Ming tombs - Huabiao (column carved with clouds)

The huabiao is a column carved in white marble. It contains representations of clouds with a dragon coiled along its length. The summit, flanked with two wings, is surmounted by a stone hu (fabulous lion, one of the nine children of the dragon) sitting on its haunches.
The huabiao was used as a "bulletin board" where people could come and register their claims and criticisms. But this practice was lost when the emperor began to arrest and kill those who came to make their remarks. It then became the symbol of the government's responsibility towards the people. We thus often found them in the palaces (including the Forbidden City) and burial sites.