Introduction to each palace in the Forbidden City

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, also known as the "Jinluan Hall", is the tallest and most magnificent building in the Forbidden City. It has 11 rooms, 5 rooms in depth, double-eaves veranda style, yellow glazed tiles, and stands on a three-story white marble Xumizuo. On the platform base (35.05 meters high). The main hall covers an area of ??2,377 square meters. It is the largest wooden palace building in my country and the world.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where grand ceremonies are held. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ascended to power, announced their enthronement edicts, the emperors married, appointed queens, and ordered generals to go to war. Every year, New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, Wanshou (the emperor's birthday) and other festivals They all receive congratulations and banquets from officials here.

There are a large number of special furnishings inside and outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The bronze tripod, bronze turtle, and bronze crane placed on the platform in front of the palace are used to burn incense during the ceremony, and they have the meaning of solid rivers, mountains, and rivers.

The sundial and Jialiang placed on the platform are used to symbolize imperial power. There are drainage faucets under each railing of the three-story white marble platform. During heavy rains, a spectacular scene of thousands of dragons spraying water can be formed to show the imperial power. The two dragons playing with pearls on the road stone in front of the palace, the beads are auspicious beads. Among the two dragons, one represents the emperor of heaven and the other represents the emperor. The emperor accepts the order of heaven and cooperates with the will of heaven to ensure that the country has good weather and good weather, and the peace and prosperity of the people. The mountain and sea patterns below the double dragons symbolize the eternal stability of the rivers, mountains and rivers. The golden nine-dragon throne and screen in the hall are placed on a golden platform about 2 meters high and placed between six coiled dragon gold pillars to highlight the emperor's sole and exclusive status. A large round ball hangs upside down from the mouth of the dragon in the middle of the caisson, which is called the "Xuanyuan Mirror". This is an object to ward off evil spirits, and also has the meaning of a high-hanging mirror.

The Hall of Zhonghe is the place where the emperor rested and received letters from officials before the grand ceremony in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Baohe Hall Baohe Hall is the top of the mountain with double eaves and is nine rooms wide. It is the place where the emperor changes clothes during the ceremonies such as the appointment of the queen and the crown prince. After the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the palace examination was also moved to the Baohe Hall. held. In the Qing Dynasty, on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, the emperor often entertained princes and ministers from various minority groups in this hall.

Visitors can see many imperial stones when visiting the three main halls. Among them, the one behind Baohe Hall is the largest and most magnificent. It is carved from a whole piece of moxa leaf and is 16.07 meters long and wide. 3.07 meters tall, 1.70 meters thick, and weighing 200 tons. The Kowloon soars among the sea and flowing clouds, symbolizing the right emperor to unify the mountains and rivers.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most emblematic symbol of China’s imperial power in the Forbidden City. Not only is it the largest in area among the palaces in the Forbidden City, but it is also of the highest standard in design. The platform of the Forbidden City is 37.44 meters high, with 11 rooms wide and 5 rooms deep, with a construction area of ??2377 square meters. The doors and windows are embossed with cloud and dragon patterns, the interior is made of fine square bricks called gold bricks, and a throne is placed in the center. There are 6 dragon gold pillars on both sides of the throne. On each pillar, a giant dragon is painted with gold paste technology, soaring in the clouds and mists, with flying colors. The whole palace looks solemn, solemn and magnificent. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, grand ceremonies were held here every New Year's Day (Spring Festival), Winter Solstice, Wanshou (the emperor's birthday), enthronement, weddings, generals' military training, and imperial examinations.

The Zhonghe Hall is behind the Taihe Hall. It is a square pavilion with four corners and a spire. It has three rooms each in depth and width, surrounded by corridors, with a construction area of ??580 square meters. The roof has a single-eaves diamond-shaped roof, and a gold-plated round crown is installed at the highest point in the center, like a huge orb. The pointed top is the intersection of four roof beams, and its wooden components are most susceptible to rain rot. A complete metal roof is placed on its top to effectively protect the hooks. Zhonghe Hall is basically a place to prepare for the activities of Taihe Hall.

