The Sacred Road

The Sacred Road is 7.3 kilometers long from the Memorial Stone Archway to the gate of Changling, Along the Sacred Road, there are Marble Archway, Great Palace Gate, Tablet Tower, Stone Statues and Dragon and Phoenix Gate.

Marble Archway

The Marble Archway was built in 1540. It was used for eulogizing the meritorious and virtuous deeds of the feudal rulers in the old days. This was a starting point on the Sacred Road. Marble Archway is a symbol of the tomb area.

Great Red Gate

In the old days,  the Great Red Gate was the main entrance to the tomb area. The gate has three passsageways: the central one was for the deceased emperor’s coffin only; the living emperor used the left side gate; the ministers ad the imperial family members used the right one when they came here to pay homage to their ancestors. There used to be a 40-kilometer long wall on both sides of this gate surrounding the imperial cemetery but most of the surrounding walls have collapsed, only the remains can still be seen here and there.

On both sides of the gate there are two tablets, known as “dismount stele”. The inscriptions carved on the stone tablets means:” Official and others should dismount from their horseback.” In the old days, nobody was allowed to enter in on horseback. Even the emperor and his court officials had to get off from their horses or palanquins at this spot, just to show their respect to their ancestors.

Tablet Tower

The Tablet was erected in 1435. There is a big stone tortoise with a huge stone tablet on its back stands in the middle of the Tablet Tower. Inscriptions are carved on four sides of the stone tablet. On the front side, the words ” Tablet of Divine Merits and Sagely Virtue of Changling of the Great Ming” were carved as the topic of the tablet. And then an inscription of about 3,000 Chinese characters was carved on the front side written by Emperor Renzong, the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It recorded the life-story of his father, Emperor Yongle: expedition to Nanjing, moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and his battles with the Mongols in the desert north of the Great Wall.

ON the backside of the talbet, the iscription of “30-line Lament over the Ming Tombs” was written by Qing Emperor Qianlong. It tells his visits to the Ming Tombs and the condiiton of some tombs in detail. On the eastern side of the tablet  the expenses spent in repairing the Ming Tombs by Emperor Qianlong were listed, while on the western side the inscription was written by Qing Emperor Jiaqing, It tells why the Ming Dynasty was overthrown.

Stone Statues

There are altogether 36 stone statues along the Sacred Road. Twenty-four of them are stone animals while 12 are human figures. There are 6 kinds of animals, 3 kinds of human figures, and each group has 4.The stone animals are: lions, Xiezhi( a mythological animal), camels, elephants, Qilin unicorns and horses. All these stone animals are in pairs, one pair are standing while the other pair are kneeling down. The 12 stone human figures are: four civil officials, four military officers and four meritorious oficials.

Lingxing Gate

Lingxing Gate is located at the end of the road of the stone statues. This gate is also named the Heavenly Gate because people believed that by going through this gate the dead would be able to ascend to heaven or his/her soul would be raised up to paradise.

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Author: AmoyTrip.com--The Sacred Road
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