Western Qing Tombs – History on the Outskirts

Yixian county in Baoding, Hebei province, 120 kilometers southwest of Beijing, locates the Western Qing Tombs, a group of mausoleums of emperors from the Qing Dynasty, twin of the Eastern Qing Tombs. The tombs are among the most precious ancient mausoleums in Chinese history. In 2000, the Western Qing Tombs were listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The tombs incorporate 14 royal mausoleums, where 80 imperial family members are buried. These include the eternal sleeping chambers of four emperors: Tailing (Tomb for Emperor Yongzheng), Changling (for Emperor Jiaqing), Muling (for Emperor Daoguang), and Chongling (for Emperor Gangxu).

Surrounded on all sides by green hills, the tombs nestle comfortably on a large plain. About 800 square kilometers of hilly land are covered by more than 20,000 ancient pines and cypresses, shading the winding paths between the tombs. Each tree is over 340 years old, making for the largest and oldest pine forest in north China. The mausoleums also have more than 100 stone sculptures, partly hidden within the woods.

The architecture wholly arrays the strict hierarchy of the feudal society of those times. The emperors’ tombs are the largest among the whole group, followed by those of empresses, concubines and others. Notably, the roofs of the emperors’ and empresses’ mausoleums are covered in yellow glazed tiles, while those of other mausoleums are green.

Construction of the Western Qing Tombs was initiated by Emperor Yongzheng, who broke with tradition and refused to be buried in the Eastern Qing Tombs. Some have speculated, with no evidence yet, that since Yongzheng unlawfully usurped the throne by eliminating his brothers, his motive in relocating his tomb to the Western Qing Tombs was to avoid being buried alongside his father, Emperor Kangxi. Others suggest that Yongzheng, as a wise and great monarch, was not willing to be subordinate to others, even in death. Since the supreme point of the Eastern Qing Tombs was taken by an ancestor, he wanted a new mausoleum built at another site.

His son, Emperor Qianlong, later decided he should be buried in the Eastern Qing Tombs, and ordered that burials thereafter should alternate between the eastern and western sites, although this was not followed consistently.

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