Dingling of Tang Dynasty

Dingling of Tang Dynasty

Dingling Mausoleum of Tang Dynasty is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Located in the north of shiziwo village in Fenghuang mountain, Gongli Town, Fuping County, it is about 13 kilometers away from the county in the south.

Fenghuang mountain is composed of three limestone peaks arranged from east to west, surrounded by a semicircular high ridge in the north. The middle peak extends southward from the center of the ridge, like a phoenix head. The left and right peaks face each other, especially like the wings of Fenghuang. Looking from the south, it is like a beautiful phoenix flying in the boundless space. Zhongzong Dingling underground palace is at the foot of Fenghuang mountain.

geographical environment

Dingling Mausoleum of Tang Dynasty is located on Fenghuang mountain, 12 kilometers north of Fuping County, Shaanxi Province. The mountain is composed of three ridges connecting the East and the West. The ridge in the south of the center protrudes, and the stone is blue and ink, just like birds of prey, so it is named Fenghuang mountain. According to the system of the Qianling mausoleum, all kinds of stone statues were carved. There are more than 50 original stone carvings, which have been looted by the war and nearby residents. The cemetery and four stone carvings have almost been looted. At present, only one stone lion and a pair of stone men in the south are in good condition. Although there are stone lions and stone horses in the East and north gates, they are all dilapidated. Moreover, there is no standing statue of Wang Bin. There are no realistic furnishings in the Qianling mausoleum. The only ones left are statues like molded stone figures and stone horses.

Main attractions

Dingling also has a stele without words, which is no less tall than Qianling, but it was destroyed. It was engraved with 72 ground roller. Although there is no record of its size, the number of the inscription is enough to show the extent of its height. It had nothing to do with the politics at that time, and could only be regarded as a decoration for mausoleums. However, the mausoleums of later emperors were not used, so it could only be regarded as a difference in the mausoleum system.

There are also funerary tombs in Dingling. 20000 meters around the cemetery, there are Zhao's, Queen of HESI, Li chongjun, Prince of Jiemin, Yang's wife, Princess of Jiemin, and five princesses: Yicheng, Changning, Cheng'an, Dingding, Wang Tongjiao and Yongshou WeiLuo. The eight funerary tombs are all royal families, reflecting the decline of the Tang Dynasty, the instability of the ruling class, and the resentment between the emperor and his officials.

Dingling is composed of three Mo qingshiyan peaks, like a flying phoenix, hence the name "Phoenix Mountain". The cemetery is rectangular, facing south from north. The terrain is high in the north and low in the south. From south to north, it is divided into multi-layer platforms, with the Mausoleum as the highest point. Around about ten kilometers, there are four gates: rosefinch, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Baihu. In the stone carvings in front of the mausoleum, there is only one pair of stone lions and five stone men.

Introduction to the tomb owner

Emperor Li Xian (656-710), the great sage of Zhongzong, was originally named Li Zhe. He was the seventh son of Li Zhi and the third son of Wu Zetian. Zhongzong was in power for five and a half years. He poisoned empress Wei with poison cakes and died at the age of 55. He was buried in Dingling (now Fenghuang mountain, 15 miles northwest of Fuping County, Shaanxi Province). Wu housheng had four sons, the eldest Li Hong, the second Li Xian, the third Li Xian and the fourth Li Dan. Li Xianchu was the king of Zhou, and later he was the king of England. After Wu Zetian abolished his two elder brothers, Li Xian was made Prince.

Gaozong died in December 683, and Zhongzong succeeded to the throne on Jiazi day in the same month. In the second year, the title was changed to "Sisheng". Zhongzong was more mediocre and incompetent than Gaozong. After he ascended the throne, he respected empress dowager Wu Zetian. Pei Yan was assisted by the imperial edict, and his political affairs were all decided by Wu Zetian. He made use of empress Wei's relatives and tried to form his own group. Pei Yan thought it was impossible to take Wei XuanZhen, the father of empress Wei, as the minister. Li Xian was furious: "I give Wei XuanZhen all the world. Do you still grudge a servant?" Pei Yan reported to Wu Zetian after hearing this. Wu Zetian was very angry with Zhongzong. In February 684, Zhongzong, who had only succeeded for 55 days, was deposed as king of Luling by Wu Zetian and demoted from Chang'an.

Zhongzong was placed under house arrest in Junzhou (now Junxian County, Hubei Province) and Fangzhou (now Fangxian County, Hubei Province) for 14 years, only accompanied by his concubine Wei. They lived together and experienced the hardships of life. Whenever he heard that Wu Zetian sent envoys to come, Zhongzong was so scared that he wanted to commit suicide. Webster always comforted him and said, "misfortune and fortune are changeable. It's not necessarily death. Why be so frightened." It was Webster's encouragement, help and consolation that made him survive in adversity. Therefore, as a couple in need, Zhongzong and Webster have deep feelings. He once swore to Webster, "one day I will be king again, and I will give you whatever you want." But he never dreamed that it was Webster who finally killed him.

In 698 ad, Zhongzong was recalled to the capital by Empress Wu Zetian and was re established as the crown prince. In 705, at the age of 82, Wu Zetian was seriously ill. On the afternoon of the third day of the first month, the prime minister Zhang Cambodian and the right Yulin General Li duozuo suddenly led more than 500 people of the Yulin army to rush into Xuanwu Gate and kill Zhang Yizhi and Zhang changzong. Emperor Zetian was forced to pass on to Zhongzong. Change the year name to "dragon". In February, the name of Fuguo was Tang. After Zhongzong's restoration, he immediately established Wei as the queen, and regardless of the minister's dissuasion, he made an exception to make empress Wei's father king, and let empress Wei take part in the government, but he did not give credit to Zhang Cambodian and other meritorious officials. She married Princess Anle, the daughter of empress Wei, to Wu chongxun, the son of Wu Sansi. He named Shangguan Wan'er Zhaoyi. She was taught to be in charge of making orders and drafting imperial edicts.

