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The imperial Tombs of
the Ming and Qing Dynasties are four groups of tombs
in four provinces of eastern China. The tombs,
designed in keeping with the Chinese principles of
geomancy (fengshui), provide outstanding evidence of
Chinese beliefs and traditional from the 14th
century onwards and are significant examples of
architecture and applied arts from that period.
--WHC, UNESCO |
Located about 50 kilometers northwest of Beijing, the
Ming Tombs lie scattered at the southern foot of MT.Tianshoushan
in Changping district. The first and the largest one was built
during the reign of the third Ming emperor Zhu Di
(1403-1424).The other 12 tombs were built successively in a
period of more than 200 years.
Ding Ling is one of the 13 tombs and is the tomb of the 13th
Ming Emperor. It is the only one of the Ming Tombs to have been
excavated so far. Excavation started in 1956, 2 years later the
museum of the Underground Palace was set up. The burial objects
cleared out of the underground palace came to more than 3000.
The Underground Palace of Ding Ling consisted of the
ante-chamber, the middle-chamber with 2 annexes chambers on each
side, and the back-chamber. The Underground Palace was entirely
built of stone., with vaulted ceilings and no columns or beams.
There are 3 coffins placed on the stone couch in the
back-chamber. In the middle was the coffin of the emperor,
flanked by the coffins of the two Empresses.
The burial objects are now placed in the Ding Ling Museum,
except some of them are kept in the Palace Museum. |
