World Heritage Cultural Relics Protection Unit
Founded in 1625 AD, it is a palace built by Qing Taizu Nurhachi and Qing Taizong Huang Taiji before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. It is also known as the Shengjing Palace. Fulin, the ancestor of the Qing Dynasty, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor here. The Forbidden City in Shenyang is a key national cultural relic protection unit and one of the two complete palace complexes in China. It has now been established as the Shenyang Palace Museum. The two Forbidden City in Beijing and Shenyang constitute the only two complete remaining imperial palace complexes of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. July 1, 2004. The 28th World Heritage Committee meeting held in Suzhou, China, approved China's Shenyang Forbidden City to be included in the World Heritage List as an expansion project of the cultural heritage of the Ming and Qing imperial palaces. It is very different from Beijing with its unique history, geographical conditions and strong Manchu characteristics. Forbidden City. The Shenyang Forbidden City’s Dazheng Hall and Chongzheng Hall with golden dragon and flat pillars, the Pavilion of Ten Kings lined with flying geese, the Qingning Palace with ten thousand-character kang pocket rooms, the simple and elegant Wenshuo Pavilion, and the Phoenix Tower and other high-rise buildings are all in the history of Chinese palace architecture. It is unique; the architectural style of "high palaces and low palaces" that is full of Manchu sentiment is even more "unparalleled". This ancient building complex covering an area of ??60,000 square meters was started in 1625 (the tenth year of Tianming in the Later Jin Dynasty) and completed in 1636 (the first year of Chongde in the Qing Dynasty). There are more than 90 buildings and more than 300 rooms in total.
The streets in the old city of Shenyang are in the shape of a "well". The Forbidden City is located in the center of the "well"-shaped street, covering an area of ??60,000 square meters and 114 existing ancient buildings. According to the architectural layout and construction sequence, the Shenyang Forbidden City can be divided into three parts: the East Road is the Dazheng Hall and the Ten King Pavilions built during the Nurhaci period; the middle road is the Dazhong Palace built during the Taizong period of the Qing Dynasty, including the Daqing Gate and Chongzheng Hall. , Phoenix Tower, Qingning Palace, Guanju Palace, Yanqing Palace, Qifu Palace, etc.; West Road is the Wensu Pavilion built during the Qianlong period. The entire palace is lined with pavilions, majestic buildings, carved beams and painted buildings, and is magnificent.
Shenyang Forbidden City Architectural Structure
The Dazheng Hall is an octagonal pavilion-style building with double eaves. The main entrance has two coiled dragon columns to show its solemnity. The Dazheng Hall is used to hold major ceremonies, such as the emperor's accession to the throne, issuing edicts, announcing the army's expedition, and welcoming the triumphal return of soldiers. The Ten Kings Pavilion is where the kings of the left and right wings and the ministers of the Eight Banners work. This phenomenon of monarch and ministers working together in the palace is rare in history. Architecturally, Dazheng Palace is also a pavilion, but it is larger and more ornately decorated, so it is called a palace. The architectural layout of the Dazheng Hall and the 10 pavilions arranged in a figure of eight is derived from the tent halls of ethnic minorities. These 11 pavilions are the embodiment of 11 tents. The tents can be moved around, while the pavilions are fixed, showing a milestone in the development of Manchu culture.
The Chongzheng Hall, commonly known as the "Jinluan Hall", is located in the middle of the front yard of Zhong Road. It is the most important building of the Shenyang Forbidden City. The entire hall is a wooden structure, with five bays and nine purlins in a hard mountain style, with partition doors, front and rear corridors, and stone railings surrounding it. The pillars of the palace are square, with a chi's head spitting water under the pillar, and the top cover is yellow glazed tiles with green trim; the pillars of the palace are round, with a carved whole dragon connecting the two pillars, with the dragon's head sticking out of the eaves. , the dragon's tail goes straight into the temple, perfectly combining practicality and decoration, adding to the imperial aura of the temple. This hall was where Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty handled important affairs on a daily basis. In 1636 AD, the ceremony to change the name of the country to the Qing Dynasty in the Later Jin Dynasty was held here. The Phoenix Tower at the north end of Chongzheng Hall, with three floors, was the tallest building in Shengjing at that time.