Empress Wei had an ambiguous relationship with Wu Sansi. Empress Wei trusted Wu Sansi and formed a powerful political force to control the government. Zhang Cambodian and other ministers saw that Wu Zetian's old story would be repeated again, and urged Zhongzong to get rid of Wu Sansi. Wu Sansi and empress Wei falsely accuse Zhang Cambodian and others of their plot. They advise Yongzhong Zong Mingsheng to come down secretly, canonize Zhang Cambodian and others as king, and transfer them out of the capital. Wu Sansi sent assassins to kill them on the way. Princess Anle is also ambitious and wants to be Empress Wu's second best. She wanted Zhongzong to depose Li chongjun, the prince who was not born to empress Wei, and let her be the Empress Dowager herself. Empress Wei and Wu Sansi also advise Yong Zhongzong to abandon Li chongjun. In 707 ad, Li chongjun and Li duozuo, the great general of Yulin, mobilized more than 300 people to kill Wu Sansi and his son, and then stormed the palace to attack empress Wei and Princess Anle. Because of the great disparity between the two Li was killed. Empress Wei took the opportunity to frame up the prime minister Wei Yuanzhong for colluding with the prince, demoted him out of the capital and took over the power. Empress Wei unscrupulously sold officials, and Zhongzong didn't stop her. Everything was done according to her wishes.

At one time, Princess Anle wrote the imperial edict herself, covered the text and asked Li Xian to seal it, but Zhongzong did not read it. In this way, Zhongzong left her mother and daughter to exercise power, while she was only concerned about living a pornographic life. One year during the Lantern Festival, Emperor Zhongzong, under the advice of empress Wei, took thousands of princesses and maids with him. They all put on civilian clothes and went out of the palace to go shopping. When they returned to the palace late at night, they found out that five or six out of ten maids had fled. Fearing that it would be disrespectful to go out, Zhongzong had to let it go. On another occasion, Zhongzong summoned hundreds of officials in the palace and ordered officials above grade three to throw the ball and tug of war for him and empress Wei to enjoy. Most of the courtiers were civil servants, so they were not easy to play, which made them all ugly. Especially the elderly ministers, who were not strong enough, fell to the ground along with the long rope during the tug of war, couldn't stand up for a moment and scrambled. Zhongzong and empress Wei both laughed when they met.

In May A.D. 710, Yan Qinrong, a local official, wrote a letter accusing empress Wei of being promiscuous and interfering in the government. Zhongzong personally called Yan Qinrong to Beijing for questioning. Empress Wei pointed out that the Apostle party ordered the guards to beat Yan Qinrong to death in public. Zhongzong looked at it and showed his ugly face. Empress Wei was afraid that Zhongzong would investigate her adultery, while Princess Anle hoped that her mother would be called emperor's daughter and follow Empress Wu Zetian's example. The mother and daughter conspired to kill Zhongzong. Empress Wei knew that Zhongzong liked to eat cakes, so she ordered her lover Ma Qinke to prepare poison. She mixed the poison into the cakes, steamed them, and ordered the maids to send them to the Dragon hall. Zhongzong was reading the memorials. When he saw the cakes coming, he took them and ate them. He praised them as delicious. After a while, he suddenly felt colic and fell on the couch. The eunuch rushed to report to empress Wei. Empress Wei dawdled on purpose and delayed for a long time. Seeing Zhongzong's pain, she pretended to ask what was wrong with him. Zhongzong could not speak any more, but he just sobbed with his finger to his mouth, and soon died on the couch in Chang'an palace.

He si empress Zhao Shi (?)? -In 675, the daughter of Zhao GUI and Princess Changle, Li Xian's wife of Tang Zhongzong, was dethroned by her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and starved to death. She was supposed to be about 20 years old. Zhongzong was restored and granted the title of empress Gong. Ruizong was restored, and was granted the title of empress HESI. She was summoned by ceremony and buried in the Dingling Mausoleum of Zhongzong.

In the first year of Shenlong (705), Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty, Li Xian, restored himself to the throne, rehabilitated the imperial clan who had been persecuted by Empress Wu Zetian, and gave Zhao's family the title of "empress Gong", but he did not change his burial.

In June, 710, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty died. Shortly after that, his second wife, empress Wei, was killed and dismissed as a commoner in the "Tang Long coup". The ministers thought that Wei was not qualified to bury emperor Zhongzong, so they gave Zhao as "empress HESI" for burial. However, Zhao was a sinner when she was killed. It was 35 years since she was killed. No one knew where she was buried. No one could find her body. There was no precedent for her to be buried in a memorial ceremony. Therefore, she could not be changed to a queen's ceremony. At last, Tang Ruizong listened to Dr. Peng Jingzhi's suggestion, and put the Queen's Yi in the palace where she lived to summon her soul and on the right side of Tang Zhongzong's coffin, so that she could be buried with Tang Zhongzong in Dingling.

Traffic information

Take the bus to Fuping County at Weinan long distance bus station

Chinese PinYin : Tang Ding Ling