The emperor stopped here briefly before going to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, receiving salutes from cabinet ministers and officials from the Ministry of Rites, and then entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony to hold a ceremony. In addition, before the emperor offered sacrifices to the Heaven and Earth and the Ancestral Temple, he would also review the "blessing board" with the sacrificial inscriptions here to show his sincerity; before going to Zhongnanhai to practice farming, he would also review the farming tools here to show his sincerity. .

The Baohe Hall is located behind the Harmony Hall in the Forbidden City and is one of the three main halls of the Forbidden City. It means "the ambition should not be overflowing, the mind should be calm and the mind should be kept", which means that the mind should be focused to maintain the harmony in the universe, so that the spirit can live a long and healthy life and the world can be at peace. It was built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420) and was originally named Shen Shen. The hall was renamed Jianji Hall during the Jiajing period, and was renamed today during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It was rebuilt during the Qianlong period. The Baohe Hall is 9 rooms wide and 5 rooms deep. It is rectangular in plan and has yellow glazed tiles on the four corners and a pointed roof. During the Qing Dynasty, every New Year's Eve and Lantern Festival, the emperor would banquet here with the Qing princes, nobles and civil and military ministers in Beijing. Since the late Qianlong period, the Baohe Hall has also been the place where the highest-level palace was located in the imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty. The first to third place in the imperial examinations were called the number one scholar, the second best scholar, and the third flower respectively.

Qianqing Palace The fourteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the two emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty all used Qianqing Palace as their residences. They live here and conduct daily government affairs. The emperor read and studied, reviewed memorials, summoned officials, received foreign envoys, and held court ceremonies and family banquets all here.

In the main hall of Qianqing Palace hangs a huge plaque reading "Justice and Brightness". These four characters were personally written by Shunzhi Yubi in the Qing Dynasty. On the surface, the feudal rulers claimed to be upright, but secretly they were intrigues. The struggle between princes to seize the throne was quite fierce.

Since the beginning of the Yongzheng Dynasty, in order to alleviate this contradiction, Emperor Yongzheng adopted a secret method of establishing a crown prince, that is, the emperor did not publicly appoint a crown prince during his lifetime, but secretly wrote a document identifying the heir to the throne, in duplicate, and kept one with the emperor; One copy is sealed in the "Building Box" and is checked together with the other copy kept secretly by the emperor. The secretly designated heir will assume the throne as emperor. By the late Qing Dynasty, since Emperor Xianfeng had only one son and Emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu had no sons, this method was no longer needed.

Two Thousand-Senior Banquets were held in Qianqing Palace. Once in the 61st year of Kangxi (1722), and once in the 50th year of Qianlong (1785). The second one was the largest, with more than 3,000 relevant people aged over 60 years attending the banquet hosted by Emperor Qianlong, including ministers, officials, sergeants, civilians, craftsmen and other people. At that time, Emperor Qianlong also summoned the first-rank ministers and those over ninety years old to come to the throne to offer wine, and also gave each person a cane and other items.

At the banquet, he composed more than 3,400 couplets and poems. It shows that "the whole world celebrates and everyone enjoys peace" to appease the people.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Qianqing Palace was also the place where the emperor’s coffin was parked after his death. No matter where the emperor died, his coffin (called Zi Palace) had to be transported to the Qianqing Palace for a few days. Emperor Shunzhi died in Yangxin Hall, Emperor Kangxi died in Changchun Garden, Emperor Yongzheng died in Old Summer Palace, and Emperor Xianfeng died in Summer Resort. Their coffins were all transported back to Qianqing Palace, and after paying homage according to the prescribed ceremony, they stopped at Jingshan Shouhuang Hall and other places, the final date was selected for the official funeral, and he was buried in the Qingdong Mausoleum in Zunhua County, Hebei Province or the Qingxi Mausoleum in Yixian County.

