Sacred Way, just in front of the path lined with Stone Sculptures.

The pavilion is a square building, vermilion colored with a double-eave, hip and gable roof covered with yellow glazed tiles.

It houses a mighty stele inscribed with the achievements, merits and virtues of 3rd Ming Yongle emperor (the one who built The Forbidden City). It was erected by his successor, the 4th Ming Hongxi Emperor.

The later Qing dynasty Qianlong and Jiajing Emperors engraved poems of their own on the back and sides of the stele.

Ornamental Pillars have been erected at the four corners of the Stele Pavilion.

One of the most famous parts of the Sacred Way of the imperial Ming cemeteries north of Beijing and in Nanjing is the serene, tree-lined avenue flanked with three types of stone sculptures: Stone Columns, Stone Animals and Stone Statues.

There are 6 different types of animals: Lions, xiezhis, camels, elephants, kylins and horses. Each animal is represented twice in pairs, once kneeling and once standing, for a total of 24 animals. Each figure was carved out of one single stone block.

The xiezhis and kylins gave a mystic and majestic impact. The lions, camels and elephants symbolized the huge size of the empire. The horses were basic and to some extent reflected wealth.

The Sacred Way in Xiaoling, Nanjing, has the same figures except that the stone columns are placed between the stone animals and the stone figures.

One of the most famous parts of the Sacred Way of the imperial Ming cemeteries north of Beijing and in Nanjing is the serene, tree-lined avenue flanked with three types of stone sculptures: Stone Columns, Stone Animals and Stone Statues.

The avenue has a total of 24 stone animals and 12 statues but in front of them all are the two Stone Columns, one on each side.

Like the other sculptures, each column was carved out of one single stone block.

The base and the column are both hexagonal. The column has a cloud-like carved pattern. The top section is round and has a dragon figure snaking all the way around.

In Chinese, the column is called Wangzhu.

One of the most famous parts of the Sacred Way of the imperial Ming cemeteries north of Beijing and in Nanjing is the serene, tree-lined avenue flanked with three types of stone sculptures: Stone Columns, Stone Animals and Stone Statues.

The group of stone figures consists of 4 generals, 4 civil officials and 4 ministers of merit. Pictured here is one of the generals.

Each of these figures were carved out of one single stone block.

Having ben produced as far back as year 1435 the statues are in remarkably good shape and still bear witness to the supreme stonemason craftsmanship of the early Ming period.

A stone tablet was erected inside of and in the center of the Memorial Tower. Placed on a stone base decorated with dragon motives, the tablet was inscribed with the name of the main tomb occupant in large sized Chinese characters.

The tablet itself is painted in the imperial vermillion color.

On top of the tablet is another decorated section showing two dragons playing with a pearl. Two characters - "Da Ming", or Great Ming - are engraved in Han Chinese in the front of the top section.

The stone tablet in the first Ming tomb, Changling, is a little different. It is densely inscribed and the tablet rests on the back of Bi Xi, the son of the dragon.

The Five sacrificial Stone Vessels are common in almost all Ming tombs.

They were placed on a decorated stone altar, which was placed across the Internal Sacred Way between Lingxing Gate and the Square City in the rear, burial section of the mausoleum.

The center piece was an incense burner. This was flanked by two candlestick holders. At each table end was a flower vase.

The stone altar is often richly decorated and bear witness to the good craftsmanship of the Ming dynasty. The most exquisitely decorated vessels are found in Siling, the tomb of the last Ming emperor. They are however not placed on an altar.

The pictured vessels are from Deling. The stone pillars of Lingxing Gate tower behind the altar pieces.

In the days of the Ming dynasty certain colors were reserved for the exclusive use by the imperial family.

One of these was "vermilion" - a very distinct red color with a brown tint. Most people are very familiar with the color from famous buildings such as Tian’anmen and The Forbidden City.

It is hard to actually describe the color. In hexadecimal terms it is "E3 42 34", but so what is that? Take a look at the frame surrounding this box, the headers above and this text; they are all perfect vermilion.

But then why does the wall of Wumen gate of The Forbidden City (photo) not match the frame? This is a matter of screen rendition, photographic recording and -of course- the fact that color fades over time.

I have chosen to keep all my web pages of the Ming Mausolea in two primary colors: Imperial vermilion and imperial yellow.