Demystified: Why did the Ming Dynasty have only sixteen emperors and nineteen imperial tombs?
From 1368, when Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, to 1644, when the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian hanged himself in Jingshan, the Ming Dynasty went through sixteen emperors and enjoyed 276 years of the country.
As we all know, the Ming Dynasty is a relatively important dynasty in Chinese history, it has 16 emperors, but the Ming Dynasty has 19 imperial tombs, and the whereabouts of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao are unknown, there should be 15 imperial tombs, how can there be four more imperial tombs at once?
It can only be said that this precedent began because of Zhu Yuanzhang. We all know that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was just a fairly ordinary before he became emperor, and he worked as a beggar and a monk, but he knew how to seize the opportunity to gather people and horses in the chaotic world, and finally established the Ming Dynasty.
After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang began the process of expressing his gratitude. First of all, he must have thanked the old ancestor of the Zhu family, after all, without this old ancestor of the Zhu family, there would be no him. Therefore, during his reign, he built a very luxurious crown tomb for his high ancestors, great-grandfathers, and grandfathers.
The name of this mausoleum is called MingZu Mausoleum, and its meaning is very obvious, which is buried in it is zhu Yuanzhang's old ancestor, that is, the old ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, after thanking his ancestors, Zhu Yuanzhang also had to thank his parents, so the Ming Emperor's mausoleum appeared.
In addition to these two more imperial tombs, there is another imperial tomb that is Zhu Yuanzhang's son. We all know that Zhu Yuanzhang loved his eldest son for ten minutes and soon made the eldest son the crown prince, but this prince did not live long, and died before becoming emperor, and later succeeded to the throne became Zhu Yuanzhang's grandson Zhu Yunjiao.
However, this Zhu Yuanzhang felt that his son died too badly, although he did not become an emperor, but he should also have the opportunity to become an emperor, so the tomb of this eldest son was also built by Zhu Yuanzhang as an imperial mausoleum, called Ming Dongling. At this point, these three extra imperial tombs will also be clear. Finally, it should be said that this imperial mausoleum is similar to the situation of the Ming Tombs, that is, the Obvious Mausoleum. The Ming Tomb is located in zhongxiang city, Hubei Province, and its tomb owner is Zhu Youbi. Zhu Youcang had never been an emperor, and like Zhu Biao, he was stained with the light of his son. In 1521, Zhu Youxi's son Zhu Houxi succeeded to the Ming dynasty throne as the Jiajing Emperor, who posthumously honored his father as Emperor Gongruixian and promoted the original royal tomb to imperial tomb.
Therefore, it is precisely because there are more than four imperial tombs, namely the Ming Ancestral Mausoleum, the Ming Emperor's Mausoleum, the Ming Dong mausoleum, and the Ming Tomb, that the Ming Dynasty will have nineteen imperial tombs.