First Imperial Tomb of the Market Age: Tailing Tomb of Emperor Yongzhen-Chinatravel

From the pyramids of Egypt to the Ming tombs of China, history's grand imperial mausoleums were almost always built on the backs of forced labor and servitude. But in the mid-18th century, something remarkable happened. A new imperial tomb was constructed not through slave labor but under a system of market-based contracting, the Western Qing Tombs. So how did this extraordinary change come about? Hi everyone worldwide, wishing you a wonderful day. I am standing at the Western Qing Tombs Yi County, Hebei, China, to trace the road from spirit way to imperial memory. The founder of the Western Qing Tombs was Emperor Yongzheng, remembered in Chinese history as the His mausoleum reflects many features of a new era. Before this, most Qing imperial burials had been placed in the Eastern Qing Tombs in Zunhua, Hebei. But Yongzheng, a cautious and executive monarch, was never satisfied with the feng shui in that site. So he dispatched his officials to survey more than 30 locations around Beijing. In the end, he chose his favorite internal auspicious land in Yi County, southwest of the capital. So the whole tomb was called Western Qing Tombs because it is located to the west of the capital. Emperor Yongzheng was a highly capable ruler. In just 30 years, he reformed the fiscal system by abolishing the feudal politics and making taxation fairer, placing more burden on the wealthy while easing it on common people. He also freed millions from hereditary servitude, dating back to the Ming, granting them equal status as citizens. In government, his vigorous anti-corruption drive curbed the abuses of the country's later years, leaving a strong legacy for his son, Emperor Qianlong. Thus, Emperor Qianlong named this imperial tomb the Tai Ling. The character Tai in Chinese conveys meanings of firmness, stability, and solidity, symbolizing his evaluation of his father's achievements. Unlike other imperial mausoleums in China, the Western Qing Tombs has three monumental stone paifeng. While paifeng can also be found at the Ming Tombs and the Eastern Qing Tombs, only here do we see three of them arranged together like a courtyard. These were not part of the original plan approved by Emperor Yongzheng himself, they were later added by his son, Emperor Qianlong. In front of Yongzheng's former princely residence, today's Yonghe Gong Lama Temple in Beijing, there once stood three wooden paifeng. Remarkably, those wooden structures are still there today. By recreating the same layout in stone at the Western Qing Tombs, Qianlong was reviving the image of his father's early home. So, these paifeng are not merely the gateway to an imperial mausoleum, they are, in essence, Emperor Qianlong's most heartfelt tribute to his father. Emperor Yongzheng detested corruption throughout his life. His reign could be described as a continuous struggle against corrupt officials and entrenched privilege. To embody his belief in fairness and integrity, he had a pile of traditional Chinese guardian beasts, Xie Zhi, placed on either side of the Great Right Gate at the Western Qing Tombs. The Xie Zhi, famed for its ability to discern right from wrong, symbolized justice and the rule of law. Since ancient times, government offices, especially judicial institutions, often used the image of the Xie Zhi on seals or ornaments as a reminder to render impartial judgment. By installing these creatures at its entrance to his mausoleum, Yongzheng was making both a personal statement and a message to prosperity that justice should stand watch internally and that emperors and officials who came here to pay their respects would always be reminded of the ancestral mandate of fairness and integrity. Passing through the Great Right Gate, one soon sees the Grand Stele Pavilion rising in the distance. In the Qing Dynasty, such a structure was built only in front of the tombs of emperors whose achievements were considered truly outstanding. The Grand Pavilion bears the full title, the Stele of Sacred Virtue and Divine Merit, signifying the emperor's lofty virtue and great accomplishments. In its function and symbolism, it is somewhat comparable to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in essence, a monumental hall dedicated to praising the sovereign states. Inside the Stele Pavilion stand two monumental stone steles. Their inscriptions record the life and virtues of Emperor Yongzheng, from his years as a prince to his reign upon the throne. According to Qing custom, such inscriptions were written by the successor as a gesture of pity and respect. So the commemorative inscriptions on these two steles were written by Emperor Qianlong. At each corner of the Stele Pavilion stands a Hua Biao, a type of ceremony pillar that carried a deep symbolic meaning in traditional Chinese architecture. Such pillars were commonly placed in front of palaces, mausoleums. Atop each Hua Biao crouches a mythical beast known as Wang Tianhou. It was believed capable of roaring like thunder, a symbol of evil and warning. Its meaning is twofold. On the one hand, it reminded later emperors to come regularly to perform sacrifices and never forget their ancestors. On the other hand, it admonished them not to linger too long in the mausoleum, but to return swiftly to the capital and attend diligently to the stage of fires. For this reason, the orientation of the four Wang Tianhou was carefully arranged, two-faced north symbolizing remembrance of four biers, the other two-faced south symbolizing the return to the court and the devotion to governance. The path we follow today is the very same route once taken by Qin emperors when they came to offer sacrifices. Moving north along the Spirit Way, one inevitably crosses the magnificent Seven-Arc Stone Bridge. Built from massive blocks of stone, its materials were quarried mainly from Fengshan, south of Beijing. In an age without heavy mercenary, how were such stones transported here to the Western Qing tombs? The answer lay in the winter ice rose. Each year in the coldest months, workers poured water on the roads to create a frosty ice vein. Using manpower and drafty animals, they dragged the stones on sledges or rollers across the icy track, hauling them southward across the plains until they reached the construction site in Yi County. This method reduced frustration, lowered costs, and made the impossible possible. Even more striking is that the construction of the Western Qing tombs differed from earlier dynasties. While great projects in the past relied heavily on coven labor and forced toil, the Qing court, seeking to ease tensions, win support, and join in its own traditions of trade and commerce, adopted a new system, imperial funding with private contracting. This work was divided into specialized trades known as the Eight Works, Stonework, Carpentry, Tiling, Earthwork, Painting, and others. Each trade was contracted out to a guild or merchant field, which in turn hired laborers, calculated costs, and delivered resources on schedule. Every structure was produced under the market-based system. From the perspective of institutional history, the Western Qing tombs represent a remarkable combination of traditional ritual architecture and only forms of commercial contracting. According to the traditional layout of imperial mausoleums in China, the spiritual way runs through the entire mausoleum. Unlike other imperial tombs, however, the spiritual way of Emperor Yongzheng's Tiling, and indeed of the entire Western Qing tomb's complex, is not straight but deliberately curved. This, too, reflects Yongzheng's exacting standards and unique perspective. In traditional feng shui thought, a straight spiritual way was believed to act as a channel through which ominous energies and ill-fate could strike directly at the burial chamber. By giving the spiritual way a winding form, those sources would be diverted and weakened, unable to reach the emperor's underground palace. In this way, the design not only symbolized protection for the departed ruler but also carried hopes for the lasting security of his descendants. Now we have reached the final section at the front of the spiritual way, the Dragon and Phoenix Gate. The dragon represents the emperor while the phoenix represents the empress. The purpose of this structure was to remind the worshippers that they were about to enter the sacrificial prince's cage of the imperial tomb and should adopt an even greater sense of reverence. In the next episode, we will step into the sacrificial prince's cage of Emperor Yongzheng's Tiling, continuing our exploration of how the Qing Empire, on the eve of commercial civilization, achieved breakthroughs in engineering management and technology.