There is a wall around the Forbidden City, which is called the Forbidden City. The wall is 10 meter high, 760 meters wide from east to west and 960 meters long from north to south, in a rectangular shape. The total construction area is over 720,000 square meters. The Forbidden City has more than 9,000 palaces. The hall is magnificent, the palaces overlap, and the beams are carved and painted. There are exquisite turrets in the four corners of the Forbidden City. The so-called "nine beams and eighteen columns" are extremely exquisite.
Most visitors to the Forbidden City start from Tiananmen Square, which is the south gate of the imperial city outside the Forbidden City. Behind Tiananmen Square and Duanmen, there is a tall meridian gate. The meridian gate is the main entrance of the Forbidden City. There are five buildings on the meridian gate, which people used to call Wufeng Building. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the almanac of the following year was issued here in winter. In case of large-scale expedition or triumphant capture, the emperor gave an order or was captured here. Courtiers of the Ming Dynasty were often beaten here by "court staff" when they were convicted.
The meridian gate is the main entrance of the Forbidden City. It is 35.6 meters high, located on the north-south central axis of Beijing, facing the sun in the middle, acting as a meridian, which is the name of the afternoon. The door is divided into five holes, and the middle door is for the emperor to enter and exit, which is called "Imperial Road"; Princes and ministers walk around the door; During the palace examination, candidates are divided into even and odd numbers.
Entering from the meridian gate, the first thing you see is the Neijinshui River. There is a white marble bridge on the river called Jinshui Bridge. On both sides of the river, there are railings carved with white marble. This winding river is shaped like a jade belt, also called the Jade Belt River. Crossing the river to the north and the Taihe Gate is the most famous building in the Forbidden City. These three halls are Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe. These three halls are built on an eight-meter-high platform and made of rising white jade. The platform is divided into three layers, and each layer is surrounded by white marble railings. From a distance, you can see Gong Qiongxian finch in China.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the "Golden Hall", is the most magnificent building in the Forbidden City. The temple is 28 meters high, with a width of 1 1 and a depth of 5 rooms, with a total of 55 rooms. Eighty-six pillars are full of food, and the spirit is vigorous and steady. In the center of the temple is a small platform two meters high, on which sits the golden throne of Qi Diao Dragon. There is a spherical Xuanyuan mirror hanging upside down in the Jinlong algae well in the center of the seat. Dragon balls are painted on the ceiling, with dragon gold columns standing on both sides and a beautiful screen behind the seat. The whole hall was resplendent in decoration. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where ceremonies were held in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The new emperor ascended the pole, issued important letters, and issued a yellow list of new scholars on New Year's Day, the winter solstice and the emperor's birthday. When the emperor ascended the throne, cranes, tripods and stoves displayed in front of the temple all held up curled cigarettes and filled the temple. Under the porch of the hall, golden bells, yuxin, sheng, Xiao and Qin all rang, and the civil and military officials kneeling in Danxihe Square shouted three times, which was full of solemn atmosphere.
The Zhonghe Hall behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is a square hall with many golden dragons carved in it, which looks golden. There are also thrones, jinding, smoke stoves and other furnishings in the hall, which is the place for the emperor to rest and practice etiquette before going to the hall of supreme harmony for a ceremony.
Baohe Hall is the last of the three halls. All the wooden structures and colored paintings in the eaves of the main hall are the original objects of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. There is also a throne in the temple. Every New Year's Eve. The emperor gave a banquet in honor of the prince here.
These three halls are the center of the Forbidden City. On the east and west sides of the Taihe Gate at the southern end of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there is a group of buildings. To the east are the Wenhua Hall, Wenyuan Pavilion, Chuanxin Hall and Cabinet, and to the east is the Qing History Museum, next to the East Gate of the Forbidden City-Donghuamen.
Wenhua Hall is the place where the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty studied. The emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties also gave lectures here in the spring and autumn. Wenyuan Pavilion is the place where books are collected in Qing Dynasty, and it is also the library in the palace. The Heart Hall was built in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, dedicated to Fuxi, Shennong, Huangdi, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, Duke Zhou and Confucius. Cabinet, the highest administrative body in Ming and Qing dynasties, was the prime minister in ancient times.
The buildings on the west side of Taihe Gate are mainly Wuying Hall and Nanxun Hall. Further west is the West Gate of the Forbidden City-Xihuamen.
Wuying Hall is quite famous in the cultural history. In the Qing Dynasty, some scholars gathered here to edit books, and the famous Si Quan Shu, Pei Fu, and The Integration of Ancient and Modern Books were all edited here. Here, books are not only edited, but also printed, creating a woodcut movable type version, which is the famous Juzhen version, commonly known as the Canon version. Beautiful font, accurate collation, excellent paper and ink, and high academic value.
Nanxun Hall has a collection of images of emperors of past dynasties.
According to general custom, the court is divided into an outer court and an inner court. The above-mentioned three halls and Taihe Gate buildings all face outward. Not only facing north, but also the Forbidden City. The outer court is the place where the emperor handles government affairs, and the inner court is the place where the emperor lives. To the north of Baohe Hall, there is a palace gate called Gan Qing Gate, which is the dividing line between the outer court and the inner court.
Gan Qing Gate is luxuriously decorated, with splayed walls on both sides, separated from the left and right, and golden lions and jars in front of it are arranged in pairs. The Qing emperors often listened to the opinions of ministers and made decisions here.