The Shenyang Palace Museum is not only an ancient palace complex, but also famous for its rich and precious collections at home and abroad. The Forbidden City displays a large number of palace cultural relics left over from the old palace, such as the sword used by Nurhaci.
Dazheng Hall, commonly known as the Octagonal Hall, was first built in 1625. It is an important palace built by Nurhachi, Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty. It is the most solemn and sacred place in the Shengjing Palace. It was first called Dayamen, then named Dugong Hall in 1636, and later changed to Dazheng Hall. It has an octagonal double eaves and a pointed style, with corridors on eight sides, and underneath is the Xumizuo platform. The roof of the hall is covered with yellow glazed tiles, edged with green trim, and in the center is the top of the flame bead. There are eight iron chains around the top, each connected to a strong man. The two bright pillars in front of the hall each have a golden dragon coiling pillar. Inside the hall are a Sanskrit ceiling and a dragon-subduing caisson. The hall is equipped with a throne, screen, incense burner, incense pavilion, crane-style candlestick, etc. This hall was the place where Huang Taiji, Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, held major ceremonies and important political activities. Emperor Fulin ascended the throne here in 1644 (the first year of Shunzhi).
Chongzheng Hall is commonly known as Jinluan Hall. The front and rear corridors are in the style of a hard mountain. The roof of the hall is paved with yellow glazed tiles and trimmed with green trim. The main ridge is decorated with colorful glazed dragon patterns and flame beads. It is five rooms wide and three rooms deep. The interior of the hall is "made entirely in the Ming Dynasty" and decorated with colorful paintings. There are thrones and screens inside; there are incense burners, incense pavilions and candlesticks on both sides. At the two corners of the platform in front of the hall, there is a sundial in the east and a Jialiang in the west. This hall was the place where Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty Huang Taiji met with his ministers, entertained foreign envoys, and handled major political affairs. Emperors during the "Eastern Tour" held celebration ceremonies such as the "Ceremony of Visiting the Mountain Tombs" here.
The Ten King Pavilions are located on both sides of the Dazheng Hall and are arranged in a splay shape. They are a reflection of the Manchu Eight Banners system in palace architecture. This architectural layout is the only one seen in the history of ancient Chinese palace architecture. The five pavilions on the east side from north to south are the Left Wing King Pavilion, the Bordered Yellow Flag Pavilion, the Zhengbai Flag Pavilion, the Bordered White Flag Pavilion and the Zhenglan Flag Pavilion; the five pavilions on the west side are the Right Wing King Pavilion, the Zhenghuang Flag Pavilion, the Zhenghong Flag Pavilion, Pavilion with red flag and pavilion with blue flag. It was the place where Baylor and ministers of each of the Eight Banners discussed politics and handled government affairs in the early Qing Dynasty.
Wensu Pavilion was built in 1782 (the forty-seventh year of Qianlong). It was specially built to store the "Wensu Pavilion Sikuquanshu", and the "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" is also stored in the pavilion.
Behind the pavilion is Yangxi Zhai, with a handwriting corridor on the east and west, where the emperor studied.
The Phoenix Tower is built on a 4-meter-high blue brick platform, with a three-drop mountain-style corridor, topped with yellow glazed tiles and trimmed with green edges. This building is the tallest building in Shengjing, so it is known as one of the "Eight Scenes of Shengjing", "Fenglou Xiaori", "Fenglou Guanta" and other legends. There is a plaque "Purple Air Coming from the East" inscribed by Emperor Qianlong on the Phoenix Tower.
On the third day of the third lunar month 380 years ago (April 11 this year), Nurhachi led his troops to move the capital from Liaoyang to Shenyang. Since then, Shenyang has developed from a small border town into an imperial capital. Since then, Shenyang City has undergone unprecedented changes. Today's Zhongjie still retains the layout of that year, and the Forbidden City is still the most attractive building in Shenyang.
