-
The Forbidden City
1
、
Brief Introduction
The
Forbidden City is located in the center of
Beijing. It covers an area of 72 hectares, was
first built in 1406
and complete in
1420. 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties,
they lived and ruled the country for 491 years. It
is the largest and the best-preserved
imperial palace in the world. It is the largest
museum of culture and art in China,
is
one of the important historical relics under
special preservation by the Chinese Government, in
1987, it was listed
in the world
cultural heritage by UNESCO.
2
、
Evolution
The Forbidden City
was started in 1406 and completed in 1420 in the
Ming dynasty. More than 100,000 people
joined building of the Forbidden City.
the building materials were from many parts of our
country
.
24 emperors of the
Ming and Qing dynasties, they lived and
ruled the country for 491 years there. In the Qing
dynasty, the constructions
of the
Forbidden City never stop.
Emperor
乾隆
spent great efforts
to expand the city and equipment was installed to
subdue fire. The 1911 Revolution
overthrow the Qing dynasty, the last
emperor
溥仪
abdicated. He and
his family
were allowed to live in the
inner court of the Forbidden. In 1924,
溥仪
was driven out of the
Forbidden City. In 1925,
the
Forbidden
City
became
a
palace
museum
and
opened
to
the
public.
After
the
founding
of
New
China,
our
government spent a lot of money to
renovate the Forbidden City. It is the largest
museum of culture and art in
China.
3
、
Origin the Purple Forbidden
City/Connotation of the name
The Palace
Museum was also called the Purple Forbidden City.
In ancient China, the constellations were divided
into 3 groups, with the North Star in
the center of the Universe. Purple was symbolic
color of the North Star, so this
constellation group was called Purple
Palace, which was the living place of the God of
heaven. The emperor believed
he was the
son of the God and had supreme power. So the
common people were not allowed to going to the
imperial
palace. So he called his
palace the Purple Forbidden City.
4
、
Layout of the Forbidden City
The
Forbidden
City
is
located
in
the center
of
Beijing.
It covers
an
area
of
72
hectares.
It
is
a
rectangular
in
shape, surrounded by
a 10-meter high city wall and a 52
meter-wide moat. At each corner of the city wall,
there is a
watchtower with soldiers on
it. There are 4 gates to the Forbidden City. They
are: the Meridian Gate, the Gate of
Divine Prowess, the Gate of West
Flowery and the Gate of East Flowery
.
There are 8704 rooms in the Forbidden, the
whole group looks neat and imposing,
because they were built along the central axis.
The layout of the Forbidden
City
is
“
Front Court, Rear Market,
Ancestral Temple on the left and Altar of Land and
Grain on the right.
”
The Coal
Hill is located at the end of the
central axis, known
as
“
Dominant
Hill
”
. There are two parts
in the Forbidden City.
One
is
the
Outer
Court,
it was
a
place for
the
emperors
to
attend
the
grand
ceremonies
and
take care
of
the
state
affairs. Another is the Inner
Court, it was a place for the emperor and his
family to live in.
5
、
The
Meridian Gate
（
1
）
Name meaning
The
Meridian
Gate
is
the
main
entrance
in
the
south
to
the Forbidden
City.
It
is
called
Meridian
Gate
because
the
emperor
believed
that
the
meridian
line
went
right
through
the
Forbidden
City.
According
to
the
ancient Chinese compass, the meridian
means south. So, the Meridian Gate also known as
the south gate of
the
Forbidden City.
（
2
）
Architectural on this gate
The gate has 5 openings, three big
gates in the middle, and two smaller
ones on both sides at the corner.
And
there are 5 Towers on the gate, So it is also
called the
“
Five-Phoenix
Tower
”
. It is about 35
meters high.
According to the ancient
Chinese compass, the meridian means south. So, the
Meridian Gate also known as the
south
gate of the Forbidden City. it is 9 rooms wide and
5 rooms long. There are bells and drums on the
gate.
When
the
emperor
went
to
the
Temple
of
Heaven,
the
bells
were
beaten.
And
when
he went
to
the Supreme
Ancestral
Temple, the drums were struck.
（
3
）
Function
The
Meridian
Gate
was
the
place
to
announce
the
new
lunar
year calendar
on the first
day
of
10
lunar
month every year. The
ceremony of
“
Accepting
Captives of War
”
and
punishment by beating officials with sticks
on their hips also held here.
