The Dismounting Lane is the entrance of the Xiaoling Mausoleum. It is a two-bay stone memorial archway with pillars. On its horizontal tablet engraves six big characters in regular script, meaning "All the officers dismount here. So all the civil and military officers who visited the mausoleum must dismount the horse and walk on foot. The archway is 9m high with the middle part 6m wide. The horizontal tablet is 6m long, 1.28m high, and about 0.32m thick. The archway had been destroyed into a few blocks lying at the side of the road. Afterward it was repaired. A Jinyue stele was established beside the archway in the 14thyear (1641) of the Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, restating the strict byelaw to protect the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and people against the ordinances would be executed. Passing through the frontispiece named the Big Gold Gate, one can reach the Sifang City (Square City). Its bounding walls take the shape of bulwark. In the city, there is a big Shi Liang (stone bar), perking and wagging the tail as a living creature. On its back stands a monument with inscription that reads, Supernatural Merit and Holy Virtues Monument for the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. The epitaph has 2,746 characters with each character as big as a fist. It narrates the merits and virtues of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty in his lifetime. Emperor Chengzu named Zhudi established it for his father Zhu Yuanzhang in the 3rdyear (1405) of the Yongle reign. The monument is 8.84m high in total, with the stele body 4.78m high, and 2.24m wide; it is the biggest monument extant in the area of the Nanjing.
In the northwest of the Square City, the Sacred Way lies at the other side of the Yuhe Bridge over the Thunderbolt Cave. From the east to the west, 12 couples of stone beasts are arranged on both sides of the Sacred Way: lion,Xiezhi(a legendary animal), camel, elephant, kylin, horse, four for each kind with two squatting and two standing. Thus there are 12 couples altogether, winding and extending to more than 1 li (0.5km). Afterwards, the Sacred Way turns to the north. There are a couple of ornamental columns erecting in the front, followed with four couples of huge statues, two civil and two military. They are mighty and sturdy with solemn manners. The lively sculptures depicted by the simple lines are important works of the early Ming Dynasty. 18m north of the Sacred Way is the site of the Lingxing Gate, where only 6 carved stone pole bases are left. The Yuhe Bridge lies about 275m to the northeast of the Lingxing Gate. The original five-hole bridge had been converted into a three-hole bridge.
The Xiaoling Mausoleum is located behind the Yubei (Imperial Stele) Pavilion. It originally had double eaves and nine intercolumniations. There were also establishments such as the houses of the Inspectors of Devine Palace and the Jufu Palace (for garments), the Animal Killing Pavilion, the Burning Stoves and wells, etc. The palace is one of the main buildings in the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. The present palace was rebuilt at the original site in the 28thyear (1902) of the Guangxu reign on a greatly reduced scale. A portrait of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was put up in the palace.
The Minglou (Soul Tower), also called Fangcheng (Square City), is the last construction in the Xiaoling Mausoleum. It is built of huge flagstones. Its roof has been destroyed leaving only the four walls. Behind it stands the Treasure City, which is a round earthen hillock, with the diameter of about 400m. There are cypresses planted on it and the tombs of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma lie under it. There are high walls built of flagstones around the Treasure City as the base and with bricks as the body of the wall. It is one of the largest mausoleums extant in China.
