Two last Ming Tombs and more
Last Sunday, we got home from Mass later than usual since it was 圣体圣血节/Corpus Christi, so we were not in a position to get to a really good Great Wall walk. We decided it would be a good day to see the last two Ming Tombs on our list, Siling and Tailing. The plan was made so quickly that I didn't consult this website before leaving, so we encountered a few surprises, especially near Siling.
Like this unusual-looking walled village we passed on the tiny roads that led us to Siling.
We stopped for a moment, and decided we would see it again on our way back through. The GPS named the town Wanniang Fen Cun. We continued past several other bits of unexpected Ming Tomb-colored walls, all evidence of some recent restoration, but until our GPS said we were at Siling we did not stop.
More after the jump
When we at last found Siling, according to our GPS, we weren't even certain we were actually there. Sure, it was an Imperial Tomb, but this Emperor was the Chongzhen Emperor, the last of the Ming, whose reign and life ended with his suicide on Coal Hill. He was lucky the Qing successors even bothered to bury him with any rites at all. The Qing, however, did not inter him in his own tomb like his ancestors; the resting place of one of his concubines was opened to bury him there as well.
Siling is so small, and forgotten-looking, that if it weren't for the marker out front, I would have doubted even our GPS.
From the outside, there is evidence of both the decay related to the centuries past and some more recent attempts at restoration.
The rusty doors were closed tightly with almost no gaps through which we could see inside. Brigid found a hole at her level, so she offered to take a picture.
I found one BB-sized on my eye-level. I could clearly make out the caretaker's house (which seems a strange and mysterious job to have, that of tomb-caretaker).
We walked around the outside hoping to catch a better look inside, but there were none to be had.
We returned to Wanniang Fen Village and stopped for a few minutes. From inside the village wall, I was surprised to see that there had been originally three doors, like there are for other Imperial buildings (tombs included), the center for the exclusive use of the Emperor and the flanking gates for everyone else. Walled villages around Beijing don't usually have this feature. The side doors had been bricked-over.
Later, at home, we consulted this thorough but unofficial Ming Tombs website, and realized that the area around Siling had been the site of many concubine tombs, and this village had originally been the tomb of an Emperor's consort (identified on this Chinese blog as Consort Wan Zhen Er, who was not a very nice person at all). At some point, and I am still digging to see when, the tomb became a settled village.
At some time in the future, I am sure now that we will start tracking down some of the remains of the consort tombs, and and explore Wannaing Fen Cun more. These tombs helped me make better sense, too, of the collection of stone sculptures in the park next to our building. I had heard them described as vaguely being recovered from tombs around Changping, though I had never heard anything specific. Probably at least some of the pieces came from the consort tombs that are near Siling.
After Siling, we only had one Ming Tomb left to collect, and it was one we had driven past often but never stopped to take a picture. Tailing was where the Hongzhi Emperor was buried. In an interesting twist of the relationships among the tombs we had seen that afternoon, the Hongzhi Emperor was the secret surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor, the only one who escaped Consort Wan's elimination of all of Chenghua's heirs.
Tailing is visible from the road, and an iron fence and surveillance cameras keep visitors at bay.
Tailing was for us a return to the typical Ming Tomb, with a stele before it and the soul tower within.
It was, though, a bit of an anti-climactic end to our mission to see all thirteen of the Beijing Ming Tombs, especially since our drive to Siling showed us that there is a lot more to this necropolis around Changping than just 十三陵.
Like this unusual-looking walled village we passed on the tiny roads that led us to Siling.
We stopped for a moment, and decided we would see it again on our way back through. The GPS named the town Wanniang Fen Cun. We continued past several other bits of unexpected Ming Tomb-colored walls, all evidence of some recent restoration, but until our GPS said we were at Siling we did not stop.
More after the jump
When we at last found Siling, according to our GPS, we weren't even certain we were actually there. Sure, it was an Imperial Tomb, but this Emperor was the Chongzhen Emperor, the last of the Ming, whose reign and life ended with his suicide on Coal Hill. He was lucky the Qing successors even bothered to bury him with any rites at all. The Qing, however, did not inter him in his own tomb like his ancestors; the resting place of one of his concubines was opened to bury him there as well.
Siling is so small, and forgotten-looking, that if it weren't for the marker out front, I would have doubted even our GPS.
From the outside, there is evidence of both the decay related to the centuries past and some more recent attempts at restoration.
The rusty doors were closed tightly with almost no gaps through which we could see inside. Brigid found a hole at her level, so she offered to take a picture.
I found one BB-sized on my eye-level. I could clearly make out the caretaker's house (which seems a strange and mysterious job to have, that of tomb-caretaker).
We walked around the outside hoping to catch a better look inside, but there were none to be had.
We returned to Wanniang Fen Village and stopped for a few minutes. From inside the village wall, I was surprised to see that there had been originally three doors, like there are for other Imperial buildings (tombs included), the center for the exclusive use of the Emperor and the flanking gates for everyone else. Walled villages around Beijing don't usually have this feature. The side doors had been bricked-over.
Later, at home, we consulted this thorough but unofficial Ming Tombs website, and realized that the area around Siling had been the site of many concubine tombs, and this village had originally been the tomb of an Emperor's consort (identified on this Chinese blog as Consort Wan Zhen Er, who was not a very nice person at all). At some point, and I am still digging to see when, the tomb became a settled village.
At some time in the future, I am sure now that we will start tracking down some of the remains of the consort tombs, and and explore Wannaing Fen Cun more. These tombs helped me make better sense, too, of the collection of stone sculptures in the park next to our building. I had heard them described as vaguely being recovered from tombs around Changping, though I had never heard anything specific. Probably at least some of the pieces came from the consort tombs that are near Siling.
After Siling, we only had one Ming Tomb left to collect, and it was one we had driven past often but never stopped to take a picture. Tailing was where the Hongzhi Emperor was buried. In an interesting twist of the relationships among the tombs we had seen that afternoon, the Hongzhi Emperor was the secret surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor, the only one who escaped Consort Wan's elimination of all of Chenghua's heirs.
Tailing is visible from the road, and an iron fence and surveillance cameras keep visitors at bay.
Tailing was for us a return to the typical Ming Tomb, with a stele before it and the soul tower within.
It was, though, a bit of an anti-climactic end to our mission to see all thirteen of the Beijing Ming Tombs, especially since our drive to Siling showed us that there is a lot more to this necropolis around Changping than just 十三陵.
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_Hen_and_Chicks,_Song_Dynasty.jpg
"A Song Dynasty (960–1279) painting of a mother hen and chicks, with a written eulogy at the top inscribed by the Chenghua Emperor describing his fondness for this work." either nostalgia for his lost 'chicks,' or a chick-flick euphemism for his enthusiasm for their begetting? Either way a soul-searching insight into the middle kingdom, much appreciated, thank you !