Photography Mamorial Arch Pailou by the Tomb of Emperor Chongzhen

A black-and-white photograph showing the five-part memorial triumphal arch (pailou 牌楼) next to the tomb of Emperor Chongzhen (reigned 1627–1644). It stands in one of the areas in the Ming Dynasty Tombs in Beijing (Ming Shisan Ling 明十三陵) – Mausoleum Si (Ming Siling 明思陵). The columns of the triumphal arch are made of white marble hanbai yushi 漢白玉石, and the passageways are made of wood. Emperor Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), is buried in this mausoleum.

The photograph is the 379th of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Si-Ling: Pailou beim Grabe Kuan-Sü. (DZ, MV)

Information
Object history

Place of manufacture: Beijing

Manufacturing technique: black-and-white photograph

Dimensions: length: 13.9 cm, width: 8.5 cm

No. of parts: 1

Current owner: Slovene Ethnographic Museum

Date of the last acquisition: 1963

Previous owners and periods of ownership: Ivan Skušek, Jr. and Tsuneko Kondō Kawase - Marija Skušek, National Museum of Slovenia, Slovene Ethnographic Museum

Object condition, handling and damage: well preserved, trimmed on all sides

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