（
It was recorded that in
1519, more than 130 officials tried to stop the
emperor
th
from
going
to
the
south
for selecting
beauties.
So
those
officials
got
beaten,
11
were
beaten
to
death
on
the
spot.
）
（
4
）
5 passages
The
gate
has
5
openings,
3
big
gates
in
the
middle,
and
2
smaller
ones
on
both
sides
at
the corner. The
central
passage was for the emperor only. But, the empress
could use it once on the wedding ceremony. The top
3 scholars of the palace examination
were allowed to go through it on the day of result
announcement. The east
gate was for the
high-ranking officials and the west gate was for
royal family members. The 2 smaller side gates
were for the other officials.
（
5
）
Regarded
The Forbidden City
is rectangular in shape. The Forbidden City was
heavily guarded in the Ming and Qing
dynasties. It was surrounded by a
10-meter high city wall and a 52 meter-wide moat.
At each corner of the city
wall, there
is a watchtower with soldiers on it. In front of
the Meridian Gate, there are 2 duty rooms for the
royal
family
members
on
duty.
It was
stipulated
that
no
body would
go
or walk
inside
the
Imperial
Palace
freely.
Those who had the right to use any gate
would be recorded on the notebook. If anybody
broke the rule, he and
the guards would
be badly punished. There wee also strict rules
about the accommodation and keys.
（
6
）
5 gates in the courtyard of the
Meridian Gate
Besides the Meridian
Gate,
there are another 4 gates around
it. On both sides of the Meridian Gate, there
are another 2 sides gates called
阙左门
and
阙右门
. To
the south, there is a gate to the Altar of Land
and Grain,
and the gate to the Supreme
Ancestral Temple. on the due south, is the Upright
gate.
（
7
）
Antechambers on both side of the
Meridian Gate
The antechambers in front
of the Meridian Gate were offices for the 6
ministries. To the
north of the
< br>阙左
门
and
阙右门
, there are 3 rooms, which were duty rooms for the royal family members on duty. They are used
as Booking Office now.
（
8
）
Inner Golden Water River
The
Inner Golden Water River is behind the
Meridian Gate. It is the main channel
for discharging water
and subduing
fire. It works both as water source in the
Forbidden City and decoration of perfect
architectural
design. It is also called
golden hat and jade belt embracing water in
geomancy
. There are five bridges over
the
river.
The
five bridges represent of Confucius-benevolence,
righteousness, rites, intelligence and fidelity.
6
、
The
Inner Harmony and Outer Peace
In the
Qing dynasty, there were 3 main halls and 3 gates
named with
和
.
太和
Gate,
太和
Hall,
中和
Hall,
保
和
Hall,
熙和
Gate
and
协和
Gate. The imperial city
also had 6 gates named
with
安
,
天安门
Gate,
西安门
Gate,
东
安门
Gate,
地安门
Gate and the left and
right Gate of
长安
. So, there
were altogether 6
和
and
6
安
there.
和
stands
for
Harmony and
安
means Peace,
symbolizing Inner Harmony and Outer Peace of the
country.
7
、
The Outer Court
The Outer
Court was the place for the emperor to attend the
grand ceremonies and take care of the state
affairs.
There
are
3
main
halls
were
built
along
the
central
axis.
They
are:
the
Hall
of
Supreme
Harmony,
the
Hall
of
Complete Harmony and the
Hall of Preserving Harmony.
8
、
The
Gate of Supreme Harmony
The Gate of
Supreme Harmony is the front gate of the Outer
Court.
The gate was first built in
1420, named the
Gate
of
Worshipping
Heaven.
It was
ever
renamed
the
Gate
of
Imperial
Zenith.
The
present
name was
given
by
emperor
顺治
.
When
the
3
main
halls
were
burnt
down
in
1420,
the
emperor
ever
gave
his
audience
here.
Later,
many emperors would
like to sit in the gateway, accept documents and
make the decisions. Before the wedding of
emperor
光绪
, the
gate was burnt down and a fake gate was set up
with timber and colorful silk.
9
、
The
decoration in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony
In front of the Gate of Supreme
Harmony, there are 4 bronze tripods and 2 lions.
In ancient China, the
lions
served as good doorkeepers because of
their mighty and awesome look, so they were put at
the gate to ward off the
evil spirits.
