Where is Zhu Yuanzhang’s tomb?

Speaking of Zhu Yuanzhang, everyone knows that he was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in poverty, and his deeds as a monk are talked about. Then do you know where Zhu Yuanzhang was buried after his death? What does the twelve city gates carrying the coffin in the Nanjing folk song have to do with him? Then the folk tales in this issue will be analyzed in depth for you.

Zhu Yuanzhang left Nanjing with a rich cultural heritage. In addition to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, the Nanjing Ming City Wall, the longest existing city wall in the world, is also Zhu Yuanzhang's masterpiece. In the Ming Dynasty, there were thirteen gates in the inner city and 18 gates in the outer city. This is the so-called "Thirteen gates inside and eighteen gates outside".

Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang was buried, a "fascination array" was also built. On that day, thirteen city gates came out of the coffin at the same time. This saying has been passed down for six hundred years and is one of the most classic folk jokes in Nanjing. There was a folk song in Nanjing in the past: "There are three monsters in Nanjing. The girl in Longtan looks like an old woman, the radish is sold as a side dish, and the coffin is carried at the thirteen city gates." The legend of Zhu Yuan's burial was actually regarded as a representative scene of Nanjing. thing.

Some people may think this is nonsense, but it is actually not groundless. There are records in historical materials. For example, there is such a text in the "Huang Ming Da Zheng Ji" written by Zhu Guozhen of the Ming Dynasty. On the day of Zhu Yuanzhang's burial, "the , each family is buried." Burying each family is a kind of blinding method. It is one of the steps to carry out secret burial. It is a typical feature of anti-grave robbing.

In the history of tomb robbing in China, Zhu Yuanzhang was not the only ancient king who left a will during his lifetime and requested that he be "secretly disposed of". The first person to carry out secret burial was Zhao Tuo, King of South Vietnam. After Zhao Tuo died, there was a "secret and mysterious tomb", and the coffin was taken out of many city gates when he was buried. The location of his tomb has not been discovered so far. Sun Quan's efforts were in vain.

The most famous secret burial legend occurred after Cao Cao's death. Legend has it that on the day of the burial, coffins were carried out from every city gate in Yecheng. It is not yet clear where Cao Cao is buried, and the mystery of the "Seventy-two Suspicious Tombs" finally remains. Kings during the Sixteen Kingdoms period also liked "secret burials." For example, Shi Le, the leader of the later Zhao Dynasty, went out for funerals from various city gates in the middle of the night and carried the coffin deep into the mountains in the dark.

There is a legend that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to prevent tomb robbers from thinking about not being buried in Xiaoling Mausoleum after his death. Before the coffin was released from the thirteen city gates at the same time, Zhu Yunwen had carried Zhu Yuanzhang's large coffin directly into the Xiaoling Mausoleum from the secret passage of the palace. However, some people believe that when Zhu Yuanzhang was buried, the actual coffin was not carried into the Xiaoling Mausoleum at all. Especially after Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, moved his capital to Beijing, this theory was once widely spread. Soon after Zhu Yuanzhang was buried, it was reported that his true body was not buried with Queen Ma, but was buried alone in Chaotian Palace in the west of the city. This is what was said in the past, "The emperor of Gao sheds his dragon slough, but he is in the palace but not in the mausoleum."

Chaotian Palace is located in the west gate of Shuixi in the west of the city. There is Sanqing Palace in front and Datongming Palace in the back. It is now the location of Nanjing Museum. This place was originally a city built by King Fu Chai of Wu. During the Five Dynasties, King Yang Pu of Wu built Ziji Palace here. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was renamed Xiangfu Palace, Tianqing Temple, Xuanmiao Temple, Yongshou Palace, etc. In the seventeenth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1384 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang rebuilt the palace and changed its name. After it was completed, all officials were asked to "congratulate and practice rituals here."

Legend has it that His Highness Sanqing in front is "the true burial place of Mingzu." Since then, many people have believed this. Quan Zuwang, a representative figure of the East Zhejiang School in the Qing Dynasty, said in a poem "Visiting the Xiaoling Mausoleum from the Chaotian Palace" that "Zhongfu's clothes are right and wrong, and the bow and sword facing the sky are more doubtful. It is difficult to find the place where jade boxes and beads are found, but you can see the sacred gods." The Monument of Virtue. The founding father of the Han Dynasty was the successor of Cao Pi. He was the envoy of Xiaoshan Mausoleum, and who was responsible for the rebellion? "It can be seen from Quan Zuwang's poem that Zhu Yuanzhang was buried in Xiaoling during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Orthodoxy says, people are skeptical.