Walking in Lanzhou: Yuzhong County, Lanzhou, the tomb of King Su of the Ming Dynasty, known as the Ming Tombs of Gansu

Yuzhong County is a small county in the eastern suburbs of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. More than 1,000 years ago, Di Qing, the governor of Qinzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty, built the Qingcheng Ancient Town here when he was patrolling the border. In 1226, Genghis Khan, who was only 65 years old, built the ancient town of Qingcheng. After conquering Ganzhou and Sunan, Genghis Khan was injured after falling from his horse and sent to Xinglong Mountain to recuperate, and Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, left many mysterious stories. However, the most noteworthy thing is the Ming Dynasty tombs where all Su kings are buried. 1. Introduction to the Little Ming Tombs The Tomb of King Su of the Ming Dynasty is the tomb of King Su of the Ming Dynasty in China. It is located at the southern foot of Pingding Peak on the north side of Huangjiazhuang Village, Laizibao Township, Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, about 15 kilometers away from Lanzhou City. The tombs are approximately 300 meters from south to south and 3,000 meters from east to west. In May 2006, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council. People call the tomb of King Mingsu under the pinnacle of Laizibao in Yuzhong County the "Thirteen Tombs of Gansu". In fact, there are only eleven tombs, and they are buried with King Zhuang, King Kang Zhu Zhanyan, King Jian Zhu Lupi, and King Gong Zhu Gong. The layout of this tomb of King Su of the Ming Dynasty is similar to that of Cong, King Jing Zhu Zhenyu, King Ding Zhu Bihuan, King Zhao Zhu Jinjiong, King Huai Zhu Shendu, King Yi Zhu Jin, the last King Su Zhu Shixuan and the wife of King Xian Zhu Shenyao. The tombs of the Sanling Tombs are also three-chambered, with two side chambers on the left and right. The difference is that the underground palace of the Sanling Tombs is made of white marble, and the stone joints are also glued with glutinous rice juice. It is hooped with blue bricks, and the entire volume and space is much smaller than that of the Ming Tombs. According to the analysis of bricks, tiles, capstones and other relics scattered around the tomb area, the original tomb ground should have buildings, but its scale and characteristics There is no evidence for any of them. Some of the tombs were razed to the ground, but except for Tombs 1, 2, and 7, the rest of the underground tombs are well preserved. They are arranged in an orderly manner, about 300 meters from south to south, and about 3,000 meters from east to west. It can be said that "the head rests on the peak (flat peak), the foot steps on the jade belt (Yuanchuan River), and the order is arranged from north to south." Although it has gone through a long time, many landforms have long been related to the formation. The majesty of the cemetery has changed beyond recognition, but when you are here, you can still feel the unique geographical location of the cemetery, and you can't help but admire the extraordinary achievements and ingenuity of the ancients in selecting the site. According to word of mouth among local elders, the tombs of King Su served as a royal family. Since the establishment of the cemetery, it has been a forbidden area, guarded by troops for several miles, and ordinary people are not allowed to enter, let alone be buried. Tomb No. 1 is located in the north-central part of the cemetery. It is built against the mountain and faces north to south. It is grand and complex in structure. The tomb is 35 meters in diameter and 8 meters high. It has two stone doors and a wooden door on the left and right sides of the front room. The tomb is built with 38×18×8 cm blue bricks, with a total length of 26.325 meters. Its plane is in the shape of " "亚". The tomb door is an arch-topped stone double-leaf pivot door with a natural stone top. The door is 2.5 meters high. , 2.2 meters wide, 24 centimeters thick, 24 centimeters long, and the lintel is a stone strip of 297 x 44 x 19 centimeters. The outside of the stone door is stacked with strips of the same size as the lintel and is sealed horizontally to the lintel. The stone door and the stone door frame are both made of Fuping stone. It is completed and painted with ""earth red"". The front chamber has a horizontal roof, a square plane of 6×6 meters, and a height of 10 meters. There is a 30×40 cm robbery hole on the upper right side of the tomb door. The door of the middle chamber (No. The second door is made of wood and is in decay. It is 2.5 meters high and 2 meters wide. The middle chamber is 6.3×3.3 rectangular in plan and 10 meters high. There are corridors in the middle of the east and west walls of the tomb, which are connected to the side chambers. It is 6 meters long, 3 meters wide and 6 meters high. Its structure and shape are basically the same as those of the middle room. The shape and size of the back room door (the third door) are the same as those of the first door. It is 5.8 meters long. It is 6.7 meters wide and 12 meters high. There are small rhombus-shaped niches on the front and the middle and lower ends of the tomb walls on both sides. The height, width and depth of the niches are all 1 meter. The tomb was opened during the land preparation in 1966, and cultural relics were unearthed. Most of them were destroyed, but now only two large "Eternal Lamp" vats, a pottery horse, and a copper incense stick have been preserved, which are stored in the Yuzhong County Museum and the Lanzhou City Museum respectively. The epitaph was also shattered.

