The historical development of Ming Zhaoling Mausoleum

On May 26, the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Emperor Mu Zong of the Ming Dynasty died of illness in Qianqing Palace. Wang Xilie, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was ordered by Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun to go to Tianshou Mountain to select a site for Mu Zong's mausoleum. He chose Tanyu Ridge on the left side of Yongling Mausoleum (the location of today's De Mausoleum). In June of the same year, Emperor Wanli ordered the scholar Zhang Juzheng and the eunuch Cao Xian to inspect the mausoleum area after the enthronement ceremony. Zhang Juzheng said to Emperor Wanli: The matter of farewell is important, and the Feng Shui theory of finding the mausoleum is very subtle. If the matter is important, it should be handled with thorough consideration; if the truth is subtle, it should be done with the help of many people so that it can be done properly. He suggested referring to the example of the selection of Yongling during the Jiajing period, dispatching ministers from the Ministry of Rites and Work, one member from the Department of Science, and one member from the Daoist Department. The Qintian Supervisor should be knowledgeable about geography officials, Yin-Yang people, etc., and then recommend officials among the court officials who are proficient in the art of geography. One person, go to inspect together.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli ordered Zhang Shouzhi, the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhu Da, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhao Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the Minister of Rites, all to Lu Shude, the Minister of Rites, Yang Jiaxiang, the censor of Jiangxi Province, and Yi Ke, the chief minister of the Ministry of Industry. The long-awaited officials and Zhang Juzheng went to Tianshou Mountain to inspect. After returning, at the suggestion of Zhang Juzheng and others, Emperor Wanli decided to use Dayu Mountain as the location for the construction of Mu Zong's mausoleum.

In July of the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Zhu Heng, Minister of Industry, returned from the construction site and described the situation in Xuan Palace to Emperor Wanli. He said that the Xuan Palace built by Emperor Shizong for Ruizu (the emperor’s temple was named “Ruizong”) “had a purple light inside, a harmonious atmosphere, and a clean entrance hall, just like a “warm room.” Emperor Wanli was very happy after hearing this, and immediately ordered the Ministry of Rites to discuss the matter. On August 22, Empress Xiaoyi's coffin was moved to Zhaoling, and on September 19th, Emperor Longqing's coffin was also buried in the mausoleum, using the Xuan Palace built for others. This was the first case in the Ming Dynasty. On June 15, the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Emperor Wanli issued an edict to build a mausoleum in Dayu Mountain, and the massive ground construction project began. Zhao Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, was appointed to supervise the work of the mountain mausoleum. Xiong Ruda, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Zhou Xuan, the eunuch eunuch of the inner palace, were supervising the construction. In addition, Zhu Xixiao, the left commander of the Jinyi Guards, and Yang Junqing, the official secretary, were at the site. Supervise the work. The project progressed very quickly. In just one year, the Zhaoling project was completed. For this reason, Emperor Wanli specially gave Zhu Heng, the Minister of Industry, and others some silver coins, and also allowed his son, Xiong Ruda, to study in the Imperial Academy. /p>

Due to poor construction, the foundation of the cemetery began to sink after just one year. In July of the second year of Wanli (1574), Zhaoling Shrine Supervisor Tao Jin and others reported. : “Since June, it has been rainy for two days, and the masonry inside and outside the Ren’en Gate of our mausoleum has sunk. "Wang Shuling, the head of the Ministry of Industry, was ordered to inspect it, and when he came back, he agreed with Tao Jin's reaction. He also said that there was no damage to important places such as Ren'en Hall, Minglou, and Baocheng. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry reported to Emperor Wanli that the construction of the tripod had not been completed on the important site of the mausoleum. An accident occurred within a year, and the internal and external management officials were punished. Zhang Juzheng, the assistant minister, also cited the case of leakage in the Xianling Palace in Hubei and ordered the management officials to be investigated and punished. For this reason, Emperor Wanli responded to Wang Shuling. The memorial was criticized, saying that the mausoleum is an important place, how can it be said that the subsidence is not important? and decided to punish the eunuchs Zhou Xuan and Zuo Jiancheng Guo Quange for bullying and ruining the work, and the supervisors Yi Keyi and Yuan Wailang. Shi Han's salary was reduced by one level, and the official craftsman Wang Xuan and others went to the judicial department to ask questions.

