Imperial Palace in China. Forbidden City China. Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden City
There are many more miracles in the world than we know! And one of them is the Forbidden City in Beijing. This is a huge palace complex, which is considered the largest in the world. It consists of many buildings, pavilions, squares. In total, the complex has 9,999 rooms! And the area covers more than 700 thousand square meters. This is more than impressive, but not surprising for China. We can say that gigantomania in their blood, at least look at the Great Wall.
But back to the palace. This greatest building, built at the beginning of the 15th century, has truly become a work of art. Construction began on the orders of Emperor Yongle (3rd in the Ming Dynasty). His main goal was to transfer the residence, and, accordingly, the political center and capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. And I must say, he more than succeeded. Further rulers of the Celestial Empire have already conducted their activities in this residence.
Top view of the city
Reign lasted in the Forbidden City, until 1911, which became a turning point for China. During the revolution, the monarchy was overthrown for the sake of democracy.
Location uniqueness
Already seeing this impressive architecture from afar, you feel a certain magic of architecture. The original buildings are enticing to look further. The stucco figures amaze with their splendor and grandeur.
Golden lions
But the peculiarity of the Palace complex is not this.
It is far from a secret that the basic philosophy of the arrangement of objects, the influence of the cardinal points on human life - all this came precisely from China. This people has a meaning in everything. To open and understand it, life is not enough. But the Celestial Empire attracts inquiring minds with this.
The palace is located so that all the facades face south. And all because the south is a side of grace, wealth and prosperity.
There was no free access to the palace. The whole complex was divided into two parts. The inner palace was part of the habitation of the emperor’s personal life, and the outer one was the state. In the inner palace there were halls of Heavenly purity, Earthly tranquility.
Looking at the photographs of the Forbidden City, you can see that most of the buildings are painted in bright colors. Few people know, but this paint because of the formerly former name Purple Forbidden City.
An example of jewelry in the City of the Emperor
The most interesting thing is that when the Manchu invaders came, they overthrew the Ming dynasty, dealt with the former emperor, but treated the buildings in the city very respectfully. And even continued to actively look after architecture. Thanks to this, the palace did not lose its greatness.
In fact, getting into this place, it seems that time stops and everything around freezes. There is harmony and calm in the soul. It is in this place that a feeling of weightlessness is created, as if you really are somewhere high “under the heavens”.
A. Gate Umen.
B. Gate of Shenumen.
B. Gate of Xihuamen.
G. Gate of Donghuamen.
D. Watchtowers.
E. Gate Taihemen.
J. Pavilion Taihegyan.
Z. Pavilion Zhonghegyan.
I. Pavilion of Baohegyan.
C. Wingyan Wing.
L. Winghuenyan Wing.
M. Garden Tsynin.
N. Nansanso.
O. Qianqing Palace.
P. Jiaotaidian Palace.
R. Kunninging Palace.
C. The Imperial Garden.
T. Pavilion Yangsindian.
U. Ninshougun Palace.The structure and scheme of the Forbidden City
1. Three main pavilions - Zhonghegyan, Baohedyan, Taihegyan: have a common character, which is a kind of amulet and literally means harmony and peace. These are the most magnificent pavilions showed all the power of the emperor. But at the same time, in China, it is important to observe organicity in everything. Thus, one of the philosophies is the harmonious existence of all people and a certain spiritual equality between the king and the common man, parents and children, older and younger. It is for this that there is also a character in the pavilions.
2. Giant stone slab. This element is perhaps the most striking. The huge plate is decorated with magnificent bas-reliefs. But they are not a mystery. The fact is that the stove was delivered to the palace during the Ming Dynasty, that is, no equipment was supposed at that time. And the weight of the plate reached 300 tons! It is believed that about 16 thousand people were involved in its transportation, among which were both ordinary people and soldiers.
It is located behind one of the main imperial pavilions - Baohedyan.
