【正文】 er long sacred pathway leads from south to north, all the way to the Gate of Changling. Now, we are moving to Chang Ling. Changling is the first tomb built in the Ming Tombs area, covering 10 hectares and containing Emperor Zhu Di and his empress Xu. Zhu Di (Chengzu) of the Ming Dynasty was the fourth son of the first Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, born in 1360. Zhu Di was conferred the title of the prince of Yan in the 3rd year of Hongwu (1370). He was appointed at Beiping. After the death of Zhu Yuanzhang (the first Ming Emperor), Zhu Di used the pretext of eliminating evil officials at the side of Emperor Jianwen to lead an army expedition down south to Nanjing. He seized the throne in the 4th year of Jianwen (1402) and ascended the throne in June inside the Hall of Ancestral Worship in Nanjing. Zhu Di was an emperor of outstanding acplishment in the Ming Dynasty. As soon as he became the prince of Yan, he led the generals out to battle. He had great achievements in calming down the north. After he took over his nephew39。s power and became the emperor, he still went out to battle throughout the country and consolidated the rule of the Ming Dynasty. He made the important decision to move the capital to Beijing. During the rule of Zhu Di, magnificent developments were made in the economy, culture and in diplomacy. In terms of culture, Zhu Di successively sent Grand Academician Xie Jin, Yan Guangxiao and others to pile the Yongle encyclopedia. The book has bee the largest book ever plied in Chinese history. For expanding external exchanges and trade, Zhu Di selected eunuch Zheng He to lead a large fleet filled with precious gold, silver, silk and satins to sail to southeast Asia and Africa seven times in the early years of Yongle. Empress Xu was buried together with Emperor Zhu Di in Changling. Empress Xushi was the eldest daughter of Xu Da who was one of the founding fathers of the Ming Dynasty. Throughout her lifespan, Xu Shi plied 20 articles of internal lectures and a book advising to be good, so as to cultivate people39。s minds. She was the very first one to be buried in Changling and in the Ming Tomb area. The Hall of Eminent Favor in Changling is the best preserved among the thirteen tombs. It is a valuable relic of ancient China39。s wooden structures. It is nine rooms wide and five rooms long, a hall size rarely seen in China. The roof is made of topclass double eaves and there are multiple rooms covered with yellow glazed tiles. The hall is supported by 60 thick Nanmu pillars, the middle four in the hall are the thickest, the diameter of each one can reach over one meter. It is known as the best Nanmu (phoebe) hall in the country. Now we are going to Dinging. Dingling is located at the east foot of Dayu Mountain. Buried here are the 13th Ming Emperor Wanli (Zhu Yijun) and his two empresses Xiaoduan and Xiaojing. Zhu Yijun was the longest on the throne of the Ming Emperors. (He was emperor for 48 years). He was the greediest and laziest emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yijun ascended the throne at the age of 9. After he came to power, he was supported by the chief minister Zhang Juzheng. At this time, various aspects of society gained development. Later ,Zhang Juzheng died of illness. Not long after Wanli managed state affairs on his own, he used the chance to select the location for his tomb site when he went to pay homage to the ancestors39。 tombs. He spent eight million taels of silver (250,000 kilos of silver) and six years to build a high quality tomb Dingling. After the Dingling was pleted, Zhu Yijun personally went to inspect it, and felt very satisfied with the result. He went so far as to hold a grand banquet in the Underground Palace, which was unheard of in history. Zhu Yijun was a typical muddleheaded emperor. Reflecting on his reign, he did not pay attention to state affairs for 28 out of his 48 year rule. The state an was effectively semiparalyzed during his reign. Later generations mented that the fall of the Ming dynasty was caused by this emperor. Zhu Yijun had two empresses. Empress Xiaojing was originally a maid of Wanli39。s mother Cisheng. Later she gave birth to a son of the emperor. That son was the onemonth emperor Guangzong (Zhu Changluo). She died of illness 9 years earlier than Shenzong died. She was buried as a concubine at Pinggangdi, around the east pit, at the Heavenly Longevity Mount. After Xiaojing was conferred the title of “grandmother of the emperor”, her body was moved to the Underground Palace of Dingling, and buried together with Emperor Wanli and Empress Xiaoduan on the same day. Xiaoduan was conferred the title of empress, but she could not give birth to either a son or a daughter to the emperor. Xiaoduan died of illness. A hundred days later, Emperor Wanli (Zhu Yijun) died too. Empress Xiaoduan, Emperor Wanli, and Empress Xiaojing were buried together in the Underground Palace. The tablet in front of Dingling has no words on it. It is called the wordless tablet. There is a pair of coiling dragons along the top and a pattern of sea waves carved on the bottom. Its base is posed of a tortoise (Bixi). It is said that the dragon has nine sons. In twelve of the Ming Tombs, excluding Changling, all the tablets are wordless. Originally there were no tablet houses in front of the Tombs, but later the tablet houses and steeles of the first six tombs were pleted. But the emperor Jiajing at the time indulged in drinking, lust and searching for longevity pills, so he had no time to pay attention on the inscriptions. Consequently the six tablets are wordless. And in keeping with this tradition, that’s why the tablets later on are also blank. Now we are arriving at The Gate of Eminent Favor and the Hall of Eminent Favor of Dingling, The Hall of Eminent Favor is also called Hall of Enjoyment. It was the place w