The Visit To Mingtown - The Thirteen Tombs Of The Ming Dynasty

Written by Kang Mei Xin (pictured above) and translated by Kim Phong

Early one morning around mid-August 2005, Tony and I boarded a tourist bus headed to Beijing’s suburban Mingtown with its thirteen tombs of the Ming Dynasty.  The heat was oppressive that day, but we were very happy, seated in the air conditioned comfortable of the tourist bus with our MP3’s turned on.  We watched as the magnificent scenery rushed past us and we felt particularly blissful.  After the one hour journey we arrived at our first destination, Mingtown’s old Palace.  Using wax figures and different room settings it conveyed to the visitors the stories and the periods of the various important people throughout the many dynasties of ancient China.  It also told the life, customs and culture, and the family environment during the different dynasties.  Every wax figure was made exquisitely and extremely lifelike. 

Our second destination was the Beijing Chinese Medical College which was a typical older Beijing Hospital with structures on four sides surrounding a courtyard.  I said hospital but in reality it was not a hospital because the main objective of the institution was the research and collation of major health questions and answers.  Many foreign leaders have been here because the walls were full of photos as a reminder of their visits.  From these we could clearly see this College held an important position in the medical world.  As a result we listened intently to the words and explanation of our designated guide who was an elderly Doctor.  Because the language used was mostly technical I could only briefly translate a few sentences for Tony and so for the large part of the proceedings he could only but look aimlessly at the expression of the elderly Doctor.  Afterwards the Doctor checked our pulses to ascertain our health and found that nine out of us ten suffered some form of ailment.  Perhaps we were all under too much stress at work and, coupled with a heavily polluted environment it would appear that no one was healthy among us.  How very sad!   The Doctor then recommended some expensive Chinese medication and if you thought there was a need then you could buy some to bolster and improve your health.

The third destination was Mingtown’s Ming Tomb which housed the remains of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.  The construction of the Tomb was special because it represented the Ming Dynasty’s position and power.  Legend had it that the position of the Tomb was selected according to the considerations and requirements of Feng Shui.  The site was surrounded on three sides by hills and the fourth by water, a treasured site indeed according to Feng Shui principles which would allow the Ming Dynasty to continue and flourish.  Of course nowadays no one knew whether there was any truth in those sayings.  To ensure the preservation of these treasured constructions we all had to undergo strenuous security checks.  We entered at the rear through a set of stairs which went forever underground.  Although the stairs were not new they were probably built after the discovery of the Tomb.  All the walls were made from stone and the deeper one went the more one felt the eerie chill.   The emperors’ coffins were placed deep underground for safety reasons, and to prevent external damage, special measures were put in place during the Tomb’s construction so it was impossible for people to enter previously.  Finally we arrived at what people called the chamber of the underworld full of coffins from a few hundreds years back.  The walls were painted green and unconsciously added to the creepy feeling of dread.  Just as well there were many people there, otherwise I would have cried out in utter horror.  In front of every coffin there was a tombstone inscribed on which were the detail of the Emperor’s period of reign, his achievements and important historic facts.  When the visit was over we had to climb over one hundred steps to reach the surface.  But to emerge from the Tomb we had to go through a stone door called (I think) the Ying Yang Door or the Door to the Underworld.  Women must straddle this doorway with their right feet and men their left feet (1).  Lovers must hold hands and cross together to ensure continuing love until death.  Finally we arrived back to the world of the living.

Our last stop was the Great Wall.  This was our first visit and we were full of anticipation.  The wisdom of the ancient Chinese was on display here in all its glory.  To prevent enemy attack, our Chinese ancestors used their hands to build this magnificent Wonder block by block.  Many hard working Chinese people also paid the ultimate sacrifice to enable the completion of this project.  The Great Wall also represented the unyielding spirit and the never say die attitude of the Chinese people.  Many foreign visitors were here and we soon went up to the first signal tower.  Standing on top of the tower we could see the splendid features of the Motherland and we could hear the adulation from our foreign friends.  This made me very proud.  Due to the weather, we did not go to the summit but we took many beautiful photographs.  Later when we looked at these photos memory of this memorable tour would come flooding back to us.

(1)  Translator's Note:  All external doorways in ancient China were made with a step 20 to 30cm high to keep rubbish and leaves or even low flood water out.