MING DYNASTY TOMBS
The Ming Dynasty Tombs are located some 50 kilometers due North of Beijing at a specially selected site. The site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402 - 1424), who moved the Capital City of China from Nanjing to the present location of Beijing.
He is credited with envisioning the layout of the ancient city of Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and creating his own mausoleum.
From the Yongle Emepror onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. The tombs of the first two Ming Emperors are located near Nanjing (the capital city during their reigns).
The last Ming Emperor Chongzhen was not buried here. When the Ming Dynasty was overthrown in 1644, he hanged himself on the now famous Guilty Chinese Scholartree).
 LAYOUT OF THE MING DYNASTY TOMBS
The site of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Tombs was carefully chosen according to Feng Shui (geomancy) principles. According to these, bad spirits and evil winds descending from the North must be deflected; therefore, an arc-shaped area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains north of Beijing was selected. This 40 square kilometer area - enclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shui - would become the necropolis of the Ming Dynasty.
The entire tomb site is surrounded by a wall, and a seven kilometer road named the "Spirit Way" leads into the complex which is one of the finest preserved pieces of 15th century Chinese art and architecture. The front gate of the complex is a large, three-arched gateway, painted red, and called the "Great Red Gate".
At present, three tombs have been excavated: Chang Ling, the Largest; Ding Ling, whose underground palace is open to the public; and Shao Ling. There have been no excavations since 1989, but plans for new archeological research and further opening of tombs have circulated.
The Ming Tombs were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in August 2003. They were listed along with other tombs under the "Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" designation. As of 2004, the entire park is undergoing large-scale restoration.
Retrieved from Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia
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