About Ming Tombs
On the tomb:
1. Ming Xiao Ling 明孝陵 [ming2xiao4ling2] is where the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty 朱元璋 [zhu1yuan2zhang1) is buried.
2. He and his advisor picked ‘Single Dragon Mound’ as the place for his tomb because of its ideal fengshui location.
3. The tomb consists of an Outer Wall, and Inner Wall, a Ming Tower, and the Treasure Mound (where this chap is lies in peace).
A look from the side:
Here’s how it looks from the side…
1. Goldern Water Bridge: Even before the tomb proper there’s the Golden Water Bridge that crosses a small stream, bringing you onto a cedar-lined pebble pathway (see circled in red) to the…
2. Outer Gate: which you pass to be presented with a tablet on a turtle (circled in orange)
and…
3. Sacrificial Hall: which was razed to the ground and now has a museum in place of it.
Next is the…
4. Inner Gate: which you pass to reach the…
5. Big Stone Bridge, and the…
6. Ming Tower…
(The pic above is an idea of how it could have looked. The one you’ll see is a rebuilt version.
Behind the wall, you will find the…
7. Treasure Mound: where the first Ming emperor was buried. Go see it for yourself.
For the real tour, please click here.
A ‘nutshell’ analysis of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s contribution can be found here.
[...] 朝天宫 [chao2tian1gong1] is the site of a Ming Palace built by our beloved first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. What’s left now is a Confucius Temple (restored during the Qing Dynasty) which is more [...]