Guardians of Imperial Mausoleums

Guardians of Imperial Mausoleums

The practice of placing stone animals in front of tombs or mausoleums dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–24 AD), when Emperor Wudi (156-87 BC) ordered that some animal sculptures be created and placed by stonemasons in front of the tomb of Huo Qubing (140–117 BC), a distinguished military general who died prematurely, in recognition of his great military exploits. The Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 AD) in Nanjing also follows the tradition, though in a very unique way.

帝王陵寢的守護者

在墓前放置石獸的做法最早出現在漢代的霍去病墓，漢武帝為表彰其遠擊匈奴的赫赫戰功，命石匠鑿刻了一批動物形象置于墓前，以示威儀。南京的明孝陵也沿用了這一制度，然其博采眾長、自成一格。

Text by Xu Chao Translation by Leo Photo provided by Nanjing Publicity Department Illustrations by Zhang Haolun

The Xiaoling Mausoleum contains the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty, and Empress Ma. The 600-year-old tomb features a Sacred Way lined with 12 pairs of stone animals, which feature six different species of animal. Each species comes in two pairs, one in a standing position and the other on their knees.明孝陵是明代開國皇帝朱元璋和馬皇后的合葬陵，距今有600余年歷史。陵前列置石獸6種，每種兩對，一立一臥。

石獅——權力象征

獅乃百獸之王，《封氏聞見記》中曾說石獅“表飾墳壟，如生前之象儀衛耳”，可以辟邪鎮墓。帝陵前列置石獅從唐朝的乾陵之始成為定制，此后的帝陵均沿用這一儀制，以彰顯帝王至高無上的權力。

Stone lion: a symbol of power

The lion is the king of all animals. Even stone lions, when placed near tombs, have long been known to be able to keep evil spirits at bay, according to Chinese historical records. The tradition of having stone lions built in front of imperial tombs or mausoleums started with the Qianling Mausoleum, which is the joint tomb of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Wu Zetian, the only ruling Empress of Imperial China. The tradition has since been strictly observed in succeeding dynasties to manifest the absolute power and dignity of emperors.

獬豸——任法神獸

獬豸乃是“一角之羊”，《宋書·符瑞志》中說：“獬豸知曲直，獄訟平則至。”由此可見，獬豸是以任法獸的形象出現的，用以表彰執法者的公正不阿。

Xiezhi: a symbol of justice

Xiezhi is a one-horned mythical creature that is believed to be able to separate the innocent from the guilty. Therefore, stone Xiezhi were built in front of tombs to recognise the impartiality of the deceased in law

enforcement.

駱駝——萬邦來朝

駱駝來自西域，并非中原產物。在明孝陵之前的帝王陵寢中未有列置駱駝的先例，這實乃明孝陵的首創。

Camel: an animal from an exotic land

Camels were originally brought from Western Lands to China's central plains. Before the Ming Dynasty, no imperial tombs or mausoleums contained stone camels, and the Xiaoling Mausoleum was the fi rst of its kind.

石象——導引辨路

象是帝王大駕鹵薄的一部分，《明史·儀衛》中說帝王的儀仗隊伍中有“虎、豹各二，馴象六，分左右”。象作為帝王鹵薄的一員，在漢代就已有之，《宋會要》中寫道：“漢鹵薄象最在前，晉作大車架之以試橋梁。”可見象是為帝王導引前路，以辨路之虛實的。

Elephant: a trusted guide

Elephants used to be an important part of the imperial honour guard in Imperial China. This role of the elephant dates back to as early as the Han Dynasty. According to the chapter about the guard of honour of the History of Ming Dynasty, the honour guard of Ming emperors included two tigers, two leopards, and six tamed elephants, which proceeded in two lines. Their practical role, according to historical records, was to guide the procession of an emperor for the sake of safety.

麒麟—— 辟邪瑞獸

麒麟“王者至仁，則出”。南朝諸陵前皆置麒麟，人臣陵前則只能置辟邪，以示帝王威嚴。唐宋則以石獅代替麒麟，作為帝陵的象征。明孝陵神道兩者皆有，可謂兼采南北、集前朝陵寢之大成。

Qilin: a symbol of benevolence

Qilin (or Chinese unicorn), a mythical creature, was thought to only appear in lands with a benevolent ruler. In the Southern Song Dynasty, all of which took Jiankang (today's Nanjing) as the capital except for short periods of time, imperial tombs or mausoleums all came with stone qilins as opposed to the tombs of imperial court offi cials, which could only have Bixie, another mythical creature, as a guardian. By Tang and Song Dynasties, the stone lion had completely replaced Qilin as a symbol of imperial majesty. The Xiaoling Mausoleum, however, has both stone lions and Qilins.

石馬 —— 表彰戰功

馬是天子儀仗的一部分，同時也是古代必不可少的戰備物資之一。《左傳》中說：“國之大事，在祀與戎。”

Horse: a symbol recognising military exploits

The Horse was also an essential part of the imperial honour guard as well as of wars in ancient China. As the Zuo Zhuan or Commentary of Zuo recounts, “The paramount of all state affairs are worship and military.”