The Construction Process And Influence Of Xianling In Jiajing Dynasty Of Ming Dynasty

Xianling is a mausoleum built by Emperor Jiajing(嘉靖帝)for his father King Xingxian(兴献王)in Ming dynasty.King Xingxian was a vassal king,after his death he was buried in Anlu Zhou,which was his fief.Soon after his son Zhu Houcong(朱厚熜)succeeded to the throne and launched the“Great Ritual Controversy”(大礼议),King Xingxian was conferred a posthumous title as the Emperor.His tomb was also named as Xianling and became the imperial mausoleum.Emperor Jiajing initially intended to move Xianling to Tianshou Mountain near the capital,but he was dissuaded by the courtiers.Then Xianling was expanded in Anlu Zhou,the reconstruction project began and it lasted more than 1 year.Xianling had become a large-scale imperial mausoleum,which was highly respected.More than ten years later,after the death of Emperor Jiajing’s mother,Queen Mother Jiang,Emperor Jiajing grasped this opportunity and ordered to move Xianling to Tianshou Mountain again,but he was hesitant and kept changing his mind.Finally Xianling remained in Huguang.Soon Emperor Jiajing sent the imperial coffin of Queen Mother Jiang to Huguang,at the same time new reconstruction project of Xianling started,which settled the special pattern of Xianling.The management of Xianling followed the rules of the mausoleums in Tianshou Mountain and Fengyang Huangling mausoleum,meanwhile combined with its own geographical environment.The government set up several institutions,and some of the institutions was originated from the institutions of the vassal king system.It was a unique phenomenon.The existence of Xianling promoted the development of the local place,such as traffic constructions.With the improvement of Xianling’s status,Anlu Zhou has been upgraded to Chengtian Fu,and the urban management have been greatly improved in many aspects.However,the Xianling project destroyed the Hanjiang River system,resulting in continuous floods in the Hanjiang River Basin,and the corvee of Xianling project also fatigued the people.The institutions of Xianling has a huge influence in the local area.The Guard Eunuch obeyed the emperor’s orders directly,while relatives of the emperor on his mother’s side fighted against the Guard Eunuch.The local military guards colluded with the Guard Eunuch and crowded out the local officials,resulting in the deterioration of the local political ecology of Chengtian Fu.