The Dazheng Hall and the Ten King Pavilions are the architectural reflection of the Manchu Eight Banners system and are rare examples of the combination of political system and architectural form in the world.
In front of the Dazheng Hall, a space 195 meters long from north to south and 80 meters wide from east to west is lined with ten pavilion-style buildings of exactly the same size and shape, called "Ten King Pavilions" or "Ten King Pavilions". "Eight Flags Pavilion". This group of courtyard buildings with pavilions arranged symmetrically looks very spacious and spectacular.
This was the command center of the Eight Banners military and political organization in the early Qing Dynasty. In all major military operations, military orders are issued at the Dazheng Hall, and the Eight Banners troops are mobilized to go to various battlefields under the leadership of the left and right kings. The royal hall of the Supreme "Holy Khan" and the "Wang Pavilion" where the princes and ministers of the Eight Banners worked were built together in the palace, forming a situation where "the monarch and his ministers work together". This architectural form reflects the Eight Banners political system of "integration of military and political affairs" implemented in Manchu society in the early Qing Dynasty. It is unprecedented and unique in the history of ancient Chinese palace architecture.
The Ten King Pavilions are composed of the left and right wing King Pavilions and the Eight Banners King Pavilion. Nurhaci perfected the Eight Banners system in 1615, and gradually established a political system in which whenever major national political or military affairs occurred, the Eight Banners' bele and ministers would gather around the Great Khan and discuss major plans in eight locations. In 1622, the joint form of the Eighth Master Baylor's "political governance" was further determined. In 1625, the construction of the Dazheng Hall and the Pavilion of the Ten Kings was a reflection of the democratic political ideas of the Communist Party of China in governing the country in this "service office" building of the post-Jin Dynasty. The Ten King Pavilions are arranged in a figure-eight shape on both sides of the Dazheng Hall. The five pavilions on the east side from north to south are the Left Wing King Pavilion, the Xianghuang Flag Pavilion, the Zhengbai Flag Pavilion, the Xiangbai Flag Pavilion and the Zhenglan Flag Pavilion; the five pavilions on the west side are in sequence. They are the Right Wing Pavilion, the Zhenghuang Flag Pavilion, the Zhenghong Flag Pavilion, the Bordered Red Flag Pavilion and the Bordered Blue Flag Pavilion. They were the places where the chief flags of each of the Eight Banners in the early Qing Dynasty and ministers discussed and handled government affairs.
Dazheng Hall and Ten King Pavilions
The Eight Banners system originated from Niu Luo. Its predecessor was the "Meng'an Muke" system implemented by the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) established by the Jurchens. When the Jurchens sent troops or hunted, they were stationed in villages according to their clans and parties. Each person shoots an arrow, and ten of them are one Niulu. Among them is a leader named "Niulu Ezhen" (translated as "Zuoling" in Chinese). In the 29th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1601), Nurhachi established the four flags of yellow, red, white and blue on the basis of Niu Sui, with the yellow flag, red flag, white flag and blue flag as the symbols respectively. In the forty-third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1615), it was expanded into the Eight Banners. The original names of the four flags were named "Zheng", and the names of the other four flags were named "Bian", namely: Zhengyang, Zhengbai, Zhengred, Zhenglan, Bianhuang, Bianbai, Bianred and Bianlan. The newly added four flags are: the yellow flag has a red border on the yellow flag, the white flag has a red border on the white flag, the red flag has a white border on the red flag, and the blue flag has a white border. Red border on blue flag. In principle, each banner should contain twenty-five niulu, each with 300 people, totaling 7,500 people. But in fact, the number of cows in each banner is different and not fixed, and can be changed at any time according to the ruler's personal wishes. For example, during the reign of Nurhachi, the number of Niulu of the Eight Banners was roughly distributed like this: 45 Niulu of Zhenghuang Banner, 33 Niulu of Xianglan Banner, 26 Niulu of Xianghong Banner, and 25 Niulu of Zhenghong Banner. There are twenty-five Niulu for Zhengbai Banner, twenty-one Niulu for Zhenglan Banner, twenty Niulu for Xianghuang Banner, and fifteen Niulu for Xiangbai Banner. Later, due to war needs, Nurhachi redistributed the establishment of the Eight Banners.
