Chapter 40 Section 20 Ming Dingling Mausoleum

The Ming Tombs are located in Tianshou Mountain, Changping County, Beijing.In the Ming Dynasty, 13 emperors were buried here.These tombs are arranged in a circle at the southern foot of Tianshou Mountain, forming a magnificent and huge group of tombs centered on Changling (Ming Chengzu Zhu Di), which is called "Ming Tombs". From 1956 to 1958, the Dingling Mausoleum was excavated, revealing the secrets of the underground palace.Dingling Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Ming Shenzong Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun.His two queens, Xiaoduan and Xiaojing, were also buried here.It is located at the foot of Dayu Mountain in the west-central part of the mausoleum area.

The mausoleum building of Dingling was modeled after the Yongling Mausoleum of Emperor Jiajing.The double eaves and bucket arches of the Ming Tower are all built with stone materials, and the crenels of Baocheng and the ground of the Ming Tower are all made of mottled stones, and an outer wall is added to the cemetery, which is quite special among the mausoleums. The buildings on the ground include Ling'en Gate, Ling'en Hall, Ming Tower and Baocheng. Xuangong (underground palace) is the underground building part of the mausoleum.It is composed of the front hall, the middle hall, the back hall and the left and right side halls.All of them are made of stone structure.The exterior of the gate of the front hall is a stone structure coupon gate.This is the first gate of Xuan Palace.Under the coupon gate are two stone gates made of a whole piece of white marble.The front hall is a rectangular coupon room with a length of 20 meters, a width of 6 meters and a height of 7.2 meters. The middle hall is 32 meters long, with the same width and height as the front hall, which is also a rectangular coupon room.There are stone gates on the north and south walls, which communicate with the left and right side halls.At the west end of the nave are three thrones carved from white marble, placed in the shape of the Chinese character "pin".The apse is the main building of Xuan Palace.Its design layout forms a "T" shape with the nave, with a length of 30.1 meters from north to south and a width of 9.1 meters from east to west.The four walls are built with stone strips.The ground is tiled with piebald stones.To the west of the middle is the precious bed of white marble, covered with mottled stones.stone.There are three pieces of Zigong on the treasure bed.In the middle is Wanli Zhu Yijun, with Empress Xiaoduan in the north and Empress Xiaojing in the south.The burial utensils are one coffin and one outer coffin, and the corpse has rotted.

The left and right side halls have the same structure, with stone gates leading to the middle hall, 26 meters from east to west, 7.1 meters from north to south, and 7.4 meters high. The ground is paved with stones.In the center of the side hall, there is a white marble bed covered with bricks.This mysterious palace composed of five halls and seven gates has a total area of ​​1195 square meters. Most of the funerary objects in the underground palace are placed on the treasure bed in the apse and in the Zigong Palace. They can be divided into two categories: funeral utensils and living utensils, with a total of more than 2,000 pieces.

Funeral utensils: posthumous [shishi] book, posthumous treasure, epitaph, wooden and tin Mingware.There are four posthumous books, made of rosin wood.The boards are 28 cm long, 12 cm wide, and 1 cm thick. Each volume has 10 boards, tied together with silk ropes, covered with brocade on the outside, and engraved with posthumous inscriptions on the inside.There are four posthumous treasures, made of wood, with dragon buttons carved on the top, and the posthumous names of the emperor and queen engraved on the bottom.A box of Empress Xiaojing Wang's epitaph.The epitaph is 64 cm long and 13 cm thick.Most of the wooden Ming vessels are human figurines and terracotta figurines.Most of the human figurines are male figurines, a few female figurines, and most of them wear long gowns, which are guards of honor.

Living utensils: crown clothes, gold, silver, jade, porcelain, etc.Many utensils can be called rare treasures.The golden crown is 24 centimeters high and is the most precious piece of gold.It is woven with extremely fine gold wire, with Erlong Xizhu coiled behind it, which is vivid in shape.Four phoenix crowns, hats worn by the queen during the grand ceremony.One of the six dragons and three phoenix crowns is made of gold and emerald silk, and is decorated with thousands of pearls and nearly a hundred red and sapphires.The six dragons holding beads in their mouths play with the three phoenixes, implying the meaning of "dragon and phoenix bring prosperity".It is a rare treasure.There are many gold wares, including basins, bowls, pots, incense boxes, powder boxes, bowls, plates, spoons, jugs and other daily necessities.There is a pearwood bowl inlaid with gold, painted on the outside, and inlaid with gold on the inside and bottom.The golden jue and the pot are inlaid with red and blue gemstones, which are luxurious and beautiful.

Jade wares include bowls, basins, pots, ear cups, bowls, jue, belt hooks, jade kui and so on.The Yujue is in the shape of a dragon, with a golden dragon on the bottom and a disc-shaped gold seat inlaid with red and sapphires.The most precious gemstone can be regarded as opal, crab green, shaped like a cat's eye, and it turns around to illuminate people. It can be called a rare treasure.There are eight pieces of jade kui, one of which is 27.3 centimeters long, 6.5 centimeters wide and one centimeter thick.The pattern of "Four Mountains" is engraved on it, which means "Stable Quartet".This should be the "Zhengui" used by the emperor when offering sacrifices to the Heaven and Earth Ancestral Temple.

Porcelain can be divided into two categories: blue and white and "Ming Sancai".There are plum vases, bowls, stoves, goblets, etc.Three-color porcelain stove, 17.8 cm high, base design: "Ming Wanli year system".The glaze color is yellow, green and purple.Three coiled dragons coil around the body of the furnace to form ears, and the dragon's head stands upside down to form three legs. It is a treasure among Ming porcelains. A large number of brocades were unearthed.These brocades not only record the name of the fabric, place of origin, time of production, pattern, length and width, but also the division of labor and the name of the weaver.It is a valuable material for the study of brocade weaving in Ming Dynasty.

The excavation of Dingling revealed the secrets of the underground palace and unearthed a large number of treasures, which is a major achievement of Ming Dynasty archaeology.