Ming Tomb is the mausoleum of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The layout and arrangement of all thirteen tombs are very similar but vary in size as well as in the complexity of their structures. Dingling Tomb，the one we will visit, is the mausoleum of Emperor Zhu Yijun and his two empresses with a 27 meters deep underground palace in it, which is the only one excavated in thirteen tombs. Emperor Zhu Yijun is the thirteenth emperor who ruled the country with the longest time during the Ming Dynasty. When you enter into the palace, you could really feel the supreme power of the emperor and their luxurious life style in ancient China.
The Sacred Road is often lined with stone statues, which are important decorations of the mausoleum. These statues are usually 12 human figures (including the general, civil officials and meritorious officials) and 24 animals, which are lion, camel, elephant, xiezhi (a mythological unicorn), qilin (one of the four "divine animals, the other three are dragon, phoenix and tortoise), and horse. The Sacred Road was originally built to lead to the Changling mausoleum. Afterwards, other twelve tombs were also built here. So it becomes the simple of Ming tomb.