Research On The Fangshan Yonggu Mausoleum In The Northern Wei Dynasty

The Yong-Gu Necropolis of Northern Wei Dynasty is the tomb of the GrandEmpress Dowager Wen Ming who was buried in here from TaiHe 14 years.Consistingof buildings of different ceremonial nature,the Yong-Gu Necropolis is built near the mountain and arranged in the central axis,which has a strong sense of propriety.Thediscovery of the Yong-Gu Necropolis provides valuable material for understandingthe imperial mausoleum and the burial concept of Northern Wei dynasty.Based on the Yong-Gu Necropolis,this article considers the constitution ofYong-Gu cemetery from the perspective of art history and history and the reasons ofthe emergence of buddhist temple in Yong-Gu Necropolis.The article holds that theYong-Gu Necropolis was designed,planned and constructed by the Grand EmpressDowager Wen Ming when she was alive.The purpose is to build a cemetery forherself and create a space for power.The Northern Wei Necropolis at Fang Shan is mainly composed of palaces,monasteries,Qing temples and tombs.With the rise of the altitude of Fang Shan,thebuildings-presents an ascending process.The height of itself extends the cemeteryfrom two-dimensional to three-dimensional space.Meanwhile,the cultural factorsand connotations represented by different buildings in the cemetery embodies theconcept of the funeral of the Grand Empress Dowager Wen Ming and become a meanto conceal the restoration of the central cemetery tradition.Under the Northern Wei dynasty system of“Zi Gui Mu Si”in Northern Weidynasty,which means once the emperor is set up as a prince,his mother must begiven death.Grand Empress Dowager Wen Ming get on the political stage as awoman.She use Buddhism to maintain her rule.Taking advantage of the talents ofthe core group around her,she transformed political ambitions into the design of thecemetery and built a "divine house" for herself.