What is unique about the layout of Mingmingling?
The Mingming Mausoleum is located in Chunde Mountain in the northeast of Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province. It is the joint tomb of the father of Emperor Jiajing of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Gongruixian Zhu Youqi, and his mother, the Empress Dowager Zhangsheng. The surrounding area of Mingming Mausoleum is 183.13 hectares. The entire cemetery is divided into two feudal cities. Its outer city is more than 3,600 meters in circumference, with red walls and yellow tiles, resplendent and resplendent, winding among the mountains. It consists of more than 30 large-scale building complexes. Along the mountain terraces, there are Chunde Mountain Monument, Imperial Monument, Waiming Pond, Xiama Monument, New Red Gate, Old Red Gate, Imperial Archway, Wangzhu, etc. The stone statues, Lingxing Gate, Jiuqu Yuhe River, Neimingtang, Leng'en Gate, Mausoleum Gate, Double Pillar Gate, Square City, Minglou, front and back treasure city, etc. are sparse and dense, well-proportioned, and orderly. , the buildings are nestled in mountains and rivers, setting off each other.
Looking at the overall architectural pattern of Mingming Mausoleum, it looks like a huge vase, divided into inner and outer walls. The outer city is 6 meters high, 1.8 meters wide and more than 3,500 meters long. It has red walls and yellow tiles, rising and falling with the mountains, making it majestic. At the southern end of the outer city are two mausoleum gates, called the new and old red gates. The new red facade is 18.5 meters wide and 8 meters deep. It is the gateway to Wailuo City. It is the symbol of the entrance to the Xianling Mausoleum area and one of the important symbols of the expansion of Xianling Mausoleum from a royal tomb to an imperial mausoleum. Corresponding to it is the old red gate, which was the gateway when the Xianling Mausoleum was the king's tomb. The most unique thing is that the old and new red doors are not on the same central axis. This is rare in ancient traditional architecture in my country, but at the same time it has also become a success of the mausoleum architectural culture of the Ming Dynasty in my country that "the mausoleum system should be commensurate with the landscape" example.
There is an outer Mingtang on the right side of the new red gate. "Mingtang" is a homophony of "Mingtang" and was designed according to Feng Shui. Feng Shui theory believes that water has boundaries to prevent the loss of dragon energy. Setting up a bright pond in the mausoleum area plays the role of gathering spiritual energy and preventing the loss of dragon energy. It will make the Qianqiu Emperor's career prosperous forever. There are two dismounting monuments in front of the new red gate, which read "Officials have been waiting to dismount here." On the right side of the new red gate is the Waiming Pond based on the original natural pond, and behind the Waiming Pond are three imperial bridges. After passing the Royal Bridge is the Zhenghong Gate. The main red gate has red walls and yellow tiles, with a mountain-top style, 18 meters wide and 7.8 meters deep. There are three coupon doors. In the middle of the Shinto of the Red Gate stands the tall Ruigong Shengde stele pavilion. The layout is square, with a width and depth of 18.3 meters. It covers an area of 334 square meters. It has a white marble platform, a stone Xumi pedestal below, and double eaves above. On the top of the mountain, there are gates on each side, and in the center stands a monument with a dragon's head, a turtle's head, and a turtle's merits and virtues.
There are three imperial bridges 63 meters behind the stele pavilion. Across the bridge is the white marble observation pillar, 12 meters high, with a square Xumizuo at the bottom. The column body is hexagonal, and two layers of girdle clouds support the cylindrical pillar head with a relief sculpture of clouds and dragons.
There are groups of stone statues lined up behind the pillars, including one pair each of a lion, a sable, a reclining camel, a reclining elephant, a unicorn, an standing horse, and a reclining horse, two pairs of generals, and each of civil servants and honorable ministers. A pair, with vivid shapes and orderly arrangement. After the stone statues were born, they were supported by the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.
The design of the Dragon and Phoenix Gate is very exquisite. It is a archway with six pillars, three doors and four floors soaring to the sky. There are cloud tablets hanging on the square pillars and covered with rosettes. Each of the rosettes is carved with a statue roaring towards the sky and standing upright with a flaming orb. , the square body is imitated wood as the forehead beams, flower panels, and hugging frames. The upper forehead beams are equipped with door hairpins. There are drum stones sandwiched between the front and rear of the square pillars. There is a Xumi pedestal under the screen wall, and it is covered with yellow glazed tiles. The entire Dragon and Phoenix Gate is not only white and dazzling. And it's resplendent.
Crossing the Royal Bridge from the Dragon and Phoenix Gate is a 290-meter-long Shinto. This Shinto is not symmetrical and straight, but instead takes on the shape of a curved dragon, which is called the "Dragon-shaped Shinto." The middle of the dragon-shaped Shinto is paved with stone slabs, which is called the "Dragon Backbone". The two sides are filled with cobblestones, called the "Dragon Scales". The outside is closed with Yazi stones, which is collectively called the "Dragon Scale Path".