3. Arrow. Between the gates of Qiangqingmen and the Baohedyan Pavilion there is a square that separated the inner and outer zones of the emperor’s possessions. Raising his head on a banner above the gate, you can see an arrow sticking out from there. This “edification of the descendants” was abandoned by the ruler of the Qing dynasty after the peasant uprising in 1813. When the rebels, with the help of eunuchs and other servants of the palace, entered the Forbidden City in order to exterminate the dynasty. One of the leaders of the uprising took aim and shot at a banner, as a sign of his imminent victory. I must say that it was a very bloody picture. However, the uprising was crushed, the traitors were executed, and the arrow was left as a reminder to future generations.
4. Miracle Refrigerators. No wonder it is believed that many of the benefits of civilization came precisely from the Middle Kingdom. No less interesting instance of the Forbidden City in China are refrigerated cabinets located in the palace. These cabinets were cooled with ice stored from winter. Inside the refrigerator is lined with lead, for better tightness and safety of products. In addition, the design had openings for the drain of melt water. But, of course, the art of decoration is striking. The cubes were beautifully ornamented.
5. Gong. Of course, few people associate this tool with another country. A large gong was set to alert everyone about the changing of the guard or the imposition of a state of emergency.
6. Glazed figures. On all buildings in the complex you can see a variety of ceramic figures of animals. This is not just a decoration. Each animal denotes a certain quality inherent in it.
7. Marble Balustrade with a Secret. When you get to the Forbidden Imperial City, you involuntarily pay attention to the chic white marble balustrade. She perfectly fits into the general "red" background of buildings. But, like everything in China, it has its hidden purpose and is not exclusively a subject of decor in the exterior.
Having looked closely, you can see that on the balustrade there is a very beautiful carving in several tiers and original posts along the edges of the gate. It is there that the main secret is hidden - the alarm system.
Each column has its own "stone flower" with a rounded cavity. And in the holes, which at first glance may seem washed by rains, a special tube was inserted. The guard began to blow forcefully into it, which set the balls in motion and created a special muffled, but audible sound in every corner of the city. Thus, a fire or an invasion was reported if it was impossible or impossible to use the gong.
The Forbidden City of China is a unique place. Here you will find a lot of secrets and legends that make sense. Perhaps this will reveal you from the other side. In China, everything is saturated with a special sense of calm and prudence. Having been in the palace complex, the impression of communion with something great, intangible and beautiful.
An interesting video about the sights of the capital of China from a Chinese girl guide (translated into Russian):
Address: China, Beijing
Main Attractions: Gate of Heavenly Peace, Midday Gate, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Preservation of Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony, Palace of Heavenly Purity
Coordinates: 39 ° 54 "57.0" N 116 ° 23 "26.9" E
Short story
In the center of Beijing, north of the largest square in the world - Tiananmen - is the Purple Forbidden City, also known as Gugong. This is really a real city inside the city, surrounded by powerful walls.
Forbidden City aerial view
For almost 500 years, Gugong served as the residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The construction of the palace began at the beginning of the 15th century, when Emperor Yongle transferred the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. A million builders and 100 thousand craftsmen - painters, stone and wood carvers - worked hard at the sweat of their faces to build the Forbidden City. After 15 years, a grandiose construction was completed, and the palace appeared before the emperor in all its splendor. According to legend, there were 9,999 rooms in the palace, that is, one less than in the residence of the Heavenly Lord.
Gate of Heavenly Peace
The emperor, considered the son of Heaven, could not exceed this number (10 thousand). Today in Gugun there are 980 palace buildings and 8,707 rooms.
Forbidden City - “the mystery behind seven seals”
The city was called forbidden because the entrance to it was closed to mere mortals. Access for titled persons was opened on solemn occasions and only up to the Hall of Higher Harmony ("Taihegyan"), where the emperor held official ceremonies and negotiated with diplomats.
Midday Gate
In terms of richness of jewelry, Taihe-dian was unparalleled throughout China. The hall is supported by 72 columns. Everywhere: on the columns, on the floor and in the ornaments - there are images of dragons. In the northern part of the hall is an imperial throne carved from sandalwood. The most famous dragon, which holds a pearl in its mouth, is located above the throne under the ceiling. The Chinese believed that the dragon protects the power of the emperor - if an impostor ascends the throne, the pearl will fall on his head.
