Mysterious Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty
2 min readThe Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty is among the first batch of protected national cultural relics of the new China. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO on November30,2000, and rated as a Grade AAAA tourist scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration in 2001.
The surrounding mountains and rivers framed a protection and worship posture to the nestled mausoleums and made the area a rare auspicious land. The architectural structure of the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty followed the ethic concept of hierarchy.
Xiaoling, the mausoleum of Emperor Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, was built in the center. The mausoleums of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong were built on either sideof Xiaoling and formed a structure of “accompanied by son and grandson”. The mausoleums of the empresses and imperial concubines were built nearby, indicating the relation of master and subordinate. The size and configuration of the tombs also reflect the strict feudal hierarchy. The emperors’mausoleums are the largest, followed by the empresses, and the tombs of imperial concubines are the smallest. The empresses’ mausoleums normally do not have a merit monument or stone figures whilethe tombs of imperial concubines do not have wing halls, Fangcheng or Minglou, and could only use green glazed tiles. There are many masterpieces of ancient architecture, especially the magnificentSacred Way to Xiaoling of Emperor Shunzhi, the three halls of Empress Dowager Cixi’s mausoleum and the exquisite underground palace of Yuling.
Most important figures of the Qing Dynasty were buried here. For example, the outstanding woman politician Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of the early Qing Dynasty; Emperor Shunzhi-the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty after Beijing was declared the capital, Emperor Kangxiand Emperor Qianlong who created the Prosperity Times, Empress Dowager Cixi who had ruled the Qing Dynasty for 48 years as well as the legendary Xiang Fei(Fragrance Concubine). In July 1928, Sun Dianying and his corps flagrantly robbed the underground palace of Empress Dowager Cixi’s mausoleum and Yuling of the buried treasures and the whereabouts are still unknown.