Zhu Houcong advocates Taoism, and the curved road shape is like a huge Yin-Yang Tai Chi diagram. This design is also related to ancient Chinese Feng Shui. The Feng Shui theory of the Ming Dynasty believes that the road is also a key factor in Feng Shui. If it is strong and curved, it is auspicious, and when it is declining and hard, it is unlucky. In other words, the emperor's soul will fly into the sky after passing through the end of the Shinto. Therefore, if the Shinto is straight, it will look like a dead dragon, but if the Shinto is curved, it will look like a living, flying dragon.
At the same time, the old and new red doors are not on the same central axis. This is also the reason. It is like a dragon's tail. When viewed from the air, the entire shape looks like a soaring dragon. Behind the dragon-shaped Shinto are the last three imperial bridges. Under the bridge is the Jiuqu River that meanders from northeast to southwest. The last imperial bridge across the Jiuqu River is the circular Neiming Pond, which is 33 meters in diameter and surrounded by bluestone revetments.
There is a stele pavilion on each side of the pond, namely the "Chunde Mountain Memorial Announcement" stele pavilion and the "Ruiwen Stele" pavilion.
Behind the Neiming Pond, there is the Xien Gate, which is three rooms wide and two rooms deep. It has a platform and three clouds and dragons in front and back. There are glazed screen walls on both sides of the door, and the front of the screen wall is green glazed. The pattern of flat branches, with two dragons leaping on the back, symbolizes the hidden dragon protecting life. On the east side of the outside of Xin'en Gate, there are divine kitchens, divine treasuries, and slaughtering pavilions. On the west side, there are shrine supervisors, ritual rooms and living rooms. Behind the Qin'en Gate is the Ling'en Hall, which is a palace-style building with a building behind the mountain. It is 5 rooms wide and 4 rooms deep. Going out to the platform in front, there is a stone-carved Xumizuo platform and carved railings with dragons and phoenixes as pillars. Behind the Hall of En'en is the mausoleum gate of the Xianling Mausoleum, which is three rooms wide and has a masonry and glazed structure. Behind the mausoleum door is a two-pillar door with existing stone pillars and a crouching dragon war drum.
Behind the two-pillar gate is the Five Stone Offerings, with existing offerings and some stone carvings. There is a stele pavilion on each side of the confession case, namely the stele pavilion for the imperial sacrifice and the stele pavilion for the imperial posthumous record.
After the confession are Minglou, Tomb City, Yaotai, etc., the buildings are grand and majestic. In particular, the two major tomb cities in the shape of "8" and the two secret underground palaces are connected by Yaotai. The layout is ingenious and the relief craftsmanship is exquisite.
The city of Tomb is divided into two circles of walls, the front and back, and the left and right sides connect the front and rear Baocheng. Each treasure city has a set of Crescent City, Mute Courtyard and Glazed Screen Wall. The two treasure cities are connected by a long platform called "Yao Terrace". The former Baocheng is oval in shape, with a wall height of 5 meters, a width of 112 meters from east to west, and a length of 125 meters from north to south. Inside the Baocheng is the Baoding, and under the Baoding is the Xuan Palace built in 1519. Under the circular mound in the city is the tomb built for Xingxian King Zhu Youqi, who was only a prince at that time. The back city is circular with a diameter of 103 meters and a wall height of 5.5 meters. The Xuan Palace under the dome in the city was built in 1539. Emperor Gong Ruixian and his wife, the Empress Dowager Zhang Sheng, were buried together here.
There is also Crescent City between Houbaocheng and Yaotai, with a glazed screen wall inside. There are 16 Sanshui Chi heads cantilevered outwards on the two treasure cities, which are exquisitely designed. On the periphery of the mausoleum area, there are Xianlingwei, Dongguoyuan, Xicaiyuan, Gengpu and Xunshanpu along Zushan, Dongxishashan and Anshan.
On the top of Tomb City is the Ming Tower. The Ming Tower is square in plan with a side length of 9.2 meters. There is a stele in the building that reads "The Mausoleum of the Emperor Gong Ruixian", and on both sides there are the statues of Emperor Xingxian. Made by 幹志. In front of the city platform, there are five stone altars and a pair of pillars. On the top of each pillar is a Xiechi. There are also imperial inscriptions and a stele "Xingxian Zun's posthumous inscription" on the left and right.
Most of the foundations of the buildings in the cemetery are Xumizuo-style stone carvings, with simple and exquisite patterns carved on them. The gate stone is mostly veneered with white marble carved with dragon patterns. The carving techniques of the Yunlong Danbi, the Sanshui Pan's head and the corridor railings in front of the Xin'en Hall are particularly exquisite and are typical works of stone carving art in the Ming Dynasty.
The golden bottle-shaped Wailuo City, the nine-winding Yuhe River, the Dragon Scale Shinto, the Qionghua Double Dragon glazed screen wall and the inner and outer Mingtang in the mausoleum architecture of the Ming Dynasty are the only isolated examples seen in the Ming Tomb. The two secret underground palaces, connected by Yaotai and shaped like dumbbells, are mysterious and have always been amazed by future generations.
Mingmingling Yuqiao