There are only the words ""the concubine...died in Yongle" in the residual records. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty" and other documents, the Ming Dynasty vassal kings should generally be buried in the same cave as their concubines, but Ming Wang Shizhen's "Shantang Biezhu" Volume 32 "Biao of Kings with the Same Surname" also records that "" (Prince Zhuang's) concubine Sun...died on June 15, the 21st year of Yongle, and was buried in the west of Prince (Zhuang)'s tomb." According to historical records, only Prince Zhuang among the Su vassal kings Zhu died in the Yongle period. Based on this, it is speculated that this tomb is not the tomb of Prince Zhuang and his concubine Sun, but the tomb of Princess Zhuang's Sun. Tomb No. 2 is about 450 meters away from Tomb No. 1 in the west. The original mound is about 300 meters high. 7 meters, with a bottom diameter of about 30 meters. It collapsed during irrigation in 1970 and was backfilled shortly after it was excavated. The structure of the tomb is unknown, but according to people who knew about it at the time, the shape of the tomb is roughly the same as that of Tomb No. 1, except that it is made of bricks. Tomb No. 7 is the tomb of King Su Huai and his concubine Wang. It is 6 meters high and 27 meters in diameter. It was excavated in 1977. Due to lack of funds, only the tomb passage and the front room were cleared. The epitaphs of King Suhuai and his wife were unearthed from the tomb, and were tied with two iron rings (now in the Yuzhong County Museum). The epitaph of King Suhuai is square, long and wide. Each is 79 centimeters, with dragon patterns inscribed around it. The upper block is inscribed in seal script with the words "Imperial Grant to King Suhuai," and the lower block is a regular script epitaph. The epitaph of Princess Suhuai and Wang is also square, with a length and width of 73 centimeters. It is 10.5 centimeters thick and has phoenix patterns carved around it. The upper block has the words ""Ming Dynasty Princess Su Huai's Tomb" in seal script and the lower block has regular script epitaph text. The construction of the tombs of King Sufan began in the 17th year of Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. (1419 AD), ending in the 16th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1644 AD), with a time span of 226 years. 2. The historical era of King Su. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", in order to consolidate his ruling position, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang In the second year of Hongwu (1369), the "Feudal Xu Wang System" was established to play the role of "screening the royal family". In April of the summer of the third year of Hongwu (1370), the "Edict to Confer Princes as Kings" was issued. The first ten kings of Qin, Jin, Yan, Wu, Chu, Qi, Tan, Zhao, Lu, and Jingjiang were granted the title. A few years later, they were granted the title of King Qing and King Su successively, until the demise of the Ming Dynasty. So far. There are not many historical records handed down about the Su kings. The more eye-catching one is the 14th son of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who was granted the title of King of Han at the age of 2. In 1392, he was renamed King Su, and in 1393 he moved to Ganzhou, Gansu Province (now Zhangye City, Gansu Province). After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, he moved to Lanzhou in the first year of Jianwen (1399). He died in 1420 at the age of 44. He was punished by the court for his mistakes such as killing guards and taking horses from Hami without permission. The fourth generation of Su Wang Gong Wang Zhu Gongzao reigned for 50 years and lived to be 80 years old. It can be said that it is a long time, but the sixth generation Su King Huai Wang Zhu Shendu only reigned for 2 years and was only 16 years old when he died. The most tragic thing is that the last Su King Zhu Shihong took the throne in the Ming Dynasty. On the eve of the great peasant uprising, the peasant uprising army led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong shocked the northwest. Zhu Shihong was frightened all day long. He once went to the imperial court to request more vassal guards and reinforce the city of Lanzhou. In the 16th year of Chongzhen (1643), Li Zicheng made Xi'an his capital and established the Dashun regime. Immediately, General He Jin was sent to march westward. After the rebel army invaded Prince Su's palace, Princess Yan and Princess Zhao hit their heads on the monument of Prince Su's poems in Fuyun Tower and died. Zhu Shihong, the last king of Su, who escaped from the palace, was captured by He Jin's men, taken to Xi'an and executed (one theory is that he was hidden in a military camp and killed after being reported by the county people). Or after the fall of Yunlanzhou, Zhu Shihong was desperate and surrendered, but his fate was unknown. He reigned for 23 years and died at the age of 39. Everyone in the clan died. There are historical records of King Su: After Zhu Yuanzhang's fourteenth son Zhu Lai was granted the title of King Su, he first settled in Zhangye and moved to Lanzhou in the first year of Jianwen (1399).

