In general they are known as spiritual paths, ways of the spirits or sacred ways to the avenues or streets that lead to the tomb of some emperors and great dignitaries in China. They are usually stamped by statues of animals on real and sometimes fantastic occasions and end, before arriving at the deceased's mausoleum, with some human figures of civil and military officials. However, it is not only in that country where we find this type of way; come with us to know 5 Spiritual paths and sacred paths around the world.
Shintoism and other religions are considered spiritual paths in themselves since following their doctrines follows a path to perfection. In this article we will not talk about these paths, but about the physical spiritual paths , although usually these are also related to death and the spirits.
5 Spiritual paths and sacred paths
1. The Path of the Spirits of the Tomb of Ming Xiaoling. This tomb is located in Nanjing, China, and the founder of the Ming Dynasty, named Zhu Yuanzhang, is buried there. The spiritual path and the tomb were declared World Heritage by Unesco in the year 2000.
In the mausoleum worked more than 100,000 people and began in 1381, a few years before the death of the emperor. In the tomb also rests the empress. It occupies an area of 130 hectares. Of the wooden buildings and the wall that surrounded them that had about 22 km. practically nothing remains, but the sacred path or way of the spirits is well preserved. This spiritual path, which led directly to the burial mound where the emperor's tomb was, is 1,800 meters long and does not go in a straight line, but changes its direction several times.
It begins under the Dajinmen Gate and passes through the "Square Tower" that has a stele of 8'8 m. located on a stone turtle with dragon head that tells the most important facts of the life of the emperor. Then we can see twelve pairs of animals carved in stone. There are lions, camels, elephants, unicorns and chimeras. Finally, there are two hexagonal columns where the human figures begin. These, of colossal size, represent 4 mandarins, two civilians and two military men. A stone arch marks the end of the spiritual path. The animals had different meanings and some as the lions were there to defend the grave and others as the chimeras represented the communication of the earthly world with that of the spirits.
two. Path of the spirits of the Tomb of the Sultan of Brunei in Nanjing. Abdul Majid Hasan (1380-1408) also known as Maharaja Karna was the second Sultan of Brunei. When he was 28 years old he traveled to China and died in the city of Nankin and was buried there in a sumptuous tomb that has one of the best known spiritual paths in the country. At present it is a tourist attraction of the city.
As in the first case, the sacred path of the Tomb of the Sultan of Brunei is crossed by pairs of animals, some real and some fantastic, carved in stone. Among the sculptures there are also duos of civil and military officials.
3. The third of these spiritual paths is that of Kong Zhengan. Also known as the Confucius Cemetery, Confucius himself and many members of the Kong family are buried there. It is in Qufu which is a city located southwest of Shandong province.
It is the second largest complex of historical buildings in China. The first is the Forbidden City, which is very similar in structure. More than 100,000 descendants of Confucius were buried in the cemetery. During the Cultural Revolution many were unearthed and desecrated tombs. The spiritual path in this case goes from the north gate of Qufu to the cemetery in a straight line. It measures 1,266 meters long and on its edges are planted more than 10,000 cypresses and pines. In this path of the spirits we also see sculptures of different animals and officials with different meanings.
4. The fourth of these spiritual paths It is in Great Britain, in Somerset and it is between 4,000 and 6,000 years old. It is known as the "Sweet Track" and the rectitude of this road suggests that it was used to transport the dead to their final abode.
They were made with alder wood and crossed wetlands where offerings have been found that suggest that in the Neolithic these spiritual roads were used to deliver offerings to the gods of the marshes.
5. The fifth of these spiritual paths It's in Thomson, Manitoba, Canada , and it is of recent creation. Is a "Spirit Way" dedicated to Wolves since Thomson is known as the "capital of the wolf". It has several sculptures of wolves on both sides of the road that represent the spirit of these animals of acute intelligence, deep instincts and hunger for freedom.
This way or spirit way is built as a tribute to the wolves and their spiritual values and on it you can make walks or run while enjoying nature.
In the world there are many more spiritual paths or sacred paths related to death or spiritual values. Do you know others? Share it with us and we can expand this list! If you want to discover other paths related to death, we invite you to know the post: The terrifying Paths of the Dead | Superstitions and legends .
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