{Part X of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Ming Tombs near Beijing, China}

On the way back from Jinshanling Great Wall of China, the bus with the ten delegates and their guide, did visit the Ming Tombs near Beijing.
They got to descend into the 27 m deep Dingling Tomb

Husband Pieter looking very happy, after having climbed the Great Wall and now ending the day with a visit to the Ming Tombs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Front Gate of Dingling, with Pieter squatted down with a cute Chinese toddler...
 They will descend to the Tomb of Emperor Zhu Yijun (1563-1620) of Ming Dynasty, which is 27 meters below.

Here you see the Five Sacrificial Utensils in front of The Soul Tower
For a very interesting 2-½ minute video check here: Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties(UNESCO/NHK) 
Also the video is showing you the beautiful surroundings, aerial views, located south of the Tianshou Mountain

They are looking at a board with the entire region where the tombs are, the final resting place for 13 of the 16 Ming emperors.

Images are from: Zhu Yizhun - the Wanli Emperor click and scroll down.

Being 27 meters below, you will find the marble door with self locking mechanism.

Pieter and the team were told by their guide that the last person had to lock the door and that meant he himself got locked in as well!

Immolation (to offer in sacrifice...)

The less glamorous and cruel part was the offering of human lives.

In the early days, human slaves were a mere personal property that was sacrificed to serve the deceased in the afterlife. This custom died out in China already a couple of millenniums ago; not so much for humane reasons but simply because slaves were too expensive. Qin Shi Huang's terra cotta figures were excellent examples of a substitute for human sacrifice.

Some Ming emperors however still insisted on taking their favorite concubines with them. Human offerings have been found at Xianling, Changling and Jingling of the Ming tombs.

The concubines were normally not buried in the main vault but in separate "wells" nearby. Adding to the cruelty, they were buried alive in a standing position awaiting their emperor in the netherworld. (See photo to the right showing such Concubine tombs, Qingxilling).

click and scroll down for the above info: Ming tombs -General information.

Pieter also did get to see some of the Terra cotta Warriors while at the Ming Tombs.

They were probably brought there, as they also traveled to several big Museums.

These slides got lost too...

~ 

It was again unimaginably, Pieter wrote in his diary...

They treated their Beijing hosts for dinner and had to pack because next day everyone had to rise very early for a flight to Fuzhou, more to the south east.

Thanks for visiting and till next part...

Related links:
{Part IX of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Jinshanling Great Wall of China} | previous post by me
{Part VIII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Countryside North of Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part VII of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Lama Temple in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part VI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China} | previous post by me 

{Part V of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Forbidden City in Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part IV of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - City Views of Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part III of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Arrival in Beijing, China} | previous post by me
{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me