The Structure of Ancient Tombs in Baling Mountain

There are 467 large and medium-sized ancient tombs with sealed mounds in Baling Mountain, and there are countless other ancient tombs without sealed mounds, among which the Chu tombs in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the tombs of the captives in the Ming Dynasty are the most famous. In the history, "Chu Zhuangwang's tomb is in Longshan Township, west of the city", and "ten tombs were buried with him before and after, all in ranks". In the Five Dynasties, Gao Jixing's Tomb of Wuxin Wang in Nanping, Conghui's Tomb of Aric and Gaobaorong's Tomb of Dining King were all located in Longshan, while in the Ming Dynasty, Baling Mountain, Anhui's Tomb in Songzi, Anxi's Tomb in Yiyang, Gongwang's Tomb in Mayang and Huiwang's Tomb in Zhijiang were all located in Baling Mountain, and Wang Gui's Tomb in Su and Haosheng's Tomb in Jing. According to the historical records, Ji 'nan City was the capital of Chu State in 411 years from the time when King Wen of Chu "started with Ying" (689 BC) to the time when Qin General Bai started with Ying, and the tombs of Chu kings and senior nobles should be not far from Chu. According to other materials, Baling Mountain may be one of the burial places of princes and nobles in Chu State. Among the ancient tombs in Baling Mountain, there are tombs of captaincy of Ming Dynasty, which are not only recorded in the Ming history, but also the tomb of Zhu Zhi, the king of Liao Dynasty, has been officially excavated. Because the tomb was seriously damaged as early as the end of Ming Dynasty, the layout of the cemetery was also destroyed, and most of the funerary objects were lost, so there were not many cultural relics left.

This ancient tomb group lasted for 2 years from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This area is located in the national key cultural relics protection unit Baling Mountain ancient tombs (see Baling Mountain National Forest Park), and it is a famous historical and cultural relic scenic spot in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, 22 kilometers away from Jingzhou City. Because of Baling Mountain's superior terrain, beautiful scenery and good geomantic omen, most of the kings who were in charge of Jingzhou (Jiangling) were buried here, and the kings of past dynasties used this place as a treasure trove of geomantic omen. According to historical records, Zhu Zhi, the king of Liao bamboo slips, was born to Han, the wife of Zhu Yuanzhang. In the second year of Yongle (AD 144), because Zhu Bai (twelve sons of Zhu Yuanzhang), the king of Xiang Xian, built a palace (Taihuiguan) one kilometer northwest of Jingzhou City, which exceeded the grade requirements. When the Ming Dynasty traced it, the whole family of Xiang Xian Wang set themselves on fire in Mount Emei, Guannan River. The King of Liao was renamed Jingzhou Prefecture, and Hongxi died in Jiangling in March of the first year (AD 1425) and was buried in Baling Mountain. Liao Wang's tomb is extremely well preserved. The existing wall of the tomb is built in the way of dry laying in the north, that is, earth building. The upper part of the wall is covered with large tiles with grass patterns. The perimeter of the courtyard wall is 837 meters and the height is about 1.5 meters. The whole tomb area covers an area of more than 6 mu. The tomb is a masonry structure with a "king" shape and is divided into five rooms. The top of the tomb is arched. The wall skirt of the tomb is made of ground bricks and sewed, with exquisite craftsmanship. The indoor floor is paved with ceramic square bricks. The total area in the tomb is 12 square meters. The front, middle and main halls of the tomb are also equipped with large stone gates and two wooden doors. There are nine rows and nine rows of stone doornails on the stone gates. The pyramid-shaped mound is 17 meters long. There is an epitaph and a bottom cover in front of the tomb, which are separated by four round copper sheets and bound with three iron hoops. On the cover, there are six characters "Tomb of the King of Liao Bamboo Slips", and on the bottom, the life of the King of Liao Bamboo Slips is engraved. The whole epitaph was sealed by city bricks.

In p>1987, cultural relics and archaeologists excavated and cleaned the tomb of the Ming Liao King at the southern foot of Baling Mountain. The King of Liao was Zhu Zhi, the fourteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of Ming Dynasty. He was named the King of Liao because he had to seal Liaodong first. It was renamed Jingzhou in 144, and was buried in Baling Mountain after his death in 1425. The tomb area covers an area of more than 6 mu, and the tomb is of masonry structure, showing the shape of "Wang", with 5 rooms. The tomb covers a total area of 12 square meters, and all five rooms have arched roofs. The dado is made of ground bricks, with fine workmanship, and the indoor floor is covered with ceramic square bricks. There is a large stone door in the front room, with nine rows and nine rows of stone door nails on the door, and two wooden doors are installed between the front room and the middle room and between the middle room and the back room. The tomb passage is 17 meters long, and there is an epitaph in front of the tomb. The scale and pattern of the tomb of the Liao King can be regarded as an exquisite underground palace.

Although the tomb has been robbed many times in history, more than 1 precious cultural relics have been unearthed, and the tomb of Liao King was opened to tourists in 1988. Today, the scenic spot of Liao King's Tomb is shaded by trees, simple and solemn, which complements the original features of Baling Mountain Forest Park. It has become a new scenic spot for Chinese and foreign tourists, also known as Longshan, which belongs to the residual vein of Jingshan Mountain. It is located in the northwest of Jingzhou District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, with a total area of 43 square kilometers, an average elevation of 39.6 meters and a maximum elevation of 19 meters, and is located at 3 23 ′ 57 ″ ~ 3 28 ′ 58.8 north latitude. Baling Mountain is a hilly terrain, and its mountain is like eight dragons, which runs northwest and southeast. Therefore, it is also called "Longshan", and the mountain is rich in products.

Baling Mountain is 2 kilometers northwest of Jingzhou City, and Baling Mountain is named after the Eight Roads of Chongling with ups and downs. It is also called Longshan because of its winding shape like Youlong.

Baling Mountain, with its beautiful scenery and lush trees, is regarded as a treasure trove of geomantic omen by the ancients. There are many ancient tombs in the mountains, and there are 498 ancient tombs with large sealed mounds. Baling Mountain is located between Jingzhou City, Jinan City and Wancheng City, and its cultural landscape is extremely rich. Every large ancient tomb has a magical story and every scenic spot has a touching legend. According to historical records, "Chu Zhuangwang was buried in Gulong Mountain. Ten tombs were buried before and after, all in ranks. " This tomb is as tall as a mountain, accompanying it in a row, with extraordinary momentum. Pingtou Tomb located in the middle of Baling Mountain is also an extremely large mound tomb in Baling Mountain. According to legend, Guan Yu, a famous Shu star, jumped on his horse and waved his treasure knife after he got the treasure knife of Qinglong Crescent Moon. When Ma Chi passed this tomb, Guan Yu rose up and leveled a knife at the upper part of the tomb, which made it flat-topped, hence the name "Pingtou Tomb". Similar to Guan Yu's life achievements, there are ancient tombs such as Tiema Tomb and Luomao Tomb.

The first-class highway from Wuhan to Yichang is adjacent to the southern foot of Baling Mountain, and the Jingzhou-Mashan highway goes north to Tailor along the east side of Baling Mountain, and the Tailor-Mashan highway surrounds the foothills of Baling Mountain, and the Yangchang-Xinchang highway goes east to west. In short, the roads around Baling Mountain have already been completed, and the road conditions are good.