Jiaotai Hall In the Qing Dynasty, the Jiaotai Hall was the place where the queen received congratulations from ministers on festivals such as New Year's Day and Qianqiu (the queen's birthday). Later, it was also where the emperor's 25 square seals were used to exercise power. In addition, there are copper kettle drip devices and self-ringing bells made in the Qing Dynasty.

Kunning Palace In the Ming Dynasty, Kunning Palace was the queen's bedroom. It is nine rooms wide. It turns out that there is an open door in the middle of the front and there are east and west pavilions. When Li Zicheng's peasant uprising army invaded Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen's queen, Zhou, hanged herself in Kunning Palace.

In the Qing Dynasty, in addition to the two passages at the east and west ends, the four rooms at the west end of Kunning Palace were transformed into places for worshiping gods according to Manchu customs. The third door from the east opens and is changed into two opposite doors. There are three large pots opposite the entrance, used to cook meat for worshiping gods. There are worship activities every morning and evening. On the days of great sacrifices and on the first and fifteenth day of every month, the emperor and empress would personally worship the gods.

On every major celebration and New Year's Day, the queen will hold celebrations here. In the Qing Dynasty, the two rooms at the east end of Kunning Palace were used as the bridal chamber for the emperor's wedding. The walls inside the room are decorated with red paint, and Double Happiness Palace lanterns are hung high on the ceiling. The bridal chamber has two doors, the east and the west. The wooden screen walls inside and outside the west door and the east door are decorated with gold-painted double happiness characters, which means going out to see happiness. There is a dragon and phoenix wedding bed in the northwest corner of the bridal chamber. The tent hanging in front of the bed and the quilt placed on the bed are all woven and embroidered by Jiangnan. One hundred playboys with different expressions are embroidered on them, which are called "Baizi tent" and "Baizi quilt". ", colorful and dazzling. The emperor would stay here for two days during his wedding, and then move to another palace. If you get married first and become emperor later, you will not be able to enjoy this kind of treatment. Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, only two emperors, Tongzhi and Guangxu, who ascended the throne at a young age, used this bridal chamber. The emperor's wedding was extremely luxurious and his extravagance was astonishing. In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Emperor Tongzhi Zaichun got married, and the government spent eleven million taels of silver; in the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), Emperor Guangxu Zaichun got married, and the country was extremely poor. Next, it still costs 5.5 million taels of silver. The current decoration and furnishings in the bridal chamber are the original ones as they were during Emperor Guangxu’s wedding.

Cining Palace, the Widows' Court in the Forbidden City. Cining Palace is specially designed for the widows of deceased emperors to live in. It is a widow's world in the palace.

According to feudal etiquette, the emperor could not live in the six east and west palaces with the concubines of the previous dynasty. In order to accommodate the concubines of the deceased old emperor, the Cining Palace was specially built for them to live in. In terms of daily expenses, the empress dowager enjoys the highest treatment in the harem. According to regulations, the Queen Mother can receive 20 taels of gold, 2,000 taels of silver, 124 precious animal skins, 400 silver buttons, etc. every year. And some low-status concubines, who were fashionable and neglected by the previous emperor, lost even more status after living in Cining Palace. Usually they could only get a meager amount of money, and some even had to do some needlework in private and let the eunuchs secretly take it to the market to exchange for some money.

