The Yongle Emperor picked this site personally. After completing the Forbidden City in 1420, the third Ming emperor rode north to the southern slopes of Tianshou Mountain, where the Jundu Mountains curve in a protective arc around a 40-square-kilometer valley of dark earth and tranquil water. By feng shui principles, the mountains would deflect evil spirits and harsh northern winds, making the valley a place of cosmic harmony. The Yongle Emperor built his own mausoleum here first, and the next twelve emperors who ruled from Beijing followed his example, each choosing a spot in the same sheltered valley. The result is a necropolis unlike anything else in China, a single family's burial ground spanning two centuries of imperial rule.

Not every Ming emperor rests here, and their absences tell stories of their own. The dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor, lies near his original capital of Nanjing. The Jianwen Emperor, overthrown by the Yongle Emperor in a civil war, simply disappeared, his fate and burial place unknown to this day. The Jingtai Emperor was denied an imperial burial by his own brother and interred west of Beijing in a commoner's grave. And then there is Chongzhen, the last Ming emperor, who hanged himself on April 25, 1644, as rebel armies closed in on the Forbidden City. He was buried in a concubine's tomb, later granted imperial status by the very rebel leader who drove him to his death.

The approach to the tombs is designed to overwhelm. A massive stone memorial archway, constructed in 1540 and among the largest in China, marks the entrance. Beyond it stands the Great Red Gate, three arches painted vermillion. Inside, the Shengong Shengde Stele Pavilion houses a 50-ton stone statue of a Bixi, a mythical tortoise-like creature, carrying a memorial tablet on its back. White marble pillars of glory stand at each corner, crowned with mythical beasts. The Spirit Way passes through this ceremonial architecture before reaching the Dragon and Phoenix Gate, the final threshold before the tombs themselves. Only three of the thirteen tombs are open to visitors today: Changling, the largest; Dingling, the only one excavated; and Zhaoling. No excavations have been approved since 1989.

When the Qing dynasty conquered the Ming in 1644, one of their first acts of political legitimacy was to honor the fallen dynasty's tombs. In 1725, the Yongzheng Emperor appointed a Ming descendant named Zhu Zhilian as hereditary Marquis, salaried by the Qing government, whose sole duty was to perform rituals at the tombs. The title passed through twelve generations of Ming descendants until the Qing dynasty itself ended. This gesture was not sentimental but strategic, a way for foreign conquerors to claim continuity with the dynasty they replaced. The tombs became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, listed under the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a designation that would have pleased both the emperors who built them and the conquerors who preserved them.