Near Hongze Lake sits the First Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, which houses the remains of the father, grandfather and great grandfather of Zhu Yuanzhang (reigned 1368 C 1398), the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It remained under water for over 300 years following a flood and re-emerged after droughts in 1963, 1993 and 2001.
The construction of the mausoleum was started in 1385 and was finished in 1413. The tomb consists of corridors, golden gates, jade bridges, kitchens and storerooms, wells and city walls, as well as a number of monuments and pavilions. To add a touch of drama, ten thousand cypress trees were relocated here to provide a respite from the sun's rays. Standing guard along the pathway that leads up to the tombs are stone sculptures of officials, soldiers, lions and a Chinese mythical beast called a qilin. Outside there is a frontier city with a perimeter of nine Chinese miles (called li) and 30 paces; in the middle, there is a brick wall with a perimeter of four li and 10 paces. Inside, an imperial city can be found.
In 1678, Sizhou was flooded and the mausoleum also was overwhelmed by the water, which left the palaces and the walls destroyed and only the stone sculptures and underground part of the tomb were left. In April 1962, the Jiangsu archaeology team discovered the flooded Ming Dynasty Mausoleum, and in 1978, when the flood prevention dam was built, the mausoleum finally had the opportunity to dry out. In 1981, excavations and repairs were begun. Reparations continued up until the 1990s, and many statues and inscriptions still require regular maintenance. Today, much of the mausoleum appears how it was originally built, but there is still a part of the tomb that are still underwater. If visitors look closely into the water they can still see some of the ancient ruins.
The First Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty is under effective national protection and helps to shed light on the history of the Ming Dynasty and the lifestyle and practices of this period.
