The palace has no beam which was built according to the principles of geomancy Altogether there are five chambers. The chambers are separated by seven marble doors. The Underground Palace is 27 meters deep, covering an area of 1,195 square meters. There is a same structure stone door in between the front, middle and rear chambers. The door is made of marble. The biggest marble door is 3. 3 meters high, 1.7 meters wide, 4 tons in weight. It looks heavy, but it is reasonably designed. The pivot of the stone door is inclined to the door axle, so the door is easy to open and close. On top of the door is a lintel (made of bronze) tube weighing about 10 tons to prevent the door from falling. Carved on the front of the marble door are 9 rows of 81 knobs and strange animals with rings in their mouths. Located on the reverse side, opposite the animals, is a protruding section that holds the door's 'self-acting' stone bar.
The front and middle chambers are 7. 2 meters high and 6 meters wide. The floor is covered with gold bricks. According to records, the gold bricks are smooth and durable. The more you polish them, the brighter they become. There are no decorations in the front and two annex chambers. In the middle chamber, there are three marble thrones for Emperor Wanli and his two Empresses, known as the precious thrones. In the front of the thrones, there are five yellow glazed offerings and one blue-and-white porcelain jar of Jiajing Year's style with a cloud-and-dragon design. It is about 0.7 meters in diameter. Originally there was sesame oil in the jar. On the surface of the oil was a copper tube with a wick inside. It is called the 'everlasting lamp'. Due to the lack of oxygen, the light went out so the oil had not been used all.
The rear chamber is the biggest of the three. It is 9.5 meters high, 31 meters long, 9.l meters wide, the floor is paved with polished stones. In the rear chamber, there is a coffin platform edged with white marble. Placed on the platform are the coffins of Emperor Wanli and his two Empresses as well as 26 vermilion boxes filled with funeral objects.
In the middle of the coffin platform, there is a rectangular hole filled with soil called Gold Well. Putting jade stone around the coffin or inside the coffin or in the mouth of the deceased is called being ' buried with jade. ' Ancient people believed Gold Well was the pit of geomancy. It could prevent the body from decay for a long time. Being 'buried with jade' on a Gold Well was the highest standard of entombment one could receive in the feudal era.
Originally the empress's coffin should have been placed in the rear chamber. Then why were the coffins of the two empresses also in the same chamber as the emperor's? In 1620, first empress Xiaoduan died in April, then in July Emperor Wanli also died. After that, the son of Zhu Changluo died 29 days after his succession. In only a few months, two emperors and one empress had died in succession. In addition they had removed Empress Xiaojing's coffin to Dingling. All the burdens of the funeral burials fell on the just enthroned Emperor Zhu Youjian. The preparation work was done in a hurried fashion (this was clearly recorded in historical documents). The rainy season had already arrived before the funeral could occur and the passage leading to the empress' annex chamber may not have been convenient to open. So the coffins of the emperor, empresses all entered the Underground Palace through the front entrance. After the coffins entered the Underground Palace, since the passage to the annex chambers were narrow, the coffins of the empresses would not fit through it. So they had to put all the three coffins together into the rear chamber.
Now please follow me out of the underground palace. And our tour for today is completed. I hope you have found our time together informative and enjoyable. We now have half an hour for a rest, and then we will get together here at 4:00pm. Thank you.
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