It is the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Dynasty, which is
one of the biggest Emperor Mausoleums existed now. The construction
of the mausoleum began in 1383 and has more than 600-year history.
The mausoleum consists of two parts: front and behind part,
surrounding by 45-kilometer stonewall. The mausoleum was heavily
constructed and planted. The front part begins from the place of
jumping off the horse at that time to Sifangcheng
(Rectangular city). You can enjoy the stone animals guarding the
tomb, a pair of decorative columns, couples of ministers and
generals have been standing there for centuries to accompany their
Majesty beneath along the way and the sacred way.
The behind part includes portal, stele inscribed with 4 Chinese
characters, which was written by Emperor Kangxi in his third
inspection tour, Xiaoling Hall, Bao City and so on. Emperor Zhu and
his queen just were buried behind Bao City.
The sacred way started from Sifangcheng, which was a pavilion where
a splendid carved stone stele was inscribed by his fourth son, Zhu
Di to praise emperor's contribution. The stele is 8.78 meters high
with 2746 words in it. Now, the top of the pavilion was gone, just
left the walls.
The red portal of the mausoleum lies in the north and face to the
south, which is the best direction for Chinese. The name of the
tomb "Mingxiao Ling" was printed on the head of the gate. Two
pavilions behind it were destroyed, but you can still imagine the
fantastic scale from the relics.
You can get there by No.2, 3, 30 travel busesHow to Get to there?
