China’s imperial past is enshrined in Beijing sites
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, November 22, 2017
Its initial purpose was to find the "Yongle Encyclopedia," the largest tome on the history of China. It is believed that the original version of the encyclopedia was buried in the Changling crypt. However, Changling was too big and too deep for archeologists to find the path leading to the burial chamber.
By comparison, Dingling was an easy excavation because part of the wall covering the crypt had collapsed for unknown reasons. The archeology team spent a year trying to find the right path toward the burial chamber and were finally guided by a tablet inscription on a wall. It is now housed in the Dingling Museum.
Just as with the pyramids of Egypt, there are legends about deterrent "gimmicks" in the imperial graves. Archeologists found nothing. There was, however, noxious gas given off by decayed bodies. According to records, when the first brick was pried out, a puff of "black fog" with a strong, musty smell emerged.
Eventually, the coffins and burial objects were discovered. What happened next, however, was beyond expectation. Due to lack of a experience with such ancient sites, many relics were destroyed within minutes as fresh air poured into the chamber. Silken objects were subsequently badly damaged when experts tried to restore them with chemicals. Before the project ended, the central government issued a notice that further excavation of ancient imperial tombs would not be allowed except under special circumstances.
The biggest damage to the burial site occurred during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). The bodies of an emperor and his two empresses were incinerated. The coffins containing the bodies were chopped up by local farmers and made into furniture.
A study of the bodies was never completed. It is known only that Emperor Wanli was about 1.64 meters tall and was humpbacked. His right leg was visibly longer than the left one.
Some of the relics have been carefully preserved. The emperor's golden crown is now displayed at Dingling Museum — the only imperial crown ever found in China. It was woven completely with gold wire without any visible joints or thread ends.
The crypt of Dingling is viewed by hundreds of visitors a day. Located about 27 meters underground, it has five connected chambers. Instructions on the wall tell visitors that the exhibits here are all replicas, but that doesn't stop tourists from throwing coins and banknotes at the fake coffins, as if the poor emperor could still bless them.
In 2014, an underground warehouse was completed, and more than 3,000 relic pieces unearthed from Dingling were finally moved back underground, under strict temperature and humidity controls to prevent past tragedies from recurring.
If you go
How to get there:
Public transport to the Ming Tombs is not convenient. Although the Changping Metro Line has a station called Ming Tombs Station, the stop is actually about 10 kilometers from Dingling and Changling.
There is a bus stop near the station, and all the buses there go to the tombs in a trip that takes about an hour.
Black cabbies abound, waiting at the Metro station and ready to bargain over fares with emerging visitors. They might charge as much as 80 yuan (US$12) to Dingling or Changling, if you can bargain in Chinese. Black cabbies are also available for transport between the tombs.
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