Ming Dingling Mausoleum

Ming Dingling Mausoleum

Ming Dingling is a cultural tourism attraction.

Dingling is situated at the eastern foot of the Dayu Mountain. It is the tenth among the Thirteen Ming Tombs, covering an area of 180,000 square meters. It is the joint burial mausoleum of the 13th Ming emperor, Zhu Yijun (reign title Wanli), and his two empresses, Xiaoduan and Xiaojing. Zhu Yijun reigned for 48 years, the longest reign of any Ming emperor. The mausoleum was constructed during his lifetime and is quite large in scale. According to historical records, construction of Dingling began in the 12th year of the Wanli reign (1584) and was completed in the 18th year (1590), taking a total of six years. The project cost 8 million taels of silver. The main structures of Dingling are aligned along a central axis, and the overall layout of the surface buildings follows a design that is square in the front and round in the back, symbolizing the ancient Chinese philosophical concept of 'the round sky and the square earth.' Its main structures include a stone bridge, stele pavilion, outer city wall, mausoleum gate, ?En Gate, ?En Hall, Ming Tower, treasure city, treasure mound, and the underground palace beneath the treasure mound.

Among the Thirteen Ming Tombs, Emperor Wanli’s Dingling is the largest in scale, primarily referring to the area of its surface buildings. In terms of materials used, Dingling is also the most luxurious. At that time, the Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng implemented reforms that spurred economic development and prosperity in handicraft industries during the Ming Dynasty, leaving the national granaries and imperial treasury abundantly stocked. After Zhang Juzheng’s death, Emperor Wanli, free from constraints, disregarded the advice of his ministers and spent huge amounts of state funds to construct his extravagant mausoleum, Dingling. Although the selection of the site and the construction process were marked by many controversies, Dingling was eventually built beyond the originally planned standards. Upon hearing the news, Emperor Wanli immediately went to Dingling and held a grand banquet in the underground palace. To reward the ministers in charge of the construction and for his own satisfaction, Wanli, faced with this magnificent architecture, was filled with mixed emotions. He was overjoyed to have a final resting place for himself after death, yet also felt somewhat melancholic. Due to the succession disputes, he had been mentally exhausted and lost interest in state affairs. For twenty years, he indulged in drinking and pleasure with his beloved Consort Zheng, neglecting political duties until he entered the underground palace of Dingling.

The underground palace of Dingling is currently the only excavated tomb among the Thirteen Ming Tombs and was the first imperial tomb to be systematically excavated after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over 3,000 cultural relics were unearthed from the tomb, including four national treasures: a golden crown, an imperial phoenix crown, a night-shining pearl, and Ming tri-colored pottery.

The underground palace of Dingling is entirely built of stone, mostly bluestone, covering an area of 1,195 square meters. It has no beam frames, featuring instead arched stone vaults that are quite tall. There are seven white marble doors in the tomb, each weighing four tons, with ingeniously designed mechanisms that allow them to open and close smoothly. The underground palace is divided into a main hall, side halls, and a front hall, mirroring the layout of surface structures. The central hall displays ceremonial objects in their original arrangement, including three white marble thrones, each with a set of yellow glazed five-offering items and a large blue-and-white porcelain jar in front. Originally, these jars were filled with oil for the eternal lamps. The rear hall contains the coffin platform where the coffins of Zhu Yijun and his two empresses are placed, alongside 26 red-lacquered wooden boxes filled with funerary objects.

Suggested Visit Duration

3 hours

Transportation

1. Take bus 345 Branch Line from Deshengmen West Station to Changping Dongguan Intersection, then transfer to bus 314;

2. Take bus 881 from Deshengmen West Station to Changping Dongguan Intersection, then transfer to bus 314.

World Cultural Heritage Tour Route A: Badaling Great Wall – Dingling

Departure Point: Tiananmen Departure Center (No. A1, Xichang’an Avenue, southwest corner of Tiananmen Square, across the street from KFC on Xichang’an Avenue)

Ticket

Low season (Nov 1 – Mar 31 each year): 45 RMB;

Peak season (Apr 1 – Oct 31 each year): 65 RMB.

Opening Hours

Low season (Nov 1 – Mar 31 each year): 8:30–17:00 (ticket sales stop);

Peak season (Apr 1 – Oct 31 each year): 8:00–17:30 (ticket sales stop)

Location

Southern foothills of Tianshou Mountain, Ming Thirteen Tombs Special Zone, Changping, Beijing

The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun, was born on August 17, in the 42nd year of the Jiajing reign (1563, Year of the Guihai). He was the third son of the Longqing Emperor, and his mother, Noble Consort Li, was originally a palace maid at the Prince of Yu’s residence. Because the first two crown princes died young, Zhu Yijun was appointed as the crown prince in the 2nd year of the Longqing reign (1568), and ascended to the throne in the 6th year (1572), adopting the reign title Wanli.

In the early years of the Wanli reign, he was strongly supported by the Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng. On one hand, Zhang guided the young emperor in his studies, arranging a comprehensive curriculum and selecting well-educated ministers to teach him, helping cultivate his skills in governing the country... More details about Zhu Yijun

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