Xiaozhuang became the first "Palace Master" in the Qing Dynasty. In the tenth year of Shunzhi, Cining Palace was renovated, and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang became its first owner in the Qing Dynasty. In the past, people were not very familiar with the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and thought she was a Manchu. However, Mr. Li Shoujing, director of the Jiangsu Zhenjiang Historical Society and member of the Zhenjiang Local Chronicles and Yearbook Research Association, recently revealed that the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was a Horqin Mongolian, born in the 41st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, and died in December of the 26th year of Kangxi. On the 25th, he died at the age of 76. His real name was Bumu Butai, and he married (Qing Taizong) Huang Taiji when he was 13 years old. When she was 30 years old, the 52-year-old Huang Taiji passed away. The 6-year-old Fulin ascended the throne in Shenyang, respecting the 30-year-old Concubine Zhuang as the empress dowager, and changed the reign name to Shunzhi the following year. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shunzhi died. His third son, Xuanye, came to the throne at the age of 8 and respected his grandmother as the Empress Dowager. At this time, she was 48 years old.

She successfully became the empress dowager, and then the empress dowager.

She is the only empress dowager in Chinese history who served two terms, the only empress dowager in Chinese history who was in charge of affairs, and the empress dowager who did not hang curtains. Before becoming the Empress Dowager, she served as the Empress Dowager for 18 years.

Qianlong dressed in colorful clothes and danced to celebrate his birthday. On November 25, the 16th year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong held a grand birthday ceremony in Cining Palace to celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother, the Empress Dowager Xiaosheng. On the day of birthday celebrations, Emperor Qianlong first led the princes and ministers to perform Liusu, kneel and bow twice to the Empress Dowager. The most Manchu style of the etiquette was that Emperor Qianlong dressed in colorful clothes, holding a wine glass in hand, danced and congratulated the Empress Dowager. , the prince, the emperor's grandson and the princes-in-law also danced after him in turn.

Cining Palace is the main palace of the Empress Dowager. The early and middle Qing Dynasty was the prosperous period of Cining Palace. The famous Empress Xiaozhuang Wen and Empress Xiaoshengxian lived here successively. The three emperors Shunzhi, Kangxi and Qianlong were famous for their filial piety, and Cining Palace often held birthday celebrations for the Queen Mother. However, after Daoguang, as the Qing Dynasty declined and the national treasury became empty, Queen Xiaoherui had to reduce palace expenses, and Cining Palace gradually lost its former glory.

Currently, the offices of many departments of the Palace Museum are located in the Buddhist halls on both sides of Cining Palace. These houses have been internally renovated and are even more unrecognizable than they were in the Qing Dynasty. A staff member of the National Palace Museum told reporters that the restoration work of Cining Palace will begin soon.

The Imperial Garden. Going north out of Kunning Palace is the Imperial Garden. It has doors connected to the six east and west palaces. The garden is 130 meters long from east to west and 90 meters wide from north to south. The main building, Qin'an Hall, is located on the central axis. In the Ming Dynasty, it was used for autumn feasts and worship of Emperor Xuanwu. In the Qing Dynasty, it was converted into a temple. In the northeastern part of the garden, there are piles of rocks and beautiful mountains, which is where the emperor, empress, and concubines "climbed the heights during the Double Ninth Festival". The Imperial Garden is a palace garden with architecture as the main body. It has exquisite pavilions and pavilions, orderly arrangements of rocks and trees, exotic flowers and trees, and colorful stone corridors extending in all directions. Visitors are willing to enjoy viewing and taking photos here. .

The Sixth East and West Palaces are where the concubines live, commonly known as the "Three Palaces and Six Courtyards". Nowadays, most of the East Sixth Palace has been converted into ancient art exhibition halls, including the Ming and Qing Arts and Crafts Museum, the Ceramics Museum, the Bronze Museum, the Clocks and Clocks Museum, the Painting Museum, and the Treasures Museum. The largest number of people visit the Treasure Hall and the Clock Hall. The Clock Hall is located in Fengxian Hall, and the Treasure Hall is located in the Yangxing Hall, Leshou Hall, and Summer Palace Hall in the northeast corner of the Forbidden City. The toy exhibition hall is located in the connecting room east of Kunning Palace called the East Banfang. The West Sixth Palace has basically not been touched and is still arranged according to its original appearance.

