CHINA

Chinese Cemeteries and Ming Tomb

Background of

Chinese Cemeteries

• Bodies should be buried under the ground
• Imperial cemeteries always build high artificial hills or just use natural mountain as tombs
• From Underground Palace to Overground Palace
• Imperial cemeteries’  layout always based on FengShui and YinYang

Reasons

• Influenced by Daoism, people in ancient thought they began from nature so after they dead they should back to the nature.

• They though death is not the end of life. There is another world after they died. 

• Another reason is that they wanted descendants to know their great jobs.

Ming Tomb

MING Tomb covers an area of 40 square kilometers with 13 Ming emperors, 23 empresses, many imperial concubines, princes and princesses buried there. It started from 1368 to 1644, lasting 276 years.

OVERGROUND PALACE OF CHANG LING (長陵)

Changling is the tomb of the 3rd Ming Emperor Yongle's tomb. It is the head tomb of the thirteen Ming Tombs and the largest tomb of them all, and it is also the best-preserved one in this tomb area.

UNDERGROUND PALACE OF DING LING (定陵)

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Dingling is the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yijun, whose reign title is Wan Li, the 13th Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Underground Palace of Dingling is the only one of the thirteen Ming Tombs excavated so far.

KOREA

Joseon Tombs and Jongmyo shrine

조선왕릉과  종묘

Joseon dynasty tombs

1392 - 1897 AD

The tomb of first King of Joseon Dynasty

The tomb of 24th King of Joseon Dynasty

sIMILARITIES(1/2)

1. Fundamental Value

  -> Confucian and geomantic traditions(Feng Shui)

Yin and Yang

Feng Shui

sIMILARITIES(2/2)

  2. Security for the burial gifts

   -> There were a lot of burial gifts in the tombs. The chinese and korean governments strengthened security.

Ming Emperor's Chair

Burial gifts of Joseon tombs

differences(1/2)

  1. The design

    - Ming : Underground palace.

    - Joseon : Tumulus.

Ming tombs

The tomb of 4th King in the Joseon Dynasty

differences(2/2)

  2. Memorial Service

     - Ming : not

     - Joseon : Korean people hold memorial service for the dead Kings. And even today, they also do memorial service in front of the tomb every year.

Keon-Won tomb Ritual

jONGMYO SHRINE(1/2)

  Jongmyo is a Confucian shrine dedicated to the perpetuation of memorial services for the deceased kings and queens of the Korean Joseon Dynasty.

Jongmyo Shrine

jONGMYO SHRINE(2/2)

  Ritual ceremonies linking music, song and dance still take place there, perpetuating a tradition that goes back to the 14th century.

Dance

Music

Cultural significance

 - Historically : Memorial Service of long-standing.

 - Asthetically : Unique design of the sculptures around the tomb.

 - Socially : People can learn and feel our ancestor's life.

Sculptures around the tomb

SWEDEN

skogskyrkogården

The woodland cementary

Christianization of Sweden 

800-1000 AD

pre christian stone ship (1100-500 BC)

cementary next to tumulus

Summer Hymn

melody 1675 / lyrics 1889

Fair greenery adorn the earth, the wind delights the flourishing fields.

And the sun's rays, and a whisper the in the grove, and the waving willows

announce the coming of summer.

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Esteemed you are, our god, who created all this, so beautiful in the summer's moment.

Flesh perishes and the flowers die,
with time the temporal passes,
and all but the word of the lord remains.

Landscape

Woodland cementary (1917-1940)

woodland cementary, sweden

normandy, france

Architectue

Woodland cementary (1917-1940)

cultural significance

Comparison

• Cremation
• Burial gifts
• Layout
• Monumentalism