Hall of Supreme Harmony
The forbidden city is elongated along the axis from north to south and in plan is a rectangle with gates on each side. Along the perimeter, the palace ensemble is surrounded by a 3400 m long wall and a moat. At the corners of the wall are watchtowers. Legend has it that the architect puzzled over the design of these towers for a long time.
But one day, sitting in a teahouse, he met a merchant selling crickets in reed boxes. A box with a concave roof and ceilings inspired the architect's outlines of the bastions, in which the guards, like a cricket, should never sleep.
Harmony Preservation Hall
Apparently, it was impossible to enter Gugun without an invitation. A huge number of rooms served as reliable protection against hired killers: no one but trusted servants knew what room the emperor would spend the night in.
Symbols of the Forbidden City
Gugun’s layout is subordinate to the “u-syn” theory, according to which there are five primary elements in the world that give rise to all other things and natural phenomena: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The facades of the main buildings of the palace are facing south: since fire belongs to the south, and fire generates energy that embodies the male active principle, or Yan (the Sun), then the empire must be controlled from here.
Hall of Central Harmony
The north, symbolizing water, gives rise to "Yin" (the female essence, the moon), so the living quarters are located in the northern part.
Yellow is the color of the earth, the center of the universe; he personifies the power of the emperor, so the roofs in the Forbidden City are covered with gilded tiles. The walls and pillars of the palace are painted red, identified with solemnity, wealth and honor. Water is represented by an artificial canal - the "Golden River", through which 5 marble bridges are thrown, symbolizing 5 virtues: wisdom, humanity, loyalty, truthfulness and respect for traditions.
Throne in the Hall of Central Harmony
The imperial garden is set in the northernmost part of the Forbidden City. It has many reservoirs, arbors, bamboo thickets, flowering flower beds and fancy stones. The emperors were resting and practicing poetry, and the empress wives arranged marriages for the concubines.
Gugong Museum
After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which overthrew the last emperor of China from the throne, the Purple Forbidden City was renamed "Gugun", which means "Palace of the old (former) rulers."
Throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity
In 1925, Gugun was declared a public museum, and the collection of art collected by emperors was recognized as a national treasure. The museum fund of the imperial palace has 1 million 807 thousand exhibits, and 1.7 million of them are considered relics of national importance, and the rest are simply cultural values \u200b\u200band even fragments of imperial ceramics, which are also of interest to art historians.
Palace of Heavenly Purity
Among the abundance of Gugong's treasures, the following works are distinguished: a sandalwood furniture set that once adorned the residence of Prince Hun, calligraphic masterpieces by Chen Bo, ritual statues of warriors and horses from the time of Emperor Qin Shihuandi, jade, bronze and ivory items.
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The Forbidden City in Beijing is the largest palace complex in the world, with an area of \u200b\u200b720 thousand square meters. In plan, it is a slightly elongated square (the length of the northern and southern walls is 753 meters, western and eastern - 961 meters), almost correctly oriented to the cardinal points.
Get to know Beijing:
The square in front of the Taihegyan Hall (Hall of Higher Harmony), the Taihemen Gate, behind them the Umen Gate
The full name of the palace is Purple Forbidden City, 紫禁城, zijincheng. It is currently called 故宫 - “Former Palace”.
The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420, when the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ruled Zhu Di (朱棣, 1360-1424, on the throne from 1403; the motto of the reign is Yong-le 永乐, “Eternal Happiness”). It was Zhu Di who turned Beijing into the capital. All buildings are made of wood. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Forbidden City was repeatedly burned and rebuilt.
According to legend, the Forbidden City has 9,999.5 rooms. It is said that the emperor wished to have 10,000 rooms ("ten thousand," 万 wan, Is a significant number in Chinese culture). However, an angry Jade master appeared to him and stated that he had only ten thousand rooms in his palace in Heaven, so that the earthly emperor, even (天子 tianzi, the title of Chinese emperors), it is not appropriate to have as many rooms. Therefore, they did a little less - 9999 and another half of the room. In reality, there are 8707 rooms.