Left-Wing Wangting
The Eight Banners system is a military-political system that integrates military and political affairs, as well as soldiers and civilians. The biggest feature of the Eight Banners system is that "the flags govern the people and the flags govern the troops." It is a form of social organization that integrates the military and civilians and the military and government, "when you go out, prepare for war, and when you go out, you work on agriculture." All Manchus were organized into the Eight Banners, and many people also liked to call themselves bannermen. Adult men are civilians in peacetime and soldiers in wartime. The Eight Banners system is well-organized, has rapid personnel mobilization, and is highly militarized. Niulu Ezhen ("Zuo Ling") is both the organizer of production and the commander of battles, and every member of it is both a producer and a fighter. As a military system, there are the vanguard, the Xiaoqi and the Guards: the vanguard wears strong armor and charges in front with weapons; the Xiaoqi wears light armor and attacks from behind; the Guards are elite soldiers and act according to the situation. The Eight Banners system was also an economic system. Various administrative expenses are allocated on a per-niu basis. Each Niulu sent ten men and ten cows to grow food in the open land, and the harvested items were all owned by the public. The Eight Banners system was also an administrative system. Officials at all levels were not only production organizers and combat commanders, but also administrative officials. The Eight Banners served as national institutions. In short, in the Eight Banners system, the Manchus who were good at riding horses and archery were organized into a powerful and particularly capable army. The Eight Banners system also became a unique administrative institution and social phenomenon during the Qing Dynasty in China.
Right Wing King Pavilion
Nurhachi perfected the Eight Banners system in 1615, which showed its powerful power in the development of the Later Jin Dynasty. At the beginning of the founding of the country, whenever Nurhaci encountered major military and state affairs, he would "set up eight tents on both sides of the palace, and the belles and ministers of the eight banners would sit in the eight places" to discuss the big plan. The title of King Baylor of the Eight Banners is always served by Nurhaci's brother and nephew. As the struggle for the throne in the Aixinjueluo family intensified, especially the eldest Beile Daishan, the second Beile Amin, the third beile Mang Gurtai, and the fourth beile Huang Taiji became more and more powerful because of their "assistant management of national affairs", and they began to compete with each other. The contradictions and struggles between the two countries have become more intense.
After two failures in establishing the throne, Nurhaci had to reaffirm the joint government system of maintaining the eight heshuobeile's "political governance" in the seventh year of Tianming (1622), and put forward the conditions for publicly nominating a new khan, further developing this military The idea of ??democratic government. Therefore, after the capital was moved to Shenyang, in order to facilitate the discussion of national affairs, while building the "big yamen", a new setting called the Eight Banners Royal Pavilion accompanies the Eight Banners system.
After Huang Taiji came to the throne, in order to strengthen the imperial power, promote the feudal system and promote the development of Manchu society, he continuously weakened the power of the Eight Banners King Beile. Therefore, he turned the "Eight Banners Pavilion", which was used as a meeting place for kings and ministers to discuss government affairs during the Nurhaci period, into a place where the Eight Banners departments work and are on duty, and its role was obviously greatly reduced. When Huang Taiji further strengthened the centralization of power, he established the "Three Internal Courts" (i.e., the Internal History Academy, the Internal Secretariat Academy, and the Internal Hongwen Academy) and the six departments of officials, households, rituals, military, punishment, and industry, as well as the two departments of Ducha and Lifan. After that, the power of the Eight Banners princes and nobles was further weakened, so the "Eight Banners Pavilion" only existed as a place for Eight Banners duty officials to wait for summons, that is, it only existed as a "duty room".