The male lion
is on the left, who
playing with a ball. It stands for imperial power
and universal peace.
The female is on
the right, which is playing with baby lion. It
symbolizes the fertility of the imperial family.
The two
lions in front of the Gate of
Supreme Harmony are made of
bronze.
Which is a symbol of the
imperial
luxury and
power.
10
、
Thousands of dragon spouting water
There is a triple marble terrace in the
Outer Court in the Forbidden City. At the edge of
terrace, there are 1142
marble
waterspouts in the shape of
dragon
’
s heads. They served
as both decorations and water spouts. During the
heaven rain, people can see a beautiful
view of
“
Thousands of dragon
spouting water
”
.
11
、
The courtyard of the Hall of Supreme
Harmony
（
1
）
Introduction
There is a big
square courtyard in front of the Hall of Supreme
Harmony, covers an area of 30,000 square
meters. In the old days, when the grand
ceremonies were held in the Hall of Supreme
Harmony, the ceremonial
guards would
stand in the courtyard in lines. During the
ceremony the emperor sat on the throne, while the
civil
and
military
officials
would
stand
in
the
courtyard,
kneeling
down
in
front
of
the
emperor.
All
the
incense
burners were used as the ceremony went
on. It made the officials believe t hat the
emperor was the real
“
Son of
Heaven
”
（
.
Generally, the buildings on each
side of the courtyard were warehouses for storing
fur, silk, porcelain,
tea, satin and
clothes and so on. To the west
is
宏义阁
, which was the silver
storehouse of imperial family.
体仁
阁
to the east
was the place to hold examinations for choosing
talented scholars as officials.
The pavement on
this square
was specially made. That
is: seven
layers of bricks lengthwise and eight layers
crosswise, with one
layer
lengthwise on one layer crosswise. So
that no one could enter from digging underground
tunnel into the
palace.
）
（
2
）
The T
riple Marble
T
errace
In the big courtyard
stands the triple marble terrace, eight meters
high. There are three main buildings of
the
outer court
on
it.
They
are:
the
Hall
of
Supreme
Harmony
、
the
Hall
of
Complete
Harmony
、
the
Hall
of
Preserving Harmony. They are all lying
on the north-south axis. The three big buildings
were built in 1420. But
they were
rebuilt for many times. The present halls were
rebuilt in 1695.
In the middle of the
terrace, you can find three staircases leading to
the
Hall of Supreme Harmony. The
central staircase was for the emperor
only, with a long stone ramp in the
middle.
（
3
）
The East Route of the Outer
Court
前朝东路
①
the Hall of
Literary Glory
文华殿
The Hall of Literary Glory is located
to the east of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, it was
the place to
give
lectures
for
the
emperors.
They
learnt
knowledge
here
and
learnt
experience
from
the
history
.
He
would also write essays
to present his understanding and opinion to civil
officials here. The
永乐
Canon
was ever kept in this hall.
永乐
Canon
永乐大典
The
永乐
Canon
is
a
massive
encyclopedia,
which
was
compiled
by
谢安
and
other
scholars
during the reign of Ming
emperor
永乐
. It covered 8000
articles from ancient times. It consists of 22,877
（
manuscript
）
volumes.
②
the Imperial
Library
文渊阁
The
Imperial Library is located to the north of the
Literature Flowery Hall. This is a 3-storied
building
and covered with black glazed
tiles. Which is a symbol of water. This means to
subdue fire. In front of the
building
lies a pond with water flowing to east. The
complete collection of the 4 Branches of
Literature was
housed here.
The complete collection of the 4
Branches of Literature
四库全书
The complete collection of the 4
Branches of Literature covered the contents of
3,503 kinds of
books. There were 7
copies were made and stored in different places.
But most of them were destroyed in
the
fire or war. Some of them are kept in
the library of Beijing,
沈阳
and
浙江
. Now, the
collection of
the
Forbidden
City is kept in
台湾
.
③
the East
Flowery Gate
东华门
The
East
Flowery
Gate
is
the
east
gate
of
the
Imperial
city,
there
are
72
doorknobs
in
8
lines.
Generally each gate of the Imperial
city has 81 doorknobs in 9 lines. It was said
that, because the deceased
emperors
would
be carried
out from
this
gate.
In
ancient
China,
even
number was considered
as
earthly
number
used for the deceased.