On the west side of Gan Qing Gate, there are some low-rise houses that look a bit crude. They are called military departments. The military department is often on duty by the minister of military affairs, and may be summoned by the emperor every day. He was instructed by the emperor to draft decrees, and his power was above the cabinet.
Crossing the Gan Qing Gate to the north, the main buildings are Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Hall and Kunning Palace. On both sides of these three palaces are the East Sixth Palace and the West Sixth Palace, where concubines live. This is what people call "three palaces and one door".
There is also a throne in the middle of Gan Qing Palace, which is divided into two warm pavilions, east and west. This is the living quarters of the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is also the place for daily work. Every festival, ministers hold banquets here. When the emperor died, the coffin stopped here. Since Kangxi, the Qing dynasty has never announced the appointment of a prince. The emperor wrote down the name of the designated heir, put it in a small box and put it behind the "fair and reasonable" plaque in Gan Qing Palace. When the emperor died, he immediately opened the box and announced the emperor's heir.
The Jiaotai Hall in the north of Gan Qing Palace is square and small in scale. The Ming dynasty used to be the queen's bedroom, and the Qing dynasty was the place where precious seals were placed. Now there are 25 precious seals in the collection. There are also ancient timer leaky pots (dripping from copper pots) and a western-style clock in the temple.
Behind the Jiaotai Hall is the Kunning Palace, which was used as a place of worship in the Qing Dynasty. When the emperor got married, the ceremony was held here. Near the east wall is a sedan chair covered with red and yellow satin and embroidered with exquisite dragons and phoenixes. It was a small sedan chair that the queen changed in the palace after she got married. To the east of this palace is the new house where the emperor got married.
To the north of Kunning Palace, the Royal Garden is opposite Kunning Gate. It is a garden for emperors to enjoy, built in the Ming Dynasty.
There are various pavilions, rockeries and flower beds in the imperial garden, as well as Qin 'an Hall and Yangxin Zhai. Although the scale is not large, it has the characteristics of royal gardens. To the north of the Imperial Garden is the Shenwumen, which is the north gate of the Forbidden City.
From the Meridian Gate, the Three Great Halls, Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Hall, Kunning Palace, Qin 'an Hall and Shenwumen, it goes straight to the Royal Garden. The palaces are arranged in a straight line due south and north, forming the central axis of all the palaces in the Forbidden City, and also on the central axis of the whole Beijing city.
Starting from Ganqingmen, it is divided into east and west roads of the inner court.
To the east of Gan Qing Gate is Jingyun Gate. Passing through Jingyunmen and passing through Fengxian Hall to the east, there is a glass screen wall engraved with Kowloon, called Jiulong Wall. It was built at the same time as the Kowloon Wall in the North Sea. To the north is the Forbidden City, which is built like a dry and clean palace. After Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty passed the throne to his son Jiaqing, he became the emperor's father and lived here. Now this is the painting gallery, which alternately displays the original works of famous painters and painters of past dynasties every year.
The Forbidden City goes west to Zhaigong. Before the emperor went to the Temple of Heaven and Ditan to offer sacrifices, this was a place to eat vegetarian food. Many palaces north of Zhai Palace are places where empresses live. Now it has become a comprehensive art museum, displaying precious works of art of various dynasties.
Gan Long Garden was built by taking advantage of the gap in Ningshou Palace. It hasn't been opened before, so few people know it. The garden is less than 40 meters wide from east to west and only 160 meters long from north to south, with a total area of about 6,000 square meters. Small area, rich content and extraordinary artistic conception. The garden can be divided into five parts: the first part is Gu Hua Xuan, the Saoshang Pavilion, the Xuhui Pavilion and a small pavilion named "Xie Fang". The second part is an authentic quadrangle building in Beijing, with the Sui Chutang on the front, where Qianlong prayed and made a wish. The third part is a rockery with holes in it. Sanyouxuan, hidden in the east of the rockery, is mainly decorated with pine, bamboo and plum. The fourth part takes Robiting and Fuwangge as the main buildings. In the last part, there is a small pavilion standing on the rockery, named Zhuxiang Pavilion. There are four cypresses beside the pavilion, and there is a resting place behind Ganlong Garden, which is called tireless fasting. The scenery of the five places can be summarized in five words: "beauty, elegance, strangeness, clearness and cleverness".
There is a well behind Ningshou Palace called "Zhenfei Well". Princess Zhen was the concubine of Emperor Guangxu in Qing Dynasty. She supported the reform of Emperor Guangxu and was favored by Guangxu, but was envied by Cixi. Not only was she often abused, but she was also put in a cold palace and was not allowed to meet Guangxu. 1900 When Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, Cixi ordered Cui Yugui, the eunuch at that time, to push Zhen Fei into this well before fleeing to An with Guangxu.
To the west of Ganqingmen Road and to the north is hall of mental cultivation. Now the layout is the same as that of that year, and the hall is exquisitely furnished. Hall of mental cultivation is the place where emperors of past dynasties handled government affairs after Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty. Every morning, the emperor receives the Minister of Military Affairs here and listens to government affairs. Cixi's "hanging the curtain and listening to politics" is also here. Now there is a wooden fence under the south window of the West Temple, which was set up to guard against eavesdropping and peeking.
From hall of mental cultivation to the north are Yongshou Palace, Taiji Hall and Tiyuan Hall. The temple of the body is also a magnificent building. Cixi lived here in her early years. The eaves of this hall are gorgeous, just like a stage. At that time, Cixi often asked the little eunuch to act here. opposite