They carried out extensive construction work, building an inner city with a circumference of 6 miles and 200 steps centered on today's Central Square, and a gallery with a circumference of 18 miles and 133 steps. They built luxurious palaces in the city, and many temples and temples inside and outside the city. Temples and gardens, such as Jintian Temple, Baiyi Temple and Baiyi Temple Pagoda, Rongguang Temple at the north end of Xiaobei Street, Jieyin Temple and Tongjieyin Buddha in the original Dongguan, Baita Temple in Baita Mountain, Chongqing Temple in Wuquan Mountain , Jiuxian Hall, Mani Temple, Wenchang Palace, Wuhou Temple, Dabei Hall, Dizang Temple, Reclining Buddha Hall, Santai Pavilion on the top of Gaolan Mountain, etc., leaving a lot of cultural heritage for future generations. Even today, Lanzhou's Baitashan Temple, Jintian Temple, Baiyi Temple Pagoda, and many ancient buildings and large reclining Buddhas in Wuquan Mountain were all created and left behind by these Su kings. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang gave his son, Prince Su Zhu Mo, a Song rubbing called "Chunhua Pavilion Calligraphy". This calligraphy became a treasure of Prince Su's palace. In the forty-third year of Wanli (1615), Suxian King Zhu Shenyao ordered Wen Ruyu from Gusu and Zhang *** from Nankang to copy and engrave it on Fuping Stone. Zhu Shenyao died before it was completed, and his son Zhu Shixuan succeeded to the throne and continued to complete the ceremony. This project lasted 7 years, using 142 stones, and was completed in the first year of Tianqi. Zhu Shiding also wrote a postscript for this Dharma calligraphy, praising it as "not as good as old or new". Fei Jiazhu, a native of Shaanxi Province, made a copy of the Sufu version and placed it in the Forest of Steles in Xi'an; a copy is now in the Liyang County Cultural Center of Jiangsu Province. The stone carvings of the Su version of "Chunhua Pavilion Tie" are inlaid on the walls of the Yu clan's ancestral hall in the county for people to view. In addition, there are also Sufu reprints in Nanjing; even when Japan published the "Fa Tie Da Series", there were missing pages. It is also supplemented by Su's "Chunhua Pavilion". 3. The value of King Su's tomb. The tombs of King Su in the Ming Dynasty are one of the highest-grade Ming Dynasty tombs in northwest my country. The precious historical and cultural heritage is of great significance to the study of the politics, economy, and culture of Ming Dynasty society. First of all, the tombs of King Sufan are the largest, longest time span, and most concentrated tombs of Ming Dynasty vassal kings in northwest my country. The first group provides complete physical data for studying the development and changes of the funeral system of the Ming Dynasty vassal kings; the second group, the structure of the tomb and the combination of exquisite funerary objects, is helpful for studying the ceremonial guards and coronation system of the Ming Dynasty vassal kings as well as the different aspects of society at that time. thirdly, the stipends of the vassals in the Ming Dynasty were different, which was closely related to certain regional politics, economy, and close relationship with the royal family. The comparative study of the tombs of Prince Shu, King Luhuang, King Lujian, King Yiduan and other Ming Dynasty vassal kings also has important reference value in revealing the above issues. "Auspicious place", the interrelationships such as "dragon, sand, cave, water, bright hall, recent cases and distant dynasties" in the traditional Chinese "Kanyu" are fully displayed in the tomb of King Sufan, providing a basis for the study of our country's traditional Feng Shui theory and the philosophy of the unity of man and nature provide a rare basis. The tomb of King Su has been highly valued and well protected by governments at all levels since the 1980s. In 1983, the Yuzhong County Government established it. It was announced as a county-level cultural relics protection unit. In 1992, a cultural relics protection team for King Su's Tomb was established, and cultural conservators were hired to guard the tombs. In 1993, the Gansu Provincial People's Government announced it as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. , Yuzhong County People's Government delineated and announced the protection scope and construction control zone of King Su's tombs, and made specific regulations for the third-level protection of the tomb area. On May 25, 2006, King Su's tomb was closed. The State Council announced it as a national key cultural relic protection unit. After hundreds of years of ups and downs, the old tombs and new tombs in the mountains where King Su was buried are in chaos, which evokes too many emotions...