Ming Princes' Tombs

Ming Princes' Tombs

The Ming Princes' Tombs are a cultural tourism attraction.

The Ming Princes' Tombs are located at the eastern foot of Mount Lu, covering an area of over 30 square kilometers. They are the burial grounds of Zhu Muzhan, the 15th son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, and his descendants. Locally, they are known as the "Ming Princes' Tombs" or "Ming Qing Princes' Tomb." Historical records indicate that those buried here include nine generations of princes officially enfeoffed by Ming emperors—such as the Prince of Qingjing, Prince of Qingkang, Prince of Qinghuai, Prince of Qingzhuang, Prince of Qinggong, Prince of Qingding, Prince of Qianduan, and Prince of Qingxian—as well as the Heir of Duanhe, and the tombs of various other princes from the Qing vassal state, including the Princes of Zhenning, Anhua, Hongnong, and Fenglin, along with accompanying burial tombs of their concubines. Among them, Sun Shi, the principal wife of the Prince of Qingjing, was the first to be buried here in 1410 (the eighth year of the Yongle reign), making it over 590 years ago.

　 Originally, there were 72 visible "tomb mounds" on the ground, but by June 1984, during a cultural relics survey in Tongxin County, only 34 remained. In 1988, the autonomous region listed them as part of the second batch of key cultural relics protection units. Today, nearly all have been looted. In 1967, in order to obtain bricks, villagers from Zhouxinzhuang Village in Weizhou sent people to demolish a tomb southwest of the village. By the time the Ningxia Museum got wind of it and sent personnel over, the tomb chamber had already been emptied, leaving only one funerary epitaph box labeled “Epitaph of the Tomb of Prince Qingjing of the Great Ming.” The epitaph box is square with a lid, measuring 60 cm in length and 30 cm in height.

The center of the lid bears six engraved characters in intaglio regular script: “Tomb of the Prince of Qingjing of the Great Ming,” surrounded by cloud-and-dragon patterns. The epitaph text consists of 18 lines with 22 characters per line, briefly recounting the life of Zhu Muzhan and virtues such as “righteous conduct, filial piety, benevolence, and adherence to principle.” The interior of the tomb chamber is constructed from finely polished large bluish-gray bricks, with white lime used for joints, making it very precise and solid. The entrance of the tomb chamber faces east (with the deceased’s head resting on Mount Lu and feet toward Mount Qinglong). The chamber is divided into front and rear sections, with side chambers on both sides of the rear section. The total length of the tomb chamber is about 14 meters, width about 13 meters, and height about 6 meters, with a vaulted ceiling. The chamber entrance has two stone doors, and originally, there were doors between each chamber, making the tomb structure very spacious.

Ningxia, Wuzhong City