Crypt Architecture · BBET10004
Ming Tombs Sacred Way
One sacred way, shared by every tomb, that opens with a stone archway and the Great Red Gate.
The Ming Tombs Sacred Way is the approach shared by every tomb.
The Sacred Way is the approach shared by every tomb in the Ming imperial burial ground, starting at the stone archway and running north into the tomb area, which backs onto Tianshou Mountain. The archway was built in 1540, the nineteenth year of the Jiajing reign, and about 1.5 kilometers to its north stands the Great Red Gate of the tomb area. Apart from the shared way, each tomb has a sacrificial area in front and a burial mound behind, and most tombs fan out on either side of Changling. All thirteen Ming imperial tombs, from the Yongle emperor to the Chongzhen emperor, share this approach. It shows the layout rules of an imperial tomb zone and its sacred way.1,2
The stone archway at the start of the Sacred Way is the southernmost surviving building of the tomb area, and officials had to leave their sedan chairs and ride on horseback from this point. The Great Red Gate has a single-eave hip roof and three arched openings: the middle one for the coffins of emperors and empresses, the east one for the emperor's own visits, and the west one for ministers. The tomb area backs onto Tianshou Mountain, and the tombs lie from about 500 meters to 8,000 meters apart. Each tomb gate has a stele pavilion, and apart from Changling the steles carry no inscription. The ground plan of Dingling is square in front and round behind, standing for the old idea of a round heaven over a square earth.1,2