The Forbidden City was built in strict accordance with the rules of Chinese geomancy - Feng Shui. The emperor was not only the ruler of a great country, but was also endowed with a sacred status and priestly functions, mediating between Heaven and Earth, so every detail in Gugun has a certain meaning. The word "Purple" in the name means the North Star (Chinese 北极星 beixing), which was considered the abode of the Jade Lord. Just as all the stars in the sky make their move around the motionless North Star, so the emperor in the Forbidden City is inactive and rules the Celestial Empire.
Entrance to the Forbidden City was restricted to mere mortals. Foreigners were practically not allowed here. Therefore, of course, the most fantastic legends were composed of what is behind the high walls of the palace.
Over one million workers and about 100 thousand various craftsmen took part in the construction of the Forbidden City. The rulers of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) spent less time in Gugong than their predecessors, living most of the year in or in. In total, for almost 500 years, 24 emperors ruled over the walls of the Forbidden City - 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty. After his abdication in 1912, until 1924 the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi lived here (溥仪, 1906-1967, the Chinese emperor in 1908-1912, retained the title until 1924).
Googun in Beijing and Googong in Taipei
The first museum in the Forbidden City appeared back in 1914 - in the Hall of Military Glory (武英殿, Windian) In 1924, the entire territory passed into the hands of the Republic of China (1911-1949). On October 10, 1925, a museum was created here, which was called 故宫 博物院 Gugong Boyuyuan - Museum "Former Imperial Palace". According to the inventory carried out in the same year, it contained about 1.17 million storage units. In subsequent years, the Gugun collection expanded significantly.
How to get to Gugun
Gugong is located in the very center of Beijing. On the map, it looks like a huge square.
Metro: Tiananmen Xi Zhang Station 天安门 西 站 ( Tian’anmen West Station), "Tiananmen Dong Zhang" 天安门 东 站 ( Tian’anmen East Station), line 1.
Buses: 1 路, 2 路, 10 路, 52 路, 52 路 区间, 52 路 区间 2, 59 路, 82 路, 90 路, 99 路, etc.
Googun on the map
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One of the most mysterious, vast and famous palace complexes in the world is called "Gugun", which is translated from Chinese as "palace of the former rulers." Better known as “ Forbidden city". It was built at the beginning of the 15th century under the Emperor Zhu Di (Ming Dynasty), which made Beijing the capital of the Chinese Empire. Gugun, this “city in the city”, was closed to ordinary mortals for 500 years, since it served as a home for “celestials” - emperors.
Hence, 24 generations of rulers led the Celestial Empire - from 1421 to 1912. Gugun is the first of China's architectural masterpieces, which UNESCO has classified as a "world heritage".
Chattering Myths about the Forbidden City in Beijing
The full historical name of the modern Gugong Museum Complex, which covers a total area of \u200b\u200b720,000 square meters, is the Forbidden City, as it is fenced off from the rest of Beijing by high 10-meter bright red walls with a total length of 3,400 meters and 52-meter-wide moats filled with "golden "Water. And any resident of the country who would dare to enter the territory of the palace complex would face the death penalty.
In connection with the centuries-old veil of secrecy that securely surrounded Gugun, many legends have been compiled about the imperial palace. It is believed that the design of the forbidden city of China was dreamed of by one hermit monk, who created all the main building projects. He showed them to Prince Zhu Di and thereby gave the future wen-huangdi ("cultural emperor") the great dream of building a house for the Sons of Heaven.
The third emperor from the Ming dynasty wanted to make a complex consisting of 10,000 rooms, but the Jade Lord Yu-di came to him and forbade Zhu Di to erect the palace using the sacred number “van”. Only the lord of heaven could afford it. Then it was decided to make 9999.5 rooms. Whether they were actually built is unknown, since the Forbidden City of Gugun burned many times and was rebuilt several times. Now it has 8707 premises.
Curious, but if you spend the night in every room in Forbidden City only once, then in order to have time to sleep in each room, a person will need 27 years. Such a number of rooms made practical sense: no one except a trusted eunuch knew which room the emperor would sleep in today, which reliably protected him from hired killers.
