Dearfriends
Helloeveryone!Withthestartofthecar,today'stourismactivitieswillofficiallystart.I'mverygladtohavetheopportunitytoaccompanyyoutovisittheMingTombs.
TheworldfamousMingTombsarelocatedatthefootofYanshanMountaininChangpingDistrictofBeijing.Inthesurroundingareaof40squarekilometers,thereare13emperors,23queens,manyconcubines,princesses,princessesandothermaidsburiedintheMingDynasty.Atthispoint,somefriendswhoarefamiliarwithChinesehistorymayhaveaquestionintheirheart:therewere16emperorsintheMingDynasty,whyonly13ofthemwereburiedhere?Toanswerthisquestion,weneedtorecallthehistoryoftheMingDynasty.
ZhuYuanzhang,thefoundingemperoroftheMingDynasty,builtthecapitalintoday'sNanjingandwasburiedinthe"MingXiaoling"inZhongshan,Nanjingafterhisdeath.BecausePrinceZhuBiaodiedearly,hepassedthethronetohiseldestgrandsonZhuYunwen.YongleEmperorZhuDiwonthethronefromhisnephewZhuYunwen.ZhuDisenttroopstothesouthinthenameofremovingtreacherousofficials.JianwenEmperorZhuYunwen'swhereaboutsareunknowninthiscatastrophe.Somepeoplesaythatthepalacewasburnedtodeathatthattime.Otherssaythattheybecamemonks.ThisisstillamysteryinthehistoryoftheMingDynasty,sothereisnomausoleum.ZhuQiyu,theseventhemperoroftheMingDynasty,becametheemperorbecausehiselderbrotherYingzongZhuQizhenwasaprisonerinthe"civilfortresschange"andthepalacecouldnotbewithoutamasterforaday.
Later,Yingzongwasreleased.Undertheplanningofhisconfidants,Yingzongcarriedouta"changeofseizingthedoor",andbecameemperoragain.AfterZhuQiyudied,Yingzongrefusedtorecognizehimasanemperor,destroyedthemausoleumbuiltbyZhuQiyuintheMingTombsarea,andburiedhimasa"Prince"injinshankou,westernsuburbofBeijing.Inthisway,ofthe16Mingemperors,twowereburiedelsewhere,onewasmissing,andtheother13wereburiedhere,sotheyarecollectivelyreferredtoas"MingTombs".TheMingTombsisagroupofmausoleumbuildingswiththemostcompletepreservationandburialofemperorsintheworld.
TheMingTombsarebuiltinabeautifulmountainarea,about50kilometersawayfromthecapital,coveringanareaofabout40squarekilometers.ThesiteoftheMingTombswasselectedandbuiltaccordingtotheprincipleofgeomanticomen,becausepeopleinancientChinapaidgreatattentiontogeomanticomenwhentheywerebuildinghousesormausoleums.Theemperorismorepretentious,notonlytolivealuxuriouslife,butalsowanttocontinuetoenjoyafterdeath,sothechoiceofmausoleumisveryimportant.
Whenchoosingthemausoleumsite,itisnecessarytochooseagoodplacewithmountainsandwater,goodnaturalenvironmentand"gasaccumulationwind".AndtheMingTombsissuchagoodplace:thewholemausoleumareaissurroundedbymountainsintheEast,WestandNorth,andthereareDragonMountainandTigerMountaininthesouth,forminganaturalgateway,whichisinlinewiththesayingof"leftGreenDragonandrightwhitetiger"ingeomanticomen.Itislikeahugecourtyardinthemiddle.TheWenyuRiverinthemausoleumareameandersfromnorthwesttoSoutheast,formingtheholdingwaterinthemausoleumarea.Inthewholemausoleumarea,Changlingisthekey,thelinebetweenDagongmenandChanglingisthecentralaxis,andTianshoumountainistheZhenshaninthenorth.Itisanidealmausoleumwithmountainsonitsback,wateronitssurfaceandwindgatheringingasreservoirs.