（
4
）
The West Route of the Outer
Court
前朝西路
①
the Hall of
Martial Prowess
武英殿
In the Ming dynasty, the Hall of
Martial
Prowess served as the
Abstinence Hall for the emperor. The
empress also received greetings on her
birthday here. In 1644, the Peasant
Leader
李自成
ascended throne
in
this
hall.
During
the reign
of
emperor
康熙
,
it
became
a
place
to compile
and
print
books.
It
was
the
imperial publishing house in the Qing
dynasty.
The Imperial Edition/ Rare
Editions
聚珍版
The
books published by the Hall of Martial Prowess
were called Imperial Edition or Rare Edition,
because
they
were
printed
with
exquisite
movable
copperplate
and well-chosen
paper
and
ink.
The
most
famous
imperial
books
are
10,000
volumes
of
the
Imperial
Encyclopedia,
康熙
Dictionary
and
the
complete collection of
the 4 Branches of Literature.
12
、
The Hall of Supreme Harmony
（
1
）
History
The Hall of Supreme
Harmony was built in 1420 and named the Hall of
Worshipping Heaven. Later, it was
burnt
down and rebuilt by
emperor
嘉靖
and renamed the
Hall of Imperial Zenith. The present name the Hall
of
Supreme Harmony given by
emperor
顺治
.
（
2
）
Features
The Hall of Supreme
Harmony is the largest, highest and the most
important building in the Forbidden City.
It was built on the triple marble
terrace. It is 35 meters high, 11 rooms wide and 5
rooms long and supported by
72 wooden
pillars. It is covered with top-class double
eaves. The dragon
mouths on both ends
of the ridge are
made of 13 glazed
pieces, which are the largest ones in China. We
can see 10 mythical animal statues on the
eaves. There used to be big wooden
nails on the roof to stop the tiles from sliding
down. Later,
they became
glazed
tiles
in
the
shape
of
mythical
animals
for
decoration. They
are symbols
of
good
luck
and
peace,
and
people
believe they could subdue fire and ward off evil
spirits.
（
3
）
Name meaning
The name of
Supreme Harmony comes from the Book of Changes. It
means the relations of various things
in the universe would be in perfect
harmony. Especially the relations between the
emperor and the officials.
（
4
）
Function
The
Hall
of
Supreme
Harmony
was
the
Throne
Hall
in
the
Forbidden
City.
It
was
here
the
emperor
exercised his rule over the country.
Here the emperor held grand ceremonies, received
high-ranking officials and
sent
generals to the battles and received the top 3
scholars of the palace examination. It was also
the place to
celebrate
the
emperor
’
s
birthday,
the
Winter
Solstice
and
the
Chinese
Lunar
New
Year.
The
ascending
ceremony also held here.
（
5
）
Decorations in front the Hall of
Supreme Harmony
①
On each side of the Hall of Supreme
Harmony, there are some big cauldrons for storing
water against
fire. In 1900, the Allied
Forces of Eight Powers scraped off the gold from
the cauldrons. Today, we still
can
see
the
marks
on
the surface.
Some
of
the
cauldrons
are
made
of
iron
and
others
of
bronze
and
gilded. The 18 gilded
ones were made in the Qing dynasty. There are 308
big water cauldrons in the
Forbidden
City. They are called Peace V
ats and
made in the Ming and Qing
dynasties. In
winter, fires
were set up underneath to
keep the water ready for use all the
time.
②
There are 18 bronze incense burners on
the marble terrace. They stand for the 18
provinces in the Qing
dynasty.
③
The sundial
stands
on
the
east
of
the
top
layer
of
the
marble
terrace. The sundial
is
an
ancient
time
measure used about 2,000 years ago. The
sundial tells the time by seeing the shadow of the
pin on it in
sunny days. During the
rainy and cloudy days, people used the Water
Clock.
To the west on the
terrace
is imperial grain measure. It
was used as the national standard measure in
agriculture in the old days.
Both the grain measure and the sundial
were symbols of the
emperor
’
s justice and
rectitude.
④
There
are
2
pairs
of
bronze
incense
burners
in
the shape
of
turtle
and crane
in
front
of the
Hall
of
Supreme
Harmony. They are both symbols of longevity.
（
6
）
Decorations in the Hall of Supreme
Harmony
The
emperor
’
s throne placed in
the middle was made of sandalwood with 9 dragons
on it and gilded. The
throne was found
in the warehouse,
because
袁世凯
replaced it with a
sofa. Behind the throne is a gilded screen.