Yangxin Hall The Yangxin Hall inside the Qianqing Gate was where most emperors of the Qing Dynasty lived for nearly 200 years from Yongzheng to the end of the Qing Dynasty. During the Tongzhi and Guangxu dynasties, the East Angle Pavilion of the Yangxin Hall was the place where Cixi and Ci'an "listened to politics behind the curtain."

Forbidden City Corner Tower: The Forbidden City has four corners, and on each corner there is a turret with nine beams, eighteen columns, and seventy-two ridges, which is very eye-catching.

Because Beijing was the place where Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Di was King of Yan. After he became emperor in Nanjing, he wanted to move the capital to Beijing, so he sent his trusted ministers to Beijing to build a palace. Zhu Di told the minister: Four particularly beautiful turrets should be built on the four corners of the Forbidden City, the outer wall of the palace. Each turret should have nine beams, eighteen columns, and seventy-two ridges, and ordered him to be the steward. Minister of Industry. After receiving the emperor's edict, the Minister of Foreman was very worried. He didn't know how to build this turret with nine beams, eighteen columns, and seventy-two ridges.

After the Minister of Engineering arrived in Beijing, he called all the foremen and carpenters from eighty-one large contracting wood factories and told them the emperor's decree, which was within three months, and told them to do it. He built these four strange-looking turrets on schedule, and said: "If it fails, the emperor will naturally kill my head, but before killing my head, I will chop off your heads first, so be careful with your heads." . "The foreman and carpenters were not sure about such a project, so they had to work together often to figure out how to do it.

The three-month period is very short, and it has passed in a blink of an eye. The foreman and carpenters have not yet come up with any clues or solutions. They have made many styles, but none of them are suitable. At this time, it was the hottest weather in June and July. It was so hot that people couldn't breathe. In addition, they were depressed. It was really not suitable for the foreman and carpenters to sit or lie down. There was such a master carpenter who couldn't stay any longer, so he went for a walk on the street.

While walking, I heard the noise of a grasshopper coming from afar, and then heard the shouts of a grasshopper seller. When I got closer, I saw an old man carrying many large and small grasshopper cages made of straw and selling them along the street. Among them was a grasshopper cage with thin straw sticks inserted into it. It was as exquisite as a pavilion in a painting. There were several grasshoppers in it. The master carpenter thought: Anyway, it is a troublesome thing. He will not survive. Buy a good-looking cage. It looked interesting, so I bought it.

The carpenter returned to the construction site carrying the grasshopper cage. Another carpenter glanced at this cage subconsciously. At first he just thought it looked good, but it didn't take long for him to feel that this cage was a little special. He curiously counted the beams, columns, and ridges of the grasshopper cage, over and over again. Many people were attracted by his counting, and they watched quietly without making any sound. .

After the carpenter finished counting the grasshopper cages, he jumped up and slapped his thigh and said, "Aren't these exactly the nine beams and eighteen pillars with seventy-two ridges?" Everyone was happy when they heard this. The carpenter took the cage and counted it. They all took the cage and counted it, and they all said, "It's really a pavilion with nine beams, eighteen pillars, and seventy-two ridges." Inspired by the cage, everyone figured out what the turrets of the Forbidden City looked like, and ironed out the paper pulp. I made prototypes and finally built the corner arms that still exist today.

Chu Xiu Palace Wanrong has lived in Chu Xiu Palace for nearly two years after her marriage. What kind of lady is she? Some people say that she is "qualified to be a star queen." This does not seem to be an exaggeration, because she not only has the status of a queen, but also has a performance that surpasses all the queens of the Qing Dynasty, especially her Westernized ideological tendency. Just as an American commented on Wanrong: "Although she came from a noble family, her father was in business. She was a Manchu beauty. She and the emperor were ideologically compatible, and like him, she had received Western education. The new education also had a foreign name called Elizabeth."