ThereasonwhyEmperorYonglechosethepresentTianshoumountainwasalsoaftermanytwistsandturns.AfterthebattleofJingnan,ZhuDibecameemperorinNanjing.Atthattime,hedecidedtomovehiscapitaltoBeijinginordertoconsolidatehispoliticalpower.In1407,thefifthyearofYongle,ZhuDi'sempressXudied.Atthattime,inordertoexpresshisdeterminationtomovethecapitaltoBeijing,ZhuDisenttheMinisterofritesandgeomanticwarlockLiaoJunqingtoBeijingtochoose"auspicioussoil".Itissaidthatseveralplaceshavebeenselected.
Thefirstchoiceistujiaying,butbecausetheemperor'ssurnameisZhu,whichisthesameas"pig",and"Tu"meansslaughtering,pigswilldefinitelydiewhentheyentertheslaughterhouse,soit'snotappropriatetocommittaboos.AnotherplaceisatthefootoftheYangshanmountaininthesouthwestofChangping.Pigsandsheepinstinctivelyliveinharmony,butthereisavillagebehindthemountaincalled"langeryu".It'smoredangeroustohavewolvesbesidepigs,anditcan'tbeused.Later,hechoseYanjiataiinthewestofBeijing,but"Yanjia"and"Yanjia"arehomophonic,whichisalsounlucky.
Becausethedeathoftheancientemperor,inadditiontocalled"death",alsocalled"YanJia".AlthoughthelandscapeofTanzheTempleisgood,itisdeepandnarrowinthemountains,whichisnotconducivetothedevelopmentoffuturegenerations.Latercametotoday'sTianshoumountain.TianshoumountainwascalledHuangtumountainatthattime.AfterEmperorYonglepersonallyinspectedit,hefeltverysatisfied.Atthattime,hemadeanordertodesignateHuangtumountainashis"goodsoilfortenthousandyears".Thisyearisalsotheyearofhis50thbirthday,sohenamedHuangtumountain"Tianshoumountain".FromtheconstructionofChanglingmausoleumin1409,theseventhyearofYongle,untilChongzhen,thelastemperorofMingDynasty,wasburiedinSilingmausoleum,theconstructionofMingTombslastedformorethan230years.
TheMingTombshaveahistoryofmorethan300-500yearssinceitwasbuilt,andthebuildingsonthegroundhavebeenseriouslydamagedmanytimes,themostseriousofwhichwasduringtheQingarmy'sentryperiod.SowhydidtheQingarmydestroytheMingTombsonalargescale?BecauseattheendoftheMingDynasty,Nurhachi,theemperorTaizuoftheQingDynasty,roseinthenortheast,whichdirectlythreatenedthesecurityoftheMingDynasty.
Asaresult,somepeoplesaythattheprosperityoftheQingsoldiersisrelatedtothegeomanticomenoftheirancestralgraves.Iftheirancestralgravesaredestroyed,theQingsoldierscanbeeliminated.TheancestorsofManchuareJinpeople,andtheancestralTombofJinDynastyisinFangshan,Beijing.ZhuYouxiao,theMingDynasty'sApocalypseemperor,believedit.Asexpected,hesentpeopletoFangshantodestroyJinlingandbuiltaGuanditempleinthattown.Ofcourse,thismethodcouldnotsuppresstheQingarmy.Asaresult,aftertheQingarmyenteredthepass,theytookthesamemeansofrevengeanddestroyedtheMingTombs.DuringthereignofEmperorQianlongoftheQingDynasty,inordertowinovertheHanpeople,EmperorQianlongonceorderedtheMingmausoleumtoberepaired.However,intheperiodoftheRepublicofChina[around1914],localtyrantsandevilgentrydestroyedtheMingTombsonalargescaleinordertofightforpropertyrights.ItwasnotuntilafterthefoundingofnewChinathatwewereabletoseethetruefaceofLushanMountaintodayafterconstantrenovationandlandscaping.NowtheMingTombshavebecomeafamoustouristattractioninChina.
Dearfriends,theaboveisthegeneralsituationoftheMingTombs.ThepurposeistogiveyouapreliminaryunderstandingoftheMingTombs.Iwillintroducethesituationofthescenicspottoyouindetailafterarrivingatthescenicspot.