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BOOK REVIEWS
with someone, preferably Chinese, who knows the places well and can argue and interpret for him, it could well prove a dangerous as well as an incomplete vade-mecum.
P. H. HASE
The Imperial Ming Tombs, Ann Paludan, Hong Kong University Press.
In many ways 'The Imperial Ming Tombs' by Ann Paludan is an excellent book, devoid of jargon, it opts for simplicity in its presentation to guide readers not only in detail to the history, architecture and sculptures of the monuments but also to the entire environment of this splendid mausolea complex where thirteen of the sixteen emperors of the Ming dynasty lie buried.
Earlier studies on the Ming Tombs by other scholars concentrated on the first tomb, Ch'ang-ling. Ann Paludan attempts to consider the cemetery as a whole and reveals to us systematically one by one all the thirteen tombs. To complete the account, she includes Hsiao-ling in Nanking, tomb of the first Ming emperor Chu Yuan-chang, and Western Hills, tomb of Chu Chi-yu. Her account is different from that of earlier authors (Jan Jakob Maria De Groot, Georges Bouillard, Vandescal etc.) also because this was written after the restorations which began in the 1950s, and during the time when there was an expansion of the adjacent village and agricultural activities.
There is a remarkable difference in the way in which individual tombs are being preserved, some are gradually being incorporated into the life of the local village and even stones are being used for contemporary buildings. The book not only gives a description of the architectural and sculptural details of each tomb, but also a picture of the current state of the buildings and the village activities that grow around each mausoleum. The account of each tomb is further supplemented by descriptions of the drainage system and birds and flora observed in the precinct. A brief history of the life of the emperor buried there is also included to give the readers a better understanding of the choice of site of the mausoleum.
For
A lot of attention is paid to detailed description in the book in order to establish the theory and concept of the tombs. example, the use of colour and materials, the origins of motifs,