【正文】 Dynasty, was born in 1328 and died in 1398. He buled China for 31 years. he came from a poor peasant familuy. In 1345 both his parens and his brother died of serious natural calamity within half a year when he was 17 years old. In order to make his livelihood, he went to a temple, there he took tonsure and became a Buddhist monk. He went out three years for begging alms in Henan, Anhui and south of the country. In 1348, he came back to the temple and was determined to study diligently. In 1351, the Red Turban Peasant Army appeared in China, later in 1352, he joined the Red Turban Peasant Army, fighting against the Yuan court. Finally he became the chief leader in the army. In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty with its capital in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. In 1398, after his 31 years on the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang died at the age of 71 and was buried in his tomb Xiaoling, eastern suburbs of the capital Nanjing. According to the Chinese hereditary system, the eldest son should be the successor. But unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang’s eldest son Zhu Biao died in 1392, six years earlier than the emperor. So Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang chose his grandson Zhu Yunwen as the successor. In 1398, after Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang died, his 21yearold grandson succeeded his throne and became the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty named Emperor Jian Wen. At that time Emperor Jian Wen was assisted by cout officials in governing the country. In order to centralize the power, he adopted the suggestion of his court officials to weaken the power of the regional garrison manders who were actually his uncles, the sons of the first emperor. But these measures met with strong resistance from his uncle Zhu Di, the prince of Yan ,the fourth son of the first Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Di got so enraged when he heard the news that his power would be reduced. With an army of 100000stong, he was the most powerful garrison mander among all the princes, then under the excuse of wiping out the evils around the emperor, he launched punitive expedition to the capital in 1399 in the name of “wiping out evil for the country ”. the war lasted for three years, finally Zhu Di usurped the power from his nephew and became the 3rd emperor of the Ming Dynasty and adopted the reign title “yongle”. Emperor Jian Wen, the dethroned emperor disappeared with nowhere to be found. Some people said that he died in a big fire。 another saying is that he had escaped to a temple and became a Buddhist monk. Anyway his whereabouts remained unknown till now in spite of Yongle’s search for him all over the country. So there is no tomb for the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The seventh emperor Jing Tai was buried at Jinshang Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing. Jing Tai was the brother of Emperor Yingzong, the sixth Ming Emperor. In 1449, emperor Yingzong was captured by Mongol troops in a battle. However his brother Zhu Qiyu was put to the throne as the emperor and entitled Jing Tai. Next year when the sixth Ming Emperor Yingzong got free and came back, his brother had got on the throne already, and then he became a backstage ruler. Eight years later, in 1457 he staged a coup in the court and succeeded in making a restoration and overthrew his brother and also abrogated his brother. It is known in Chinese history as the “Coup of Seizing the Gate”. He reproclaimed hisself as the emperor and came to the throne again. Half a month later, Jing Tai died, Yingzong refused to honor his an imperial burial, so he was buried as a prince in Jingshan Mountain on the western outskirts of Beijing. That is why there are 13 tombs in this imperial burial ground, monly known as the “Thirteen Ming Tombs ” in Chinese. Having been a frontier mander in Beijing for many years, Emperor Yongle realized that a peaceful northern frontier was very important to the Ming Court and Beijing manded a very important strategic position to the whole country. In order to consolidate unity and strengthen his control over the whole country, the northern part in particular, he decided to move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing for the missed his former headquarters in Beijing as well. Construction of the imperial palace started in 1406. In 1407 Empress Xu died. In order to show his determination on moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, Emperor Zhu Di decided to bury her in Beijing instead of burying her in the former capital Nanjing where his father’s tomb was located. First he ordered a search made for an “auspicious burial site” amid beautiful scenery on th e outskirts of Beijing. He sent a minister of rite together with a master geomancer to Beijing and ordered them to find a best spot for the imperial burial ground based on “Feng Shui ”. the practice of “Feng Shui” was similar to the western geomancy, which appeared very early in china. The geomancers developed a concept for an ideal residence for both the living and the dead. According to the practice of Feng Shui, the imperial burial ground should be closely related to the surrounding landscapes. Based on the geomancy, the present site of the Ming Tombs was chosen with greatest care. With geomancy taken into account, even the name of the valley, the name of the hill and the name of the nearby village all had to put into their considerations. It is said that Emperor Yongle was dissatisfied with the names of some places they had chosen for him. After serious consideration the present site was finally chosen. Rolling hills known as the Yellow Earth Hill formed a natural protection screen to the north。t be used as the burial ground. Next they selected the foot of Yangshan Mountain, Changping. However, since the surname of the emperor (Zhu) is a homophone for pig and because a village named 39。 was the homonym of the death of the emperor, it was also deemed unsuitable. It was not