They built the future dwelling of the "earthly gods" for almost 16 years. According to legend, 1 million people were involved in the construction, 200 million tiles, 100 million bricks and marble were spent. In 1421, the last apartments were finished. The construction was carried out in accordance with the strict requirements of Feng Shui: the entrance to the palace and all the main buildings are oriented to the south, and from the north the complex is surrounded by mountains that protect it from cold winds and evil spirits. Each part of the palace corresponded to a certain season, so that the emperor could live in constant harmony with nature.
In general, the whole Gugun is complex and sophisticated sign system and characters. For example, together with the city gates located on the south-north line, the complex forms a single character zhong ("middle") - this is one of the main categories of philosophy and culture of China.
The true story of the Forbidden City with a faint scent of fiction
Over five centuries, the masters of Gugong changed 24 times: representatives of the Ming dynasty ascended to the throne 14 times and emperors from the Qing dynasty 10 times. During this time, strangers entered the palace territory only a few times. So, in 1644, Zhu Yujian, the last emperor Ming imposed exorbitant taxes on the whole country that made the people rebel. The rebels broke into the Forbidden City and plundered it. But how much the abode of the “earthly gods” suffered then is unknown. But it was thanks to this rebellion that the Qing dynasty reigned on the throne.
Zhu Yujian killed his concubines and daughters, and then hanged himself so that according to ancient beliefs, ascend to heaven, sitting on a dragon. But this was far from the last blood that stained the marble of the imperial palace. During the reign of Qing, the general line of power was reduced to the complete isolation of China from the rest of the world, which led to increased intrigue intrigue.
It is known that at least 3,000 eunuchs lived in the Forbidden City in China and several thousand concubines. The eunuchs wove intrigues, the concubines were spies, and over the course of several centuries Gugun’s story was replenished with many scandalous stories in which the truth cannot be distinguished from fiction. Like the Vatican in Rome, the palace lived its own life, and, of course, the brightest page in the book entitled “Zinn era” was the almost 50-year reign of Cixi. Having made a career from a concubine to the empress, having ruined many lives in her lifetime, this woman became an integral and most secret part of the Forbidden City. Moreover, it was thanks to her, or rather, to Cixi’s passion for photography, that the world first saw pictures of the interior of the palace.
The death of the empress (1908) almost coincided with the end of the Qing Dynasty. After 3 years, the last lord, a minor Pu-Yi signed abdication. He lived in the palace until 1924, and with him the last major fire occurred, which destroyed many hiding places and warehouses in the Forbidden City. A number of historians believe that the palace was set on fire by eunuchs who wanted to hide the extent of the plunder from the imperial treasuries. This theory is also supported by the fact that there is not a single chimney in the whole huge complex: underground pipes provided heat to the buildings, and in general the entire heating system was designed in such a way that practically eliminated the possibility of spontaneous combustion.
The birth of the museum, or the transformation of the Forbidden City into an open temple of art
The first museum was opened in the Forbidden City in 1914 and was located in the Hall of Military Glory. In 1925, an inventory of the palace property was carried out, which included 1.17 million units. Later, the collection of the Gugun Museum was significantly replenished. In 1933, due to the invasion of the Japanese army in China, a significant number of exhibits were evacuated in Guizhou and Sichuan, but the Beijing part of the collection was saved. In 1948, nearly 3,000 boxes of imperial treasures fell into Taiwan, and in 1965, the National Museum was opened in Taipei, where nearly 700,000 bronze sculptures, paintings, ceramic and porcelain, jewelry, books, historical documents, ancient coins and others are displayed. exhibits from Gugun. And the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing opened in 1949.
Currently, a significant part of the Forbidden City is closed for major repairs, and in all its splendor Gugun will appear only in 2020. But even that part, which is accessible to tourists, attracts about 7 million people annually to the chambers of the emperors: at the height of the season, 70,000-75,000 tourists come here per day.
The main attractions of Gugun
The main entrance to the mysterious Forbidden City of China is considered to be the Gate of Heavenly Peace, located on the south side. Immediately after them begins a wide road, on the left side of it there is a magnificent imperial garden, and on the right is the taiji cypress forest. The road will lead us to the Gate of Good Conduct.