On both sides of the throne are 2
incense burners in different shapes. One of them
as a mythical animal named
“
L
u
端”
or
unicorn,
which was
believed
to
be
able
to
travel
very
fast
and
speak
many
languages.
Which
symbolized
the
obedience
of
different
kingdoms to the
emperor.
The
gilded
caisson ceiling
is
high
above
the
throne. It is a
sculpture of a dragon playing with a huge pearl,
which was called
“轩辕镜”
. It
was a symbol of
the
orthodox
emperor,
also
symbolized
to subdue
fire.
The
floor
of
the
hall
is
paved with
gold
bricks, which
were made
in
苏州
.
（
7
）
溥仪
溥仪
was the last emperor in
the Qing dynasty. He was born in 1906 and was
chosen as the emperor at the
age
of
3.
During
the
ascending ceremony,
he was
so
afraid
and
kept crying.
His
father
tried
to stop
him
and <
/p>
said
：
“
D
on
’
t cry
, it will
soon be finished.
”
3 years
later, the Qing dynasty was overthrown indeed. In
1924, he
was
driven
out
of
the
Forbidden
City.
In
1931,
with
the
help
of
the
Japanese,
溥仪
was
made
a
“
Puppet
Emperor
”
in
northeast of China. Later, he was captured by the
Soviet Red Army at the end of the Second World
War. He stayed in prison for over 10
years. In 1959, he started a new life and a new
job. Later he wrote a very
famous book
named
“
From Emperor to
Citizen
”
. He passes away in
Beijing at the age of 61.
13
、
The Hall of Complete Harmony
（
1
）
Name meaning
The
name
of
Complete
Harmony
comes
from
the
Doctrine
of
the
Mean.
It
means
to
handle
things
in
a
proper
and
restrained way,
then we
could
create
the
universal
harmony. It
reflects
the
principle
of
Confucian
School.
（
2
）
Function
The Hall of
Complete Harmony
was the place for the
emperor to take a rest before he went to the Hall
of
Supreme
Harmony
for
grand
ceremonies. The
dress
rehearsals
for
ceremonies
also
took
place
here
and
the
emperor
made his last minute preparation here. Every year
before the emperor went to the Temple of
Agriculture
for offering the
sacrifices, he would
examine the seeds
and ploughs here. Every 10 years, the emperor
would
revise the imperial genealogy in
this hall.
（
3
）
Architecture and decoration
The Hall of Complete Harmony is a
square hall with a single pyramid roof. It is
located in the center of the
triple
marble terrace. In the center of the hall, there
is a gilded throne with a screen behind. On both
sides of
throne are incense burners in
different shape. There are 2 sedan
chairs on display inside the hall,
which were
made during the reign of
Qing emperor
乾隆
.
14
、
The Hall of Preserving Harmony
（
1
）
Name meaning
The name of
Preserving Harmony comes from the Book of Changes.
It means the great harmony preserved
from union.
（
2
）
Function
It is the last hall
of the three main halls in the outer court. In the
Ming dynasty, before the emperor went to
the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he would
change into full ceremonial garment in this hall.
In the Qing dynasty
,
the
emperor held banquets on Chinese Lunar New
Y
ear
’
s Eve
entertained the high ranking officials, princes
and
envoys of the Uygur, Mongolian
nobles and other nationalities. The emperor also
dined with his new son-in-law
and his
relatives on wedding day. The Palace Examination
was also held here.
（
3
）
Architecture
The Hall of
Preserving Harmony is located to the north of the
triple marble terrace and also the last hall of
the Outer Court. Without 2 pillars at
the front, the hall looks very spacious. Just
behind the hall,
there is a
big
Marble Ramp carved with clouds and
nine dragons. This is the largest piece of stone
carving in the Forbidden
City.
It
was first
made
in
the
Ming
dynasty
and
later
was recarved
in
the
Qing
dynasty
during
the
reign
of
emperor
Qianlong.
It
is
over
16
meters
long
and weighs
about
250
tons.
This
ramp
was
quarried
from
房山
District.
The
laborers
dug
wells
and
made
ice
road
in
winter.
In summer,
rolling
logs were
used
instead.
No
modern means of transportation in
ancient China. So it was a difficult job.