Before the matter was settled, Wu Wenjia from the engineering department said to Emperor Wanli: "The Ren'en Gate, the palace and other places have sunk very much. Many, as for the damage caused by the masonry collapse of Baocheng, it is even more worrying. "Emperor Wanli immediately ordered Chen Yisong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Hu Ruqin to go to the cemetery to inspect the incident. After returning, they reported that the cemetery had suffered serious subsidence, and there were varying degrees of subsidence and flickering in the Danbi and square walls of the Ren'en Hall. The difference between Tao Jin and Wang Shuling made Emperor Wanli very angry and immediately ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Works to punish the perpetrators this time. Zhou Xuan and Guo Quan were each demoted three levels. , was dismissed from the administrative post; Xiong Ruda has been appointed to the official position, and is living in leisurely life, and Enyin is dismissed; Yi Keyi and Shi Han were each demoted three levels and transferred to foreign posts; they will be asked by the Ministry of Justice to make plans; Zhu Heng wrote a book to become an official; Yang Junqing When the four supervisors were each demoted one level, Guo Yuanxiang lost half a year's salary; Ma Lu and other judges asked questions.

Tao Jin and Wang Shuling were exempted from the penalty of false reporting because the time of reporting and the time of inspection by Chen and Hu were one month apart, during which heavy rains continued and the subsidence increased.

Due to the serious subsidence of Zhaoling’s Ren’en Gate, Ren’en Hall, and walls, in the first month of the third year of Wanli (1575), Emperor Wanli had to appoint Chen Yisong, the left minister of the Ministry of Works, and other admirals to repair Zhaoling. . In July, the mausoleum was completed.

Due to the repeated construction of Zhaoling, a lot of manpower and material resources were consumed. When construction was started for the first time (referring to ground construction), in October of the first year of Wanli, the Ministry of Industry checked the amount of money and grain used for construction, and found that 390,932 taels of treasury silver were used, which did not include the silver used for wood planting in Shenmu and other three factories, and the Baicheng bricks used in Datongqiao Factory. The silver is converted from old stones from factories such as Yinyi and Dashiwo, and the silver used for food, food and other supplies for the army and soldiers hired by the Second Department of the Army. In December of the first year of Wanli, the engineering department of the inspection factory inspected Shi Zhongliangshi and others to check the amount of money and grain used to build Zhaoling. In addition to the above-mentioned practical silver from the Ministry of Industry, there were also 110,119 taels of silver from the household and military departments, for a total of 501,050 taels of silver. Strange. Among them, the Camp Repair Department used 204,422 taels of silver, the Yuheng Department used 13,145 taels, the Capital Water Department used 118,854 taels, and the Tuntian Department used 164,628 taels.

The amount of silver used for the second repair is not clearly recorded in the literature. However, according to the "Records of Ming Xi Zong", more than 1.5 million taels of silver were spent on the two constructions. This does not include the cost of building the Xuan Palace during the Jiajing period. If the cost of running the mausoleum during the Jiajing period is included, the total cost is at least 2 million taels, which is almost equivalent to the total fiscal revenue of the Longqing period (the annual income during the Longqing period was about 2.3 million taels). Due to the huge money and food expenses required to build Zhaoling, the Ministry of Industry's treasury was extremely short of money. The Zhuozhou Bridge was repaired in August of the second year of Wanli. The Ministry of Industry could not provide any silver, and the Ministry of War could not send out military craftsmen. Zhang Juzheng, an assistant minister, had to ask Emperor Wanli to ask his mother to donate money and hire workers to build it. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Zhaoling was destroyed twice. In 1644 AD, the Ming Tower was burned down during the war; on March 5, the 34th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1695), there was heavy rain, and the Ling'en Hall and the two side halls were struck by lightning and caught fire. The mausoleum soldiers fought hard to save it. , only two verandas and side halls were saved, and Ling'en Hall was completely burned down. As the years went by, during the Qianlong period, the two side halls and the Ling'en Gate were damaged one after another.

From the 50th to the 52nd year of Qianlong (1785-1787), the Qing government renovated the Ming Tombs in order to ease ethnic conflicts. Zhaoling is also under repair. From the analysis of the ruins, there were only three repair projects at that time: Ming Tower, Ren'en Gate, and Ren'en Hall. Although this reconstruction made the cemetery system slightly more complete, it also changed the regulations of the original building.