The Forbidden City itself begins beyond the Midday Gates. There are always a lot of people in the vast area: some are resting, others are just getting ready for the journey. Passing the bridge through the Golden Water, the tourist sees the Gate of Higher Harmony in front of him. Passing them, one more truly gigantic square, on which military constructions were carried out in previous centuries, is scattered before the amazed gaze. After a couple of kilometers you can reach the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Generally the whole imperial the complex is divided into External and Internal palaces. In the premises of the Outer Palace, the ruler held all the ceremonies: the main one was the hall of Supreme Harmony, as well as the Hall of Preservation of Harmony, where the throne of the emperor was installed, and Full harmony. Families of emperors, eunuchs, servants and concubines lived in the Inner Palace. Here are such world-famous (thanks to hundreds of photos taken by tourists), as the halls of the Unification of the World, Heavenly Purity and Earthly Peace. How to find - rakskzhet special article.
Also, one of the most popular "miracles" of China was installed here - a carved marble slab 16.75 meters long and weighing 250 tons. The pattern on it was embossed in 1761: relief images of mountains, foamy seas and cirrus clouds, and dancing dragons holding in their mouths over a huge pearl ball, invariably delight tourists from all over the world.
The Gugun Imperial Palace is, in essence, not a palace, but a lot of wooden verandas with red curved roofs and golden tiles, assembled in one place. This is a classic of Chinese homebuilding, made in 1987 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The complex is one of the main attractions of the PRC and its largest museum.
About a million exhibits are inside, but only a quarter of its premises and half of the territory are open for inspection. But even that is enough to take half a day with a fairly cursory inspection. More than 7 million people visit Gugun every year, and the definition - Forbidden City - only attracts visitors. For since ancient times it is known that the forbidden fruit is always sweet.
Gugun is three times the size of the Kremlin - its area is 72 hectares (almost a kilometer in length and 750 m in width), it is aligned strictly axially from south to north and has 9999 premises. With this, everything is very simple: nine is a sacred number for the Chinese, and repeated four times it is generally sacred. Naturally, the Forbidden City is fenced off from outsiders: it is surrounded on four sides by a 10-meter wall and a ditch 50 m wide.
According to legend, 9 thousand and 999 with a half of the rooms there also because the heavenly king possessed 10 thousand rooms, and the emperor, who called himself the son of a heavenly king, could not equal him. Therefore, he had half a room less.
Gugong owes its appearance specifically to Emperor Chengju, the third of the Ming Dynasty. Determined to settle in Beijing, he took care of the dwelling. The former palaces of the hated Yuan were completely ruthlessly set on fire, nothing was left of them, and a new one was needed. Gugun was built for 15 years, from 1406 to 1421. However, later it turned out that wood is short-lived matter. Numerous fires led to the fact that under Qing almost the entire palace was rebuilt (gradually, as the towers ignite). Of course, mostly copies of burnt buildings were built, but the fact is that the main buildings of the present Gugun date from the 18th-19th centuries. And the legends about the Gugun pavilions also tell almost everything about Qing. All in all, 24 emperors of two dynasties: Ming and Qing managed to get their quarters in Gugun.
The best time to visit Gugong on your own is eight in the morning, immediately after breakfast and watching the Tiananmen flag-raising ceremony. The admission fee is 45 yuan. A lot, but worth it. The ticket office is located at the gates of Umen, to them from Tiananmen you need to go along a long alley. The gates of Umen resemble a fortress - you can immediately see that you are approaching something solid, especially since ancient cannons are on the side of the alleys. If you know English, there are no problems when visiting Gugun - all signs, except for hieroglyphs, are equipped with sufficiently competent English text. During the tour, you can not only inspect the pavilions, but also feel like five minutes ruler of the Middle Kingdom, trying on imperial clothes. You can dress as a guard. This joke costs about 20-30 yuan.
The first place you get in Gugun is a huge stone wasteland that intersects with a canal made in the shape of a small bow. It is visible only when you cross the bridge on which stone torches stand - symbols of masculinity, alluding to yourself understand what. On the sides of the wasteland there are pavilions with tightly closed windows, and around the perimeter there are huge copper vats for water with cool handles - their rings are embedded in dragon's mouth. They have been standing here for a long time in case of fire. Around not a single tree (there could be hiding bad guys who were thinking of killing the emperor). And the first sensation from the palace is emptiness and lifelessness. And this emptiness served as a kind of intimidation, suppression of anyone who happened to be here. And only eunuchs, concubines and others from the imperial retinue found themselves here because of the forbiddenness of the palace. However, emperors could afford such disbelief. The fact is that in Gugun they lived only in winter, it was called the Winter Palace. For the summer they had in store much more picturesque places.
