Editing Ming tombs (section)

{{Short description|Collection of mausoleums built by emperors of China}}
{{about|the Ming tombs in Beijing|the Ming tomb in Nanjing|Ming Xiaoling}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS         = [[Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties]]
| Image       = [[File:Thirteen tombs entance dagong gate201909.jpg|300px]]
| Caption     = Dagong gate (Red in the middle) and Spirit way of the Ming tombs (behind the gate).
| Includes    =
| Location    = [[Beijing]] and [[Nanjing]], [[China]]
| Type        = Cultural
| Criteria    = i, ii, iii, iv, vi
| ID          = 1004
| Region      = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia|Asia-Pacific]]
| Coordinates = {{coord|40|15|12|N|116|13|3|E}}
| Year        = 2000
| Session     = 24th
| Extension   = 2003; 2004
| website     = http://www.mingtombs.com/
}}

The '''Ming tombs''' are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the [[Ming dynasty]] of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital [[Nanjing]]. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near [[Beijing]] and collectively known as the '''Thirteen Tombs of the Ming dynasty''' ({{zh |t = 明十三陵 |p = Míng Shísān Líng |l = Ming Thirteen Mausoleums}}). They are located within the suburban [[Changping District]] of Beijing  Municipality, {{convert|42|km|sp=us}} north-northwest of Beijing's city center. The site, on the southern slope of [[Tianshou Mountain]] (originally Huangtu Mountain), was chosen based on the principles of ''[[feng shui]]'' by the third Ming emperor, the [[Yongle Emperor]]. After the construction of the Imperial Palace ([[Forbidden City]]) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own [[mausoleum]]. The subsequent emperors placed their tombs in the same valley.

From the Yongle Emperor (d. 1424) onwards, thirteen Ming emperors were buried in the same area. The [[Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum|Xiaoling Mausoleum]] of the first Ming emperor, the [[Hongwu Emperor]], is located near his capital Nanjing; the second emperor, the [[Jianwen Emperor]], was overthrown by the Yongle Emperor and disappeared, without a known tomb. The "temporary" emperor, the [[Jingtai Emperor]], was also not buried here, as the [[Emperor Yingzong of Ming|Tianshun Emperor]] had denied him an imperial burial; instead, the Jingtai Emperor was buried west of [[Beijing]].<ref name="dan">Eric N. Danielson, "[http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=016_mingancestor.inc&issue=016]". ''CHINA HERITAGE QUARTERLY'', No. 16, December 2008.</ref> The last emperor buried at the location was [[Chongzhen Emperor|Chongzhen]], the last of his dynasty, who committed suicide by hanging on April 25, 1644. He was buried in his concubine Consort Tian's tomb, which was later declared as an imperial mausoleum ''Siling'' by the emperor of the short-lived [[Shun dynasty]], [[Li Zicheng]], with a much smaller scale compared to the other imperial mausoleums built for Ming emperors.

During the Ming dynasty, the tombs were off limits to commoners, but in 1644 [[Li Zicheng]]'s army ransacked and burned many of the tombs  before advancing to and subsequently capturing Beijing in April of that year.

In 1725, the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] bestowed the hereditary title of marquis on a descendant of the [[House of Zhu|Ming imperial family]], Zhu Zhilian, who received a salary from the Qing government and whose duty was to perform rituals at the Ming tombs. He was posthumously promoted to [[Marquis of Extended Grace]] in 1750 by the [[Qianlong Emperor]], and the title passed on through twelve generations of Ming descendants until the end of the Qing dynasty.

Presently, the Ming tombs are designated as one of the components of the World Heritage Site, the [[Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties]], which also includes a number of other locations near Beijing and in Nanjing, Hebei, Hubei, Liaoning province.