Ventured into the miserable cold and lashing winds to visit the Ming Tombs NW of Beijing. We basically had the place to ourselves due to the weather. Let’s walk through the three areas we visited: the sacred path, and the Dingling and Changling tombs. THREAD

The tombs were first Built by @Imperial_Yongle after moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. The whole area is home to 13 Ming tombs. Why 13 when there were 16 Ming emperors? The founder, Emperor Hongwu, is interred in Nanjing. The Jianwen Emperor (Ming #2) never got one...

... as he was usurped by @Imperial_Yongle

Meanwhile, the Yingzong Emperor (Ming #6) was buried elsewhere in Beijing, as he caused issues with the line of succession after being captured by the mongols, after which another emperor was enthroned, only for Yingzong to be released.

Even @ChongzhenEmp , the last Ming Emperor, is buried nearby. After hanging himself on Jingshan, the rebel leader had his corpse chucked into what would be later declared his tomb, just a ways south of the other Ming tombs.

So let’s get to it: the Sacred Path leads to the area. It is composed first of paired animals, both real and mythical. Processions would come through here for burials and rituals.

Next comes a succession of paired generals and scholar bureaucrats. Interestingly, they progress in rank as you move forward.

The Sacred Path is an ancient motif, going back to the Han Dynasty, and even being installed in family tombs predating the tradition. The progeny of Confucius even got some many centuries after the sage’s death. Here’s one of several in the family cemetery in Qufu.

The Ming Tomb path in Beijing is nearly identical to the one in Nanjing, leading the path to the Ming Xiaoling, the resting place of the dynastic founder, the Hongwu Emperor.

The statues in Nanjing are bigger and they’re also less... refined. Not sure if that’s just how they were designed, or if heave been changed over the years. Could be that the Qing took better care of the BJ ones. Anyone know why? NJ on left, BJ on right.

Moving on to the first tomb in Beijing, Changling, belonging to @Imperial_Yongle . It simultaneously pulls a lot from his father’s tomb in Nanjing, as well as the Forbidden City. Check out the marble rise in the tombs on the left and the palace on the right.

@Imperial_Yongle liked his motifs. Again, check out the central hall of Changling, left, with the main structures of the palace, right.

Inside the main building (not the tomb itself) you find the incredible nanmu columns also found in the palace. This wood is absurdly dense and long lasting, and hails from the far south of China, and even into SE Asia. Quite the distance to haul these beauties!

This is taken with @PMD_Global from the Soul Tower, in front of which are sacrificial alters, and behind of which is the artificial hill which covers @Imperial_Yongle tomb.

Miscellaneous finds: a silk burning altar (peak 土豪), a feline guardian sabotaging the local fire prevention efforts, and a tree reminding us that nature will break us all.

Also, the main building has this glorious bronze of Yongle, which has a great back that suggests he was quite the dragon.

On to Dingling, the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, and the only one that has been excavated.

Back in the 1950’s, a high level official in Beijing decided to lead an excavation. It was so poorly done and damaging that it led to a still enduring moratorium on imperial tomb excavations. Why?...

... the tomb was opened by amateurs and exposed extensively to outside air. It utterly ravaged the artifacts and art inside, leading to an almost total loss.

Honestly, thank god this happened to a middling Ming, rather than @real_QinHuangdi , @Imperial_Yongle or a Han or Tang.

You enter the tomb from behind, so you schlep up the side of the mound and enter from behind, going down 27 meters. These tombs were built by digging a giant pit, building the stone tomb, filling it later, then covering it with an artificial hill.

Having the place to ourself was downright spooky. It’s filled with dreary old lights and a bunch of replicas since the place was so damaged. Here’s accidental antifa-super soldier @PMD_Global showing us some thrones.

So,the Wanli Emperor was pretty mediocre, and gets a lot of blame for the downfall of the Ming. During the Cultural Revolution, red guards literally captured his corpse, held a struggle session against it, then burned it...

Hell of a virtue signaling activity!

Here’s the Soul Tower for Dingling, particularly gorgeous in the crisp morning light we enjoyed.

Thanks to my good friends and colleagues, @amela_ester and @PMD_Global for the fun excursion!

Epilogue: the best card set ever. Love that it’s all sequential once you hit the numbers, but there’s clear judgement of which emperors were best in the face cards. Sorry @Imperial_Yongle , but @real_QinHuangdi gets top marks, though he is a joker!