Nanjing was once the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many relics left by the Ming Dynasty, such as the Imperial Tomb. There is an imperial tomb in Nanjing that is very peculiar, one of which is built in a different shape, and the other is that this imperial tomb has not only not been stolen and excavated, but also the emperor of the feudal dynasty and the pioneers of the revolution have come to worship. This imperial tomb is the Ming Xiao Mausoleum where the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty is buried.
Although the emperors of ancient China all wanted to live forever, it was natural for people to live and die, and emperors could only resign themselves to fate. The emperors were extremely luxurious during their lives, and they wanted to continue to enjoy them after death, so they began to build mausoleums while they were alive. Zhu Yuanzhang was no exception, and in the 14th year after he ascended the throne, he began to build mausoleums. The following year, Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite Empress Ma died and was buried in this mausoleum. Because Empress Ma's courtesy name was "Empress Xiaocigao", this mausoleum was called Xiaoling.
The construction of the Ming Tomb took more than 30 years, more than 100,000 military workers were requisitioned, and the mausoleum was built very atmospherically, and the wall from chaoyang gate to xiaoling Wei mausoleum was built for 45 miles! Thirty-one years after Hongwu's death, Zhu Yuanzhang was buried in the Tomb of Filial Piety. In 1402, Zhu Di, the King of Yan, launched the Battle of Jingnan and conquered Nanjing to seize power, and when Zhu Di entered the city of Nanjing, he found that the palace was on fire, and Emperor Jianwen disappeared. The ministers proclaimed Zhu Di emperor, and after he ascended the throne, he personally went to Xiaoling to pay tribute to his father Zhu Yuanzhang. Later, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, but the xiaoling tomb in Nanjing has always been regarded as fundamental, and a grand sacrifice ceremony will be held in the Ming Dynasty every New Year's Festival.
After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, on the one hand, the Manchu Qing wantonly slaughtered the imperial relatives of the Ming Dynasty, on the other hand, the Han people were after all the main ethnic group in China, and in order to consolidate their rule, the Han people had to worship Xiaoling. In 1644, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, Dolgun, personally went to Nanjing to worship the Ming Tomb, and when the Kangxi Emperor arrived in Nanjing, he also personally went to worship. According to statistics, Kangxi sent officials to pay homage to Xiaoling six times, and Qianlong went to Jiangnan six times, and every time he went to Xiaoling to pay homage, he also performed the great ceremony of kneeling three times and nine kowtows. An emperor worshipping the tombs of a former emperor, and so often, is still very rare in China.
During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, after Hong Xiuquan captured the city of Nanjing, the first thing he did was to worship Xiaoling. Of course, Hong Xiuquan's move was only a superficial effort, in fact, Xiaoling suffered serious damage during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it was ordered to be repaired when Zeng Guofan was paying tribute. However, at that time, the Qing Dynasty was in turmoil, and it was impossible to come up with much money.
In 1912, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, announced his abdication and the Republic of China was proclaimed, and Sun Yat-sen led the officials of the Provisional Government to personally go to Xiaoling to pay homage to Zhu Yuanzhang. The scale of the tomb, coupled with its special political significance, is not patronized by any tomb robbers, which has to be said to be a miracle.