（
4
）
Result Announcement of Imperial
Examination
The Palace Examination is
the highest civil service examination. It was held
by emperor once every 3 years
in the
Hall of Preserving Harmony. After the
examination, there is an announcement ceremony in
the Hall of
Supreme Harmony. The top 3
scholars were received by the emperor. Then they
could be allowed to go through
the
central passage of
the Meridian Gate
after the result announcement. 3 days later they
would have a dinner
with
the
emperor
and
be
promoted
as
high
ranking
officials.
Their
names would
be sculpted
on
the
tablet
in
Confucius Temple.
15
、
The layout of the Inner Court
The Inner Court was the living quarters
for the emperor and his family. There are
altogether 15 big palaces in it,
in the
shape of 15-star group. There are 3 main halls
along the central axis
in it and on
both sides, there are the 6
eastern
and
western
palaces.
The
Palace
of
Heavenly
Purity
is
a
symbol
of
heaven,
while
the
Palace
of
Earthly
Tranquility
symbolizes the earth. The Palace of Union in the
middle connects the heaven and earth.
16
、
The Gate of Heavenly Purity
（
1
）
Introduction
The Gate of
Heavenly Purity is the main gate to the inner
court. It was first built in 1420. This was a
place
for the emperor to give his
audience and make the decisions. When the 3 main
halls were burnt down in 1420,
the
emperor
ever
gave
his
audience
at
the
Gate
of
Supreme
Harmony.
During
the
Ming
and
Qing
dynasties,
emperor
would
like
to
sit
in
the
gateway,
accept
documents
and
make
the
decisions.
Emperor
康熙
moved
audience place to the Gate of Heavenly
Purity. Just to show the
emperor
’
s great concern over
the state affairs.
（
2
）
Buildings around the Gate of Heavenly
Purity
The
rooms
on
the
east were
study
rooms for
the
emperor’s children.
The
rooms
on
the
west were
the
imperial study of
emperor
康熙
. It is said the
story of
康熙
catching
鳌拜
happened here. The rooms to the west
of the Gate of Heavenly Purity are the
office of
the Privy Council. It was set
up by the 3
rd
Qing
emperor
雍正
,
when
troops were sent to fight in northwest. Then it
helped the emperor deal with routine military and
political
affairs. Later it became even
more
powerful than the inner cabinet.
There was a sub-
office-
章京
attached to it.
The 2 offices were highly important
secret places.
17
、
The Palace of Heavenly Purity
（
1
）
Function
The Palace of
Heavenly Purity is the largest building of the 3
rear palaces. It was first built in 1420. During
the Ming and early Qing dynasties, the
emperors used to live here and handle the daily
affairs and sometimes
rd
also
held private audience here. After the 3
Qing Emperor
雍正
moved his
living quarters to the Hall of Mental
Cultivation,
this
building
became
an
audience chamber for
receiving
envoys
and
foreign
ambassadors.
It was
also
the
place
to
mourn
the
deceased
emperor, when
the
coffin
was
here.
In
the
Qing
dynasty,
the
imperial
family banquet was
held here on festivals. The
famous
“
banquet of thousand
aged people
”
was held twice
here in
the Qing dynasty. The hall was
also the place to appoint crown prince secretly
after emperor
雍正
.
（
2
）
Feature
The Palace of
Heavenly Purity is the first main hall in the
Inner Court, and also the largest hall in this
group.
It is 9 rooms wide and 5 rooms
long with many rooms for different use in each
side. In the center of the palace is
a
throne and some incense burners around it.
（
3
）
Decoration in front of the Palace of
Heavenly Purity
In
front
of
the
Palace
of
Heavenly
Purity
there
is
a
small
pavilion
standing
on
each
side
of
the
marble
terrace. The east one
is
called
江山
pavilion,
symbolizing the territorial integrity of
the country; the west one is
called
社稷
, in
English means the God of Land and Grain, it is a
symbol of bumper harvest in agriculture.
（
4
）
Decoration in the Palace of Heavenly
Purity
High up in the center of the
Palace of Heavenly Purity, there is a plaque above
the throne which reads Be
Open and
Aboveboard. From emperor
雍正
,
the name of the successor to the throne would be
written down on a
piece of paper for
safety. And then put the
paper in a
small box, and hide the box behind the plaque. The
box
would not be opened until the
emperor passed away and the name of successor
would be proclaimed on the spot.
