World Cultural Heritage: Mausoleum of the Ming and Qing Emperor (5)

Mingxian Mausoleum

The Xian Mausoleum is located at Chunde Mountain, 7.5 kilometers away from Zhongxiang City of Hubei Province, between N31°12’ 20” and 31°13’ 00” and between E112°37’ 50” and 112°38’ 09”. The entire mausoleum covers 183 hectares and the grave area covers 52 hectares. In China’s history, the Ming Dynasty lasted 276 years and constructed 18 imperial mausoleums. The Xian Mausoleum was the 12th imperial mausoleum, which was built in the middle of the 16th century between 1519 and 1566 (Zhengde 14th Year and Jiajing 45th Year of Ming Dynasty). The construction lasted 46 years and the Xian Mausoleum was the joint grave of the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong’s father and mother, the Gong Rui Xian Emperor, and the Zhang Sheng Queen.

The Xian Mausoleum is a typical imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. Due to its large scale and long construction time, its architecture is quite sophisticated. In terms of overall design, all the hills, water systems and forests around the mausoleum area was considered as the elements of the mausoleum and planned as a whole in line with China’s traditional Feng Shui Theory. The hill behind the mausoleum, named Zushan Hill, was regarded as the base. The hills on the two sides were considered as the protection hills, and the area in the middle was the place where the buildings were constructed, and the Jiuqu River passes through it. In front of the mausoleum is Pingshan Hill and conformed to the traditional Chinese Feng Shui layout of “Red Sparrow in the front, Xunwu in the rear, Blue Dragon on the left and White Tiger on the right.” This reflects the principle of “natural integration of the mausoleum and nature.” In terms of architectural design, all the open spaces in forests and mountains were effectively used to build steles, gates, pavilions, columns, stone statues, monuments and bridges, which extended to the Xiang Palace, Bright Tower, and Baocheng Tower.

The buildings look very hierarchical just like the hierarchical feudal system. Surrounded by green mountains and clear water, it seems that the buildings were designed and constructed by nature. It is really a perfect integration of architecture and natural beauty. The Xian Mausoleum is also quite original in the respect of architectural skills. For example, the architectural style of one tomb, two underground palaces, the golden-bottle-shaped Outside City, the sinuous moat, the dragon-scale path, and the inside and outside the Ming Pools are all examples of Ming Dynasty mausoleums. Meanwhile, the construction of the Xian Mausoleum was an outcome of the important “Great Debate” event that took place in the mid Ming Dynasty, and therefore it is connected with social thought, belief and some important politicians’ destinies in the early period of the Jiajing Emperor and has important historic significance.