Research of Map and Text of Xiao Mausoleum Hall under Hongwu’s Reign in Ming Dynasty Made in Qianlong’s Period

In the 16th year of the Hongwu’s reign (1383), the Ming Xiao Mausoleum Hall was constructed, marking the initial success of Ming Dynasty Mausoleum System. The main hall remained intact under the protection of the Ming and Qing dynasties until the Xianfeng’s period. However, it was unfortunately destroyed by fire in the third year of the Xianfeng’s reign (1853), rendering its original appearance unknown to the public. For the past 90 years, numerous academic researchers have attempted to reconstruct its form through conjectures, yet their efforts were primarily limited to overall form judgments due to the scarcity of literature. Little information was available about the building’s details, particularly its large wooden structures. In 2019, the author acquired two archives from the First Historical Archives of China: “On Presenting the Ming Hongwu’s Xiao Mausoleum Hall Map Sample” and “Ming Hongwu’s Xiao Mausoleum Hall Map Sample”. These archives contain patterns of the Xiao Mausoleum Hall and detailed information on components, quantities, sizes, and more, significantly filling the gaps in previous research materials. Based on the archives in combination with information from the site, this paper further hypothesizes the hall’s shape. It also analyzes the size information of the large wooden structures and reveals the terminology system and component proportion examination between the Ming and Qing dynasties. This paper not only contributes to the documentation of Ming dynasty official architecture but also aims to foster a deeper understanding of the Xiao Mausoleum Hall and the entire mausoleum system of Ming dynasty at large.