The red palace wall did not block Wanrong's connection with the "new education" in the West, because she had the support of Puyi, who was "ideologically right." At first, Puyi hired two masters for Wanrong: one was Matthew Rong, the daughter of a Philadelphia pastor in the United States, and the other was named Yingying Mu. They are obviously related to the missionary school where Wanrong studied in Tianjin, and they are the candidates chosen by Wanrong herself. Soon, Ms. Isabel Rensam was also hired to the palace. She and Wanrong were also old acquaintances. They not only teach English, but also teach knowledge about literature, history, art and customs from around the world.

Wanrong was deeply influenced by the masters and got along well with them. Wanrong learns English very well. Not only can she speak in English, but she can also write letters in English. She wrote a large number of text messages to Puyi in English in the palace. This young royal couple lives in the same palace, meets every day, but still communicates in English. Of course, the content of their letters can be imagined. When Wanrong wrote English text messages to Puyi, she always signed them with the name Puyi gave her, which is the same as the Queen of England: Elizabeth.

As for Chinese classical literature, Wanrong has also read some books. According to Zhao Rongsheng, the eunuch who took care of Wanrong's daily life in Chuxiu Palace, the lives of the widows and concubines in the Qing Palace were very boring every day. When they were free, they just practiced calligraphy and painting. Wanrong was young, often read books, and was good at writing poems and lyrics. interest. After Puyi left the palace, people found several works by Wanrong in Chuxiu Palace, including two poems:

In Puyi's historical archives, Wanrong's handwriting can still be found, most of which were written with pens Chinese and English letters, poetry works and diaries, etc., also have a small number of calligraphy in small regular script. The sentences are written in white and white, but there are many typos. Her calligraphy is acceptable, but her paintings have not been found. It is said that she, like Puyi, can draw several strokes. She also had contacts with painters inside and outside the palace. Yang Ling, a Chinese-American female painter, once entered the palace to "portrait" Wanrong, leaving behind a portrait of the last queen: Wanrong stood on the carpet in front of the landscape screen, with a phoenix crown and a phoenix. The robes are all decorated by bannermen, making them look tall, dignified and beautiful. After arriving in Tianjin, Wanrong even hired a painting teacher.

Overall review of cultural heritage:

1 Unparalleled masterpiece of ancient architecture

The palace architecture of the Forbidden City is the largest and most complete ancient building complex in my country. The palace is arranged along a north-south central axis, symmetrical from left to right, extending from Yongding Gate in the south to the Drum Tower and Bell Tower in the north, running through the entire Forbidden City. The planning is rigorous, the spirit is grand, and it is extremely spectacular. The majesty, majesty, solemnity and harmony in terms of plane layout, three-dimensional effect and form are all unparalleled masterpieces. It marks our country's long cultural tradition and shows our country's outstanding achievements in architectural art more than 500 years ago.

2 A treasure house of rare cultural relics

Some palaces in the Palace Museum have established comprehensive historical art galleries, painting galleries, classified ceramics galleries, bronze ware galleries, and Ming and Qing arts and crafts galleries. , the Inscription Hall, the Toy Hall, the Four Treasures of the Study Hall, the Plaything Hall, the Treasure Hall, the Clock Hall and the Qing Dynasty Palace Statutes and Cultural Relics Exhibition, etc. It has a large collection of ancient art treasures. According to statistics, the number reaches 1,052,653 pieces, accounting for one-sixth of the total number of cultural relics in the country. 1. It is the museum with the richest collection of cultural relics in the country and is also a world-famous museum of ancient culture and art. Many of the cultural relics are unique and priceless national treasures.

3 Treasures of Ancient Chinese Imperial Palace Architecture

The ancient building complex of the Forbidden City was personally planned and constructed by Emperor Zhu Oak. The existing large scale, rigorous structure, exquisite decoration and numerous cultural relics are unique among ancient Chinese buildings. It is a world-famous royal palace complex.