（
5
）
Other buildings in the courtyard of the
Palace of Heavenly Purity
①
懋勤
Hall
懋勤
Hall
is
located
to
the
west
corner.
The
officers
used
to
report the cases
to
the
emperor. If
the
emperor
agreed
the
trial.
The
criminals’
name
s
would
be
ticked
off
in
red
ink.
Then
they
would
be
sentenced to death in
Autumn.
②
端宁
Hall
端宁
Hall was the place to keep
the cloths and hats of the emperor. The plait of
emperor
溥仪
was ever
placed there.
③
批本处
The documents
of the cabinet used to be sent
to
批本处
, and then be passed to
the emperor. After the
emperor read and
signed them, they were sent back to the cabinet in
this room.
④
the
Imperial Dispensary
御药房
The Imperial Dispensary was the
medicine center for the emperor and imperial
family members.
⑤
Confucius Worshipping
Hall
祀孔处
Confucius
Worshipping Hall was the shrine the Confucius and
other ancient philosophers.
⑥
敬事房
敬事房
was
the
office
in
charge
of
the
eunuchs
in
the
Forbidden
City.
It
was
also
the
place
for
collecting
personal
information
of
the
imperial
family
members.
They
were
used
for
the
imperial
genealogy.
⑦
弘德
Hall
and
昭仁
Hall
弘德
Hall
and
昭仁
Hall were used as
bedroom for emperor. Later,
emperor
乾隆
kept the rare books
of
the previous dynasties in
the
昭仁
Hall
（
6
）
1000-old-men Banquet/Banquet of
Thousand Aged People
千叟宴
In the Qing dynasty, the famous Banquet
of Thousand Aged People was held 4 times
altogether. But only
held twice here in
the Qing dynasty.
When
emperor
康熙
he was 68 years
old, he entertained 730 old officials
above
65
years
old
at
dinner
in
the
Palace
of
Heavenly
Purity.
Emperor
乾隆
also
held
a
banquet
there
to
celebrate
his
50
birthday.
Officials
over
60
years
old
were
qualified
to
attend
the
banquet.
They composed
poems and couplets. The emperor would
present them with some gifts.
18
、
The Palace of Union
（
1
）
Function
The
Palace
of
Union
was
a
place
for
the
empress
to
hold
the
important
ceremonies
and
her
birthday
celebrations.
She
received
greetings
from
the
other
peoples
in
this
hall.
In
the
Qing
dynasty
,
the
empress
examined
the
tools
of
picking
mulberry
before
going
to
the
altar
of
silkworm
in
spring.
The
Qing
emperor
Qianlong kept 25 imperial seals in this
hall, symbolizing the
imperial power of
the emperor. Now they are on
display in
the Treasure House.
（
2
）
Decoration
In
the
center
of
the
Palace
of
Union,
there
is
a
throne
for
the
empress.
Above
the
throne
is
a
plaque
inscribed with
无为
.
It suggests to rule the country with benevolence
and according to the change of nature.
无
为
is a Taoist
philosophy, which means not to take any action.
This idea was also used by the feudal rulers to
discourage people from taking any
action. There are 25 boxes are placed on both
sides of the throne. They were
used to
keep 25
imperial seals
by
emperor
乾隆
. Number 25 was the
sum of the heavenly number. These seals
were symbols of imperial power. They
were made of jades, metal or sandalwood. The
handles are carved with
dragons in
different postures. Now, they are on display in
the Treasure House. The
Water
Clock
is on the east
side of
the palace. It is China
’
s
most outstanding inventive time measure used in
the 18
th
century. It tells
the
time by dripping water. The
Western Chiming Clock
is on
the west side of the palace. It is also made in
the
18
th
century.
There
is
an
iron tablet
in
the
Palace
of
Union
with
words carved
on
it
in
both
Manchu
and
汉
characters.
It was used to warn the eunuchs not to attend
state affairs.
19
、
The Palace of Earthly Tranquility
（
1
）
Function
Here was a place
for the empress to live
in during the
Ming and early Qing dynasties.
According to the
Manchu’s
customs,
the
western
chamber
later
became
a
place
for
the
emperor
and
the
empress
to
offer
sacrificial ceremony to the Shaman God.
The eastern chamber became the wedding room for
the emperor. The
emperor
and
the
empress
would
stay
here
for
2
night.
It’s
painted
in
red
and
decorated
with
big
Chinese
th