The Spirit Way

The approach to the Ming Tombs, the seven-kilometre Spirit Way, is Shisan Ling’s most exciting feature. The road commences with the Dahongmen (Great Red Gate), a triple-entranced triumphal arch, through the central opening of which only the emperor’s dead body was allowed to be carried. Beyond, the road is lined with colossal stone statues of animals and men. Startlingly larger than life, they all date from the fifteenth century and are among the best surviving examples of Ming sculpture. Their precise significance is unclear, although it is assumed they were intended to serve the emperors in their next life. The animals depicted include the mythological Qilin - a reptilian beast with deer’s horns and a cow’s tail - and the horned, feline Xiechi; the human figures are stern, military mandarins.Animal statuary reappears at the entrances to several of the tombs, though the structures themselves are something of an anticlimax.

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