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MING EMPERORS BURIED IN UNDERGROUND TOMBS
By Bob Van Leer
(BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 12, 1991) - This morning we drove 50 miles north of Beijing to climb the Great Wall, the fabled defensive wall of China, and later visited the tomb of one of the Ming emperors.
The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world. It is noted as the only man-made object visible from satellites in orbit.
We had known of the Great Wall since school days and a trip to China would not be complete without a visit to it. The way to the Great wall is across the North China plain on which Beijing is built.
This area is intensively farmed with a lot of produce fields as well a quite a bit of corn.
Farming practices are similar to the U.S. in the 1940s. There is quite a bit of animal power, horses, mules and burros. But tractors are also in use. Corn is still cut and formed into shocks.
Polluted air hangs heavy over Beijing. It lessened as we drove north but the air was hazy, even from high on the Great Wall. The China Guidebook says, "The hazy sunlight of the North China Plain is diffused by billions of dust particles borne by prevailing winds from central Asia".
Began In 403 B.C.
The wall was begun in separate sections in the period 403-221 B.C. Under the first Quin emperor (221-206 B.C.) the segments were connected. The emperor put 300,000 men, many of them political prisoners whose bodies were buried in the wall, to work connecting the segments into one huge rampart of stone and earth. It measures today 3750 miles from near the sea to the Gobi desert. We visited the Badaling section, one of three sections opened to tourists. It dates from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The wall here averages 21 feet high and 18 feet at the top, broad enough to accommodate five cavalrymen or 10 infantrymen marching abreast. This is not a lonely section of wall, this is a prime tourist attraction and is crowded.
It has most of the infrastructure needed to handle the tourists. But handling traffic still needs work. There are administrative buildings, parking lots and dozens, perhaps hundreds, of stall catering to tourists. Last year a tramway was added to take some of the effort out of climbing the wall. The day after we rode up the tram there was an accident killing one and injuring another person. The wall, itself, is built on steep ridgetops. The roadway on top of the wall is a combination of ramp and stairs. The stairs are difficult to climb, the stairsteps are not even heights. As the grade steepens the the steps get higher.
It is built well, well drained, and a magnificent structure. I climbed to the highest tower in this section. A sign said 790 meters, but didn't translate what this meant. All around this area are evidences of relatively recent reforestation. The steep, brushy hills have been terraced and planted with at least two varieties of pine and one of cedar. This is an area of light rainfall from the looks of what is growing on the mountains.
Window Shopping
On the way out traffic was worse than coming in. Several times our bus was stuck in traffic jams for 15 minutes or more. We were not able to leave the bus so our group did its own version of "window shopping". Vendors were hailed over and our group bought items out of the bus windows.
From the Great Wall we drove to the valley of the Ming tombs. Of the 16 Ming emperors 13 chose to be buried in the valley. Emperors selected the location and design of their tombs while they were still alive. The tomb we visited of the emperor Wan Li was only excavated in 1956. Wan Li was buried there in 1620 with two of his wives. The tomb is located four stories underground.
The construction is remarkable, cut stones fitted so closely that no mortar was needed. The tomb ceiling is an arch and the maximum height must be over 20 feet. Twentysix chests of jewelry and other artifacts were discovered at the foot of the three coffins.
After a long day with a lot of climbing we headed back to our hotel with no scheduled evening activities. Time to rest up for a tour of the Forbidden City Tomorrow.
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