Xian Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty

Xian Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is located in Songlin Mountain (which is in the eastern suburbs of Zhongxiang city) and it is a state-level major cultural relic preservation site. It is a joint tomb of Emperor Jiajing's parents (his father Emperor Gonghexian and his mother Empress Dowager Zhangsheng) in Ming Dynasty. It is the most characteristic emperor's mausoleums in the history of China for thousands of years.

Xian Mausoleum - Brief introduction

Xian Mausoleum started to build in 1519 during Emperor Zhengde Period of Ming Dynasty, and was built in the 45th year (1566) of Emperor Jiajing Period. Its construction takes 47 years. The mausoleum takes an area of 183.13 hectares. It was formed by two mausoleums- the inner mausoleum and the outer mausoleum. The outer mausoleum is about 3600 meters long; the wall is 6 meters high and 1.8 meters thick. The wall of the mausoleum is the most well-preserved one among the emperor's mausoleums through the ages for its splendid and magnificent red walls and yellow tiles wriggled in the undulating hills. The mausoleum was formed by about 30 large-scaled constructions: the inner and outer mausoleums, the front and side Treasure Houses, Lingsi Palace, Lingen Gate, the new and old Red Gates, Kitchen House, Warehouse, Virtues-memorizing House, the outer and inner Ancestral Halls, the Winding River, the Dragon-shaped Avenue and so on. Its conceptual design is supernatural, its pavilions and pavilions are lively and vigorous, its relieves are exquisite, and it is really rare that there were two tombs in the mausoleum. Xian Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is a gem of ancient Chinese Architectural Art.

Xian Mausoleum - Historical Story

Xian Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is peculiar since it stands alone as an example of one mausoleum with two tombs. Xian Mausoleum is the tomb of Zhu Youyuan, he was King Xingxian and was buried in Songlinshan Mountain. Emperor Wuzong passed away in the 16th year of Zhengde Period of Ming Dynasty. Empress Dowager Cishou and prime minister Yang Tinghe followed the law (the younger one would inherit the throne if his brother has no child when he passed away) put Zhu Houcong in the position of the throne since Emperor Wuzong had no child. And the reign title was Jiajing. Zhu Houcong established his own system, and appeased the "dispute of royal exam" which lasted for three ears by force. 17 people were clubbed to death, 115 officials were imprisoned, exiled or deposed in his appeasing. This important historic event was called "dispute of etiquette". Later, Emperor Jiajing named his father as Emperor Gonghexian, and changed the king mausoleum to Emperor mausoleum. The large-scaled construction and expansion was not stopped till Emperor Jiajing passed away.

Xian Mausoleum - World Cultural Heritage

Great emphasis was put on Xian Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty by the experts of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for its particular landscape, supernatural conceptual design, large-scaled construction, rich buried treasures and precious historical value. It was listed as a key national cultural protection unit in 1988. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage took it as the only mausoleum in Ming Dynasty asked the World Heritage Committee to put it on the list of the World Cultural Heritage in March 1999.

Jean Louis Luson-an expert of the United Nation, was surprised after he inspected Xian Mausoleum on January 7, 2000. He praised Xian Mausoleum as "miraculous Xian Mausoleum", and he said it is amazing that the outer city is so well-preserved after hundreds of years. He also fully recognized the preservation and maintenance work of Xian Mausoleum. UNESCO World Heritage Committee put Xian Mausoleum on the list of the World Cultural Heritage in early December 2000.

The success of put Xian Mausoleum on the list of the World Cultural Heritage would greatly contribute to the tourism of Zhongxiang City. An increasingly number of people would appreciate the worldly-shared gem of cultural heritage.