Empress Dowager Cixi’s Tomb

Empress Dowager Cixi’s Tomb

Empress Dowager Cixi’s Tomb is a cultural tourism attraction.

Dingdongling is the mausoleum complex of Empress Xiaozhenxian (Lady Zhen) and Empress Xiaodengxian (Lady Deng), consorts of Emperor Xianfeng. One is located in Puxiangyu and the other in Putuoyu. The two tombs stand side by side and appear identical in scale and structure at first glance. Compared to imperial tombs, the empresses’ tombs lack a grand stele pavilion and stone statues, though their architectural layouts are similar, they are smaller in scale.

Both tombs rank among the finest of all imperial consorts' mausoleums, but Empress Dowager Cixi was not satisfied. After the death of the Eastern Empress Dowager Cian, the Western Empress Dowager Cixi seized sole power. In 1895, she ordered the demolition and reconstruction of the three main halls, insisting that no compromise be made on the quality of materials. The renovation project lasted 13 years. The rebuilt tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi became the most luxurious imperial mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty.

The beams and brackets of the three halls in Cixi’s Tomb are all made from precious huanghuali wood. This is a top-grade timber, known for its hardness and fine grain.

The dragon-and-phoenix imperial-seal paintings in the Long’en Hall and the east and west side halls are directly gilded and powdered onto the raw wood. There are more than 2,400 gilded dragons across the interior and exterior walls of the three halls, including various forms such as moving dragons, reclining dragons, ascending dragons, and descending dragons, all dazzling in appearance. It is known that the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Hall) in the Forbidden City, representing the highest imperial authority, has only six gilded columns, whereas the 64 columns in the three main halls of Cixi’s Tomb each feature a coiling, three-dimensional, copper-gilded dragon. The dragons’ heads point downward and tails upward, with springs attached to their whiskers so they sway with the air flow—an absolutely marvelous sight. The walls of the three halls also differ from those of other empresses’ tombs: the inner walls are carved with five bats holding a longevity symbol, four-cornered endless knots, and swastika patterns, all highlighted with gold and cinnabar. The entire hall is resplendent in gold, its exquisite luxury breathtaking. Historical records indicate that a total of 4,592 taels, 1 qian, 4 fen, and 3 hao of gold leaf were used for the three halls.

The stone carvings in Cixi’s Tomb are considered masterpieces. The Long’en Hall is encircled by white marble balustrades, with panels carved in relief showing a phoenix flying ahead and a dragon chasing behind. The 76 carved column shafts break from the traditional pattern of alternating dragons and phoenixes—each capital features an engraved flying phoenix, while dragons are carved along the column shafts, one on each inner and outer side, creating a unique “one phoenix suppressing two dragons” design, unparalleled in China. The dragon-and-phoenix stairway stone slab in front of the hall is an even rarer treasure among stone carvings. Its layout breaks from the usual side-by-side dragon and phoenix motif—the phoenix is above and the dragon below. The carving technique combines high relief with openwork, featuring ten open-carved details such as the phoenix’s claws, crown, and the dragon’s whiskers and talons, enhancing the three-dimensionality of the design. In short, the stairway slab features a novel pattern, a distinctive style, with vividly dancing phoenix and dragon figures, making it a true masterpiece of stone carving.

The underground palace of Cixi’s Tomb consists of five vaults and two gates. At the center of the golden vault lies a white marble coffin platform holding the coffin of Empress Dowager Cixi. The coffin has two layers: the inner coffin and the outer coffin, both made from the precious golden-thread nanmu wood.

The above-ground and underground structures of Cixi’s Tomb, especially the numerous stone carvings, vividly reveal the 48 years of Empress Dowager Cixi’s actual rule over China, her control over two emperors (Tongzhi and Guangxu), her political career, and her domineering nature.

Cixi built her tomb to be magnificent and lavish, and her funeral was the height of extravagance. She hoped to continue her luxurious imperial life in the afterlife. However, she never imagined that just 20 years after her death, in 1928, the sensational “Eastern Mausoleum Robbery” would occur. Cixi’s Tomb, along with Emperor Qianlong’s Yuling Tomb, was ransacked by soldiers under the warlord Sun Dianying. The priceless, world-renowned treasures inside the coffins and on Empress Dowager Cixi’s body were looted. Her remains were thrown out of the coffin and suffered an appalling fate. What is kept in the coffin today is a mummified body of Empress Dowager Cixi.