About the Mausoleum of the Ming Ancestors

The Mausoleum of the Ming Ancestors, the earliest imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, is located in Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province. It is listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

According to Chronicle of the Ancestors of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Zhu family originally resided in Zhu Family Lane, Tongde Township, Jurong County. In the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, to escape harsh corvée labor imposed by the authorities, Zhu Chuyi, grandfather of Zhu Yuanzhang, led his entire family to flee to Xuyi. They settled at Sunjiagang, 13 li north of the ancient Sizhou City.

Legend has it that there was a hollow depression at Yangjiadun. Zhu Chuyi often rested there. One day, a Taoist priest passed by and remarked: "Whoever is buried here will have descendants that ascend the imperial throne." Zhu Chuyi told his son Zhu Shizhen about the priest’s words.

Ten years later, in the fourth year of the Taiding reign (1327 AD), Zhu Chuyi passed away and was buried at this very spot. Half a year later, Zhu Shizhen’s wife became pregnant with Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the twelfth year of the Zhizheng reign (1352 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang joined the Red Turban Army led by Guo Zixing. After he ascended the throne in the first year of the Hongwu reign (1368 AD), he posthumously honored his great-great-grandfather as Emperor Xuan, great-grandfather as Emperor Heng, grandfather as Emperor Yu and father as Emperor Chun.

In 1386 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Crown Prince Zhu Biao to lead civil and military officials together with craftsmen to start constructing the ancestral mausoleum at Yangjiadun north of Sizhou City. The project lasted 28 years and was fully completed in the eleventh year of the Yongle reign (1413 AD). The mausoleums for his three generations of ancestors were all finished, and Yangjiadun was thereafter renamed the Mausoleum of the Ming Ancestors.