【正文】 imperial burial ground. Emperor Zhu Di was greatly satisfied with this burial ground and ordered starting construction of his tomb. He changed the name of Yellow Earth Hill to Heavenly Longevity Hill. As the site was decided upon, in 1409 construction of his tomb Chang Ling was started. The Hall of Eminent Favor was pleted in 1416 and the whole construction of Chang Ling was pleted in 1427, the second year of Emperor Xuan De in March, but the underground tomb was pleted in 1413. So Empress Xu was moved from Nangjing and buried here first. In 1424 Emperor Zhu Di died in the desert on his fifth expedition in person. After his all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty also had their tombs built in this area except Emperor Jing Tai, the seventh emperor who was buried in the western suburbs of Beijing, Jinshan Mountain. The thirteen tombs took more than 200years to plete, scattered over 40 square kilometers. The thirteen tombs are named as: Chang Ling, Xian Ling, Jing Ling, Yu Ling, Mao Ling, Tai Ling, Kang Ling, Yong Ling, Zhao Ling, Ding Ling, Qing Ling, De Ling and Si Ling. Sacred Way (shenlu 神路 ) A Sacred Way is always found in an imperial cemetery. The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs is 7 kilometers long from the Memorial Stone Archway to the gate of Chang Ling. Along the sacred way are Marble Archway, Great Palace Gate, Tablet Tower, Stone Statues and Dragon and Phoenix Gate. The Scared Way was originally built for Chang Ling, Emperor Yong Le’s tomb, but since the other twelve tombs were also built in this area, either to the right or to the left of Chang Ling, the Sacred Way became the main road for all of the thirteen tombs. Although they were form one group, each tomb is independent form the other . During the funeral ceremony, the deceased emperor was carried over the road. Apart from the Si Ling in the southwest, they are clustered in one area around the Chang Ling, all of the thirteen tombs lie at the foot of a hill, but the distance between two tombs ranges from 500 meters to 4 milometers. This layout perfectly embodies the tomb system in the Ming Dynasty. Marble Archway (shipaifang 石牌坊 ) This is a memorial stone archway made of white marble. It was built in 1540 during the reign of Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty for promoting the meritorious and virtuous deeds of the feudal rulers, but still in an excellent condition. As a starting point, Marble Archway is a symbol of the tomb area. It is 14 meters high and 29 meters wide and it has 5 arches supported by 6 marble pillars with beautiful relief carvings of dragons, lions and lotus flowers and clouds. It is the southernmost structure in the Ming Tombs and the earliest and bestpreserved stone archway still existing in China. The Sacred Way used to pass beneath the Marble Archway. 十三陵英文導游詞篇 2 At a distance of 50 km northwest of Beijing stands an arcshaped cluster of hills fronted by a small plain. Here is where 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty (13681644) were buried, and the area is known as the Ming Tombs. Construction of the tombs started in 1409 and ended with the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. In over 200 years tombs were built over an area of 40 square kilometres, which is surrounded by walls totalling 40 kilometres. Each tomb is located at the foot of a separate hill and is linked with the other tombs by a road called the Sacred Way. The stone archway at the southern end of the Sacred Way, built in 1540, is 14 metres high and 19 metres wide, and is decorated with designs of clouds, waves and divine animals. Beijing served as the national capital during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Unlike Ming and Qing rulers who all built massive tombs for themselves, Yuan rulers left no similar burial grounds. Why the difference? This has to do with people39。s different views on death. Beijing nomads came from the Mongolian steppe. Mongols who established the Yuan Dynasty held the belief that they had e from: earth. they adopted a simple funeral method: the dead was placed inside a hollowed nanmu tree, which was then buried under grassland. Growth of grass soon left no traces of the tombs. By contrast, during the Ming Dynasty established by Han Chinese ing from an agricultural society in central China, people believed the existence of an afterworld, where the dead lived a life similar to that of the living. Ming emperor, therefore, has grand mausoleums built for themselves. Qing rulers did likewise. The stone archway at the southern end of the Sacred Way, built in 1540, is 14 metres high and 19 metres wide, and is decorated with designs of clouds, waves and divine animals. Wellproportioned and finely carved, the archway is one of the best preserved specimens of its kink in the Ming Dynasty. It is also the largest ancient stone archway in China. The Stele Pavilion, not far from the Great Palace Gate, is actually a pavilion with a doubleeaved roof. On the back of the stele is carvedpoetry written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty when he visited the Ming Tombs. The Sacred Way inside the gate of the Ming Tomb is lined with 18 pairs of stone human figures and animals. These include four each of three types of officials: civil, military and meritorious officials, symbolizing those who assist the emperor in the administration of the state, plus four each of six iypes of animals: lion, griffin, camel, elephant, unicorn and horse. Yongling, built in 1536, is the tomb for Emperor Shizong, Zhu Houcong (15071566). He stayed in power for 45 years. The Dingling Tomb is the tomb of Emperor Wanli (reigned 15731619), the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, whose personal name was Zhu Yijun, and of his two empresses, Xiao Duan and Xiao Jing. The tomb was pleted in six years (15841590), it occupies a total area of 1,195 square meters at the foot of Day