Ming Changling Mausoleum

Ming Changling Mausoleum

Ming Changling Mausoleum is a cultural tourism attraction.

Beijing's Changling Mausoleum is located at the southern foot of the main peak of Tianshou Mountain. It is the joint burial tomb of the third Ming emperor, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, and his empress, Xu.

Changling

Among the Thirteen Ming Tombs in Beijing, it has the largest architectural scale, was the earliest to be constructed, and its above-ground structures are the best preserved. It is the ancestral mausoleum of the Thirteen Tombs and also one of the most important tourist attractions in the mausoleum complex.

The imperial palace buildings of Changling cover an area of approximately 120,000 square meters. Its layout is in the shape of a square in the front and a circle in the rear. The square section in the front consists of three courtyards connected in sequence. The first courtyard has a mausoleum gate at the front. It is a single-eave hip-and-gable roof structure resembling a palace gate, with five visible bays in width, and its under-eave beams, rafters, purlins, and single-ang three-step bracket sets are all made of glazed components; below are three red arched gates. In front of the mausoleum gate is a moon platform, with wing gates on the left and right. Within the courtyard, during the Ming Dynasty, there were five rooms each for the Divine Kitchen and Divine Storehouse, with a stele pavilion built in front of the Divine Kitchen. Both the Divine Kitchen and Divine Storehouse were destroyed in the mid-Qing Dynasty, but the stele pavilion has been preserved to this day.

The second courtyard has a gate at the front called the Leng’en Gate. According to historical texts such as the "Continuation of the Rites Examination," the main hall of the Tianshou Mountain tombs is called the Leng’en Hall, and the gate is called the Leng’en Gate. This naming convention started in the 17th year of the Jiajing reign (1538), under the decree of Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong. The character “棱” (Leng) carries the meaning of receiving blessings through worship, and “恩” (En) represents boundless grace. The Leng’en Gate features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, with a width of five bays (total width 31.44 meters) and a depth of two bays (total depth 14.37 meters). The top of the central ridge is 14.57 meters above the ground. The brackets under the eaves are of the single-jump double-ang seven-step style, differing from both Song and Qing dynasty designs. Inside, the central and side bays each have a wooden door, while the smaller side bays are enclosed with walls. The central bay’s wooden door is adorned with a decorative plaque inscribed with three golden characters reading “Leng’en Gate.” The character “棱” was mistakenly written during later renovations. The gate stands on a Sumeru-style pedestal surrounded by a dry white jade balustrade. The balustrade features dragon and phoenix carvings on the posts, and vase and cloud-patterned panels. The imperial path stone between the central steps features exquisitely carved shallow relief designs. Below, there are patterns of surging ocean waves with treasure mountains rising from the sea, and two sea horses leaping out of the water and galloping across the waves; above, two vigorous dragons rise and fall through the clouds, chasing a flaming pearl, presenting a majestic and grand scene. It is now impossible to verify who created these intricate stone carvings.

On either side of the Leng’en Gate are wing gates, each a glazed floral door embedded in the wall. The brackets, beams, roof tiles, and rafters on the gates are all assembled from yellow and green glazed components, standing out vividly against the red walls. This hall served during the Ming and Qing dynasties as a place for enshrining the spirit tablets of the emperors and empresses and for holding imperial tomb-sacrifice ceremonies.

After the Xiaoling Mausoleum in the Ming Dynasty, the tomb’s sacrificial hall was referred to by various names such as the Enjoyment Hall, Tomb Hall, Offering Hall, Sleeping Hall, and Incense Hall. The hall regularly displayed items such as spirit beds, imperial and empress spirit tablets, imperial seals, clothing and crowns, the imperial throne, incense tables, and various musical instruments. When imperial officials were sent to conduct sacrifices, additional ritual tables for offerings such as the main table, secondary tables, and the three-animal offering case were added. These displays indicate that the Ming tomb halls served the dual function of hosting large-scale worship and sacrifice activities, as well as daily rituals such as maintaining incense, seasonal offerings, and monthly tomb visits. It combined the functions of the sleeping hall and side hall of Western Han tombs, or the upper and lower palace ritual halls of Tang and Song tombs. The Leng’en Hall of Changling is the only tomb hall from the Ming imperial tombs that has been preserved to this day, and it can be regarded as a precious relic of ancient Chinese wooden architecture.

On either side of the Leng’en Hall, there were fifteen-room side halls on the left and right during the Ming Dynasty, which were destroyed and demolished in the mid-Qing Dynasty. In front of the side halls were spirit silk furnaces, each still well preserved. These were assembled from yellow and green glazed components, small and exquisite. The furnace roofs feature a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, and the front of the furnace body has four false lattice-panel doors, with a central arched door leading into a small chamber used for burning spirit silk and ritual tablets for sacrifices.

The third courtyard has a red arched gate similar in design to the mausoleum gate, serving as the third gate of the tomb complex. Along the central axis of the courtyard are a two-pillar memorial archway and a stone altar.

The two-pillar memorial archway is a post-emerging style memorial gate, also known as the Lingxing Gate. Its two stone pillars are square in cross-section, with a carved sitting dragon at the top of each, and are flanked by drum stones at the front and back. The wooden structure between the pillars was reconstructed in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935) following the design of the Jing Tomb. It features a yellow glazed tile roof, with battens installed on both gable sides, and six sets of five-step triple-ang lotus-patterned brackets under the rafters, with their inner and outer ends designed in three-cloud patterns. Below the brackets are sequentially installed flat beams, large beams, decorative panels, small beams, door frames, upper rails, and filler panels.

The Yongle Emperor Zhu Di (1360–1424) was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, born in Yingtian. He participated in military campaigns and was granted the title of Prince of Yan. Later, he launched the Jingnan Campaign, attacking his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, to seize the throne. After his death, his original temple name was “Taizong,” but over a hundred years later, the Shizong Emperor Zhu Houcong posthumously changed it to “Yongle,” and the era he presided over is also known as the “Prosperous Age of Yongle.”

A native of Fengyang, Anhui, in the 3rd year of the Hongwu reign (1370), Zhu Di was granted the title of Prince of Yan. He once resided in Fengyang and gained considerable knowledge of local conditions. In the 13th year, he was stationed in Beiping (now Beijing)... More details about Zhu Di ++

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