Further entrance to the pavilions of the outer courtyard. There are only three of them, and the very first, main and largest - Taihegyan (Hall of Highest Harmony). He is guarded by a terrible appearance of stone lions in the amount of two pieces. One of them is a lion with a scepter under its paw, the other is a lioness, and under its paw a lion cub. There is a small lift in front of the hall, in the middle of which there is a narrow path with dragons engraved on stone. Above her, under a palanquin, they carried the chair of the emperor, while the servants themselves descended the simple stone steps. And no one but the emperor had the right to go there. In the pavilion itself stands the Emperor's Dragon Throne. The throne room was also banned for women, and even the all-powerful Cixi did not dare to violate this ban.
Two other pavilions: the Hall of Medium Harmony (Zhonghegyan) and the Hall of Preservation of Harmony (Baohe-dian) - of a lower rank. The first is like an imperial utility room. Here the emperor announced decrees to his offspring, prepared for rites, and changed clothes. As for the Baohedyan, New Year's banquets with princes were arranged there. And there are also thrones, about the same as in Taihe-Dyan. Now the hall has been turned into a museum of ancient Chinese art (mainly bronze and ceramic products from the 11th century BC to the 13th century). A recognized attraction is a life-size ceramic horse, extracted from the tomb of Qin Shihuang di. Then we go all the same course to the north, to the inner chambers of the emperor. Here, too, everything is symmetrical: in the center there are three towers, six pavilions are exhibited on each side. There were a lot of concubines and wives, so such a number of towers is quite out of place.
The first inner pavilion of Qianqing is, in fact, the emperor’s working office, where, to paraphrase in a modern way, Vladyka Celestial "worked with documents." Now an exhibition of court things has been organized here - horse harnesses, clothes, ritual things, all mainly of Qing time.
The second pavilion of Jiaotaidian served as the throne room of the empress and is therefore frankly small in comparison with the others (woman, know the place!).
And, finally, the third pavilion Kunning-gun (Palace of Earthly Peace) - the holy of holies, the imperial bedroom. Without fail, it was here that the emperor spent the first wedding night and the first night of the new year. And he was obliged to sleep that night with his wife, and not with any concubine. The last person to print here was Pu Yi’s maiden innocence, already not being an emperor, in 1922. The bedroom furnishings remained unchanged from the time of Kansi (late 17th century): the bed was surrounded by turtles and cranes.
Side pavilions of the courtyard deserve an unconditional visit. The six Western palaces are alike, but two stand out. The first is the closest, called the Hall of Cultivating the Mind (Yangsindian), is another study with 18th-century Manchu furniture.
In the farthest pavilion, Chusyugun, the Empress Cixi lived. This is the latest example of imperial construction (the end of the XIX century. A lot of budget money was spent on the arrangement).
Six Oriental Palaces are now repositories of treasures and art objects of the XV-XIX centuries. The watch exhibition deserves special attention (imported samples of the 18th century, for their inspection you need to pay an additional 5 yuan). In the following pavilions there is a museum of jewelry (all 25 imperial seals, swords trimmed with jewelry, etc.).
In the farthest corner of Gugong is the so-called Well Zheng Fei, in which the beloved nephew of Tsysa was killed.
Well, actually, that's all. Gugong ends with the imperial garden of Yuhuayuan (it is also called the Secret Garden of Qianlong). You get into it, leaving the imperial bedroom of Kunning-gun. This is a classic of the landscape gardening genre of China, with bizarre slides of stones, an artificial rock with an arbor upstairs, courtyards, paths, galleries, strange-looking bronze urns - the creation of the same emperor Qianlong. A popular place for a photo is “trees of lovers”. These are two trees with strangely interlaced trunks, which the devil knows how old.
