MING TOMBS The Sacred Way starts with a huge stone memorial archway at the front of the area. Built in 1540, during the Ming Dynasty, this archway is the oldest and biggest stone archway in China. Along the path we will see statues of ancient government officials like these. We will also see statues of animals as well. We start at the bottom and follow a straight path through the statues. All tourist maps will start at the bottom. The first half of statues are the officials, and the second half are the animals. The Sacred Way ends at a pavilion protecting a very large stone tablet. The top of the tablet was destroyed. The tablet was written by Emperor Zhu Li. It describes the greatness of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty. There are 2700 Chinese characters on it. The tablet sits on top of a large stone turtle. The turtle symbolizes longevity.