Sifang City

Ming Dynasty Xiaoling tablet Pavilion

synonym

Sifang city generally refers to the tablet Pavilion of Xiaoling of Ming Dynasty

Located in the front of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum area, Xuanwu District, Nanjing City, the pavilion is the first main building behind the main entrance of the mausoleum area. It is the largest building of the same type in the Royal Mausoleum of Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The pavilion was built in 1413, the 11th year of Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. It is a square building with one door on each side and a yellow glazed tile double eaves on the top of the pavilion. It is built with the "monument of Shengde of Xiaoling of the Ming Dynasty" erected by Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, for Zhu Yuanzhang, the father of the Ming Dynasty. The height of the monument is 8.78 meters.

In July 2003, Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, the Royal Mausoleum of Ming and Qing Dynasties, was listed as a national 5A tourist attraction and world cultural heritage according to the selection criteria of world cultural heritage.

building structure

Shengde stele Pavilion is the symbolic tower of the underground palace of Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, which is the guide of the main building complex of Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. There is a corridor in the middle, through which you can climb to the Ming tower. The top of the stele Pavilion is of Xieshan style with double eaves, covered with yellow glazed tiles. It was destroyed by Taiping army, and was repaired in June 2013.

Built in 1413, the pavilion is square in plane. Because of its four square, Nanjing people are commonly known as the four square city. There is a stone tablet standing on the seat of Guifu (also known as fufu, the eldest son of the Dragon), with a height of 8.78 meters. The inscription, written by Zhu Di himself, is 2746 words in length. It details the merits and virtues of emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty. The pedestal and forehead of the tablet are beautifully carved.

The main inscription

The fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of Ming Dynasty set up the "great Ming Xiaoling holy virtue tablet" for his father in Sifang city. The pedestal and forehead of the tablet are beautifully carved. The height of the turtle is 2.08 meters. With a height of 8.78 meters, the stele is the largest in Nanjing.

There are six parts in detail. First, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in Fengyang and became a Jurong family; second, he petitioned for the people and made his fortune; third, he made his capital in Nanjing and was named Hongwu; fourth, he abolished the old system and chose talents only; fifth, he enfeoffed the princes and pacified the world; sixth, he engraved hundreds of Zhu aristocrats.

Restoration of cultural relics

In May 2012, the enclosure construction of Sifang city of Ming Xiaoling in Nanjing was started. The practice of adding a roof to Sifang city has been approved by the State Administration of cultural relics. The purpose of doing this is to protect the Shengong Shengde stele and four wall walls in the city which have been eroded by rain, and to restore the original historical appearance of Sifang city. The whole project is expected to last about 300 days. During this period, in order to facilitate tourists to visit the Ming Xiaoling scenic spot, from now on, the dajinmen ticket office of the Ming Xiaoling is temporarily moved to the entrance of Shixiang road of the Ming Xiaoling, with the original opening hours unchanged.

Zhongshan cemetery authority said that Xiaoling pavilion has gone through more than 600 years of vicissitudes, especially after the lack of roof protection in the past 100 years, the damage to the wall accelerated.

After investigation and argumentation, they believe that if the four walls of the pavilion are reinforced as a whole, and the top of the pavilion can be protected, on the one hand, the long-term damage caused by large-scale rain erosion to the cultural relic building itself can be completely eliminated; on the other hand, the added roof will also effectively protect the important monument relic, the sacred work of the Ming Dynasty, for the long-term protection of the monument Provide the best conditions. At the same time, it can also restore the original historical appearance of Xiaoling stele Pavilion.

At the site of Xiaoling stele Pavilion, we can see that the construction of enclosure has started in this area. Serious cracks can be seen on the walls of the pavilion. The construction personnel at the scene told the reporter that due to the absence of overhanging eaves, the internal and external walls were exposed. The long-term exposure to the sun and rain not only made the wall painting layer completely fall off, but also acid rain greatly eroded the brick wall and the lower stone base and the ground.

In addition, the main cultural relic in the pavilion, the monument of the great Ming's holy virtue, has been exposed all the time. Under the harsh natural conditions, there are many cracks on the body and base of the monument. It's hard to see the words on the tablet of the great power of the Ming Dynasty.

Experts found that as early as in the Jinling fanchazhi, there was a picture of Linggu Temple painted by Ling Dade of Ming Dynasty. This picture shows the first floor of Xiaoling. According to the figure, the building is a structure of eaves resting on the top of the mountain. It is inferred that this building should be one of the minglou or Shengong Shengde stele Pavilion. Then, based on the reference of the existing Ming Tombs, Qingdong tombs and Xiling tombs in Beijing, it is concluded that the Xiaoling tombs should be of the style of Xieshan peak with double eaves.

In determining whether it is double eaves or single eaves, experts refer to the imperial mausoleum map recorded in zhongduzhi in the early Ming Dynasty, in which two stele pavilions are double eaves Xieshan. According to the architectural style of Ming Tombs in Beijing and the actual structure of Xiaoling stele Pavilion, experts agree that it is reasonable to use double eaves to rest on the top of the mountain.

In addition, the roof of the repaired Xiaoling Pavilion will be paved with golden glazed tiles, which is also based on a large number of such glazed tiles found by archaeologists in the Xiaoling Pavilion.

Address: 4.7km east of Lingyuan Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 118.844953

Latitude: 32.049016

Tel: 025-84446111

Chinese PinYin : Si Fang Cheng