Soul path

The "Soul Path" (shendao) towards the Thirteen Ming Tombs near Beijing

Guardian of the Ming Tombs

In China there is a large burial path in front of many imperial mausoleums and stately tombs - the so-called "Soul Path" ( Chinese  神道 , Pinyin shéndào , English Spirit Way / Sacred Way / Divine Road etc.  - "Soul Path / Path of Souls / Geisterallee / Spirit Path / Ghost Path / Holy Path etc. ”). On both sides there are pairs of stone human and animal sculptures, which symbolize the honor guard (yiwei) of the emperor or mighty man during his lifetime.

presentation

These stone people in front of the graves are also called Wengzhong , which is based on the following background: In the time of the Qin Dynasty , a giant of Herculean form named Ruan Wengzhong is said to have lived. He was garrisoned in Lintao (Gansu) and had earned merit in the fight against the Xiongnu . After his death, Qin Shihuang mourned him and ordered a bronze statue to be made after him and placed outside the Sima Gate of the Xianyang Palace (Xianyang gong) . It is said that when the Xiongnu (Huns) came to Xianyang (the capital of Qin in Shaanxi ) and saw the statue, they mistook him for the living Ruan Wengzhong and ran away. Since then, the bronze or stone figures in front of imperial palaces or tombs have been called Wengzhong. The stone animal sculptures in front of the tombs (shixiangsheng) can be traced back to those of the tomb of Huo Qubing in the time of the Han Dynasty . Huo was a young famous military strategist from the earlier Han period . Already at the age of eighteen he accompanied the Han emperor Wu (Han Wu di), he was very skilled in riding and shooting. At the age of twenty he led his troops twice in the Hexi Corridor (Gansu Corridor) against the Xiongnu (Huns) to victory and earned great merit. He died at the age of only twenty-four. In honor of his beloved general, Han Wudi had the Hu Qubing tomb built east of his own mausoleum (Maoling) . This is similar in shape to the Qilian Mountains (Qilian Shan) to remind of his achievements in the Hexi Corridor (Gansu Corridor). Stone carvers have taken the animals of the Qilian Mountains as a model for Huo Qubing's grave, of which the “horse stepping on a Hun” is best known, this sculpture sums up the great merits of the short life of Huo Qubing . This series contains the earliest large stone carvings from Chinese tombs. Later, the emperors also had this decoration set up when their own grave was built, which is why the Tang , Song , Ming and Qing mausoleums that are still in existence today are almost always lined up in the form of an honor guard in front of the grave .

See also

• Stone carvings of the mausoleums of the Southern Dynasties (in Nanjing )
• Imperial tombs of the Western Han Dynasty
• Emperor tombs of the Tang Dynasty
• Emperor tombs of the Song Dynasty
• Imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties
• Tongwancheng

Web links

Commons : Shendao  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Buildings in Imperial Mausoleum - English
• The Sacred Way and Stone Statues - English
• The Sacred Way and Stone Statues - English
• The Sacred Way and Stone Statues - English
• Stone Sculpture on Spirit Paths from the Wei to Qing - English
• To Dig or Not to Dig: Qianling Mausoleum in the Spotlight Again - English

Chinese web links

• Chaolingmu shendao shike - Chinese
• Beijie huabiao shixiang sheng - Chinese
• Shishou - Chinese
• Shendao (Mudao) - Huo Guang (Hanshu), Zhongshan Jian wang (Hou Hanshu)

Footnotes

1. ↑ This article is based in part on the presentation of the article Shendao in the online encyclopedia Baidu Baike (see Chinese web links), found on September 27, 2009. The word "shendao" has several other meanings in Chinese . In Chinese, the soul path is also simply called mùdào 墓道 "grave path".
2. ↑ 仪 卫 / 儀 衛 yíwèi
3. ↑ 翁仲 wēngzhòng
4. ↑ 阮 翁仲
5. ↑ He is said to have been zhang (3 1/3 m) and three chi (1/3 m) tall and an extraordinary person.
6. ↑ 临洮
7. ↑ 仪仗队 / 儀仗隊 yízhàngduì