A few days ago, the ancient Forbidden City announced that it would restore the stage and Jiayintang to their original appearance. This will be the largest renovation project of ancient buildings since the Forbidden City became a world heritage site. After the stage and Jiayintang are restored, almost all the ancient buildings in the Forbidden City will be restored to their original historical appearance.
Chongzheng Hall of the Forbidden City in Shenyang
During the more than 200 years of the Qing Dynasty's rule, too many events happened here, and many legends were born. Even today, there are still many mysteries in the Forbidden City that are not recorded in historical materials.
Mystery One: When was the Forbidden City built?
On the morning of the third day of March in 1625, Nurhaci crossed the Hun River and entered Shenyang City to build the city and make it the capital. However, there is no record in the historical materials of the Qing Dynasty when the construction of the imperial palace, which is the symbol of the capital, began. Tong Yue, director of the research office of the Shenyang Palace Museum, explained that this may be because building a palace is a waste of time and money, especially in those years when wars and disputes made people's lives difficult. Building a palace just after the capital was settled in Shenyang did not seem like the work of a wise king. Therefore, historians avoided the major event of building the palace.
Some people speculate that the construction of the Forbidden City began before King Lao Han moved the capital. Tong Yue thinks this statement is unlikely. Because Nurhaci decided to move the capital in the morning and left in the afternoon of that day. It was impossible to start building the palace before deciding to move the capital. Tong Yue said that the earliest historical record of the Forbidden City is that on the first day of the first lunar month in 1627, Huang Taiji held a ceremony in the Dazheng Hall. According to the weather in Shenyang, it means that the Dazheng Palace should have been completed before October 1626.
According to reports, in March 1621, Nurhaci led the Eight Banners troops to sweep across Liaodong and captured more than 70 cities in less than ten days, including Shenyang and Liaoyang. After the capture of Liaoyang, all the ministers under King Lao Han wanted to return to their hometown in Fushun. Nurhachi, who was ambitious and ambitious, decided to move from Sarhu to Liaoyang against all opinions. In 1625, Nurhaci once again proposed moving the capital to Shenyang. Nurhachi believed that if he advanced to Shenyang, he could attack the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, and if he retreated, he could return to his hometown of Sarhu in one day. If he left the important town of Liaoyang, he could avoid the limelight of the Ming Dynasty.
It was decided to set off in the morning of March 3rd (lunar calendar). Hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners disciples started their journey in the afternoon and arrived at Hupiyi at the junction of Shenyang and Liaoyang that night. In the early morning of the 4th, Nurhaci crossed the Hun River and entered Shenyang. After establishing the capital in Shenyang, Nurhaci strengthened the Ming Dynasty city wall, built eight gates, changed the cross-shaped streets in the city into a tic-tac-shape pattern, and built the Han Palace to live in the north of the city.
Mystery 2: Is Huang Taiji Palace the Forbidden City?
After establishing the capital in Shenyang, the princes built palaces in the city. The "Shengjing City Palace Map" produced during the Kangxi period records the palaces of eleven princes at that time. The residences of princes whose status was far inferior to that of the four major belles are all recorded. However, the four major belles such as Huang Taiji, who was extremely powerful at that time, only represented There are records of Shan’s mansion. Tong Yue analyzed that this is because among the four major beile, except for Daishan and Huang Taiji, the other two bele later committed serious crimes. According to the system of the Qing Dynasty, their residences were naturally not recorded.
Experts believe that the lack of records of Huang Taiji’s palace just shows that the Forbidden City was built on the basis of his palace. The Dazheng Hall of the Forbidden City was not part of the imperial palace in the past. Tong Yue said that before the liberation, the Dazheng Hall was still open without walls. There was a public road between it and the residential palace on the Forbidden City Middle Road. The Dazheng Hall Square was like it is now. Like the City Hall Square, the Dazheng Palace is also a gathering place for major events. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to protect the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City, walls were built around the Dazheng Hall and the Ten King Pavilions. Therefore, the building on the Forbidden City Middle Road is now the palace in the traditional sense. Experts speculate that this should have been Huang Taiji's palace. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he did not move into Nurhachi's Han Palace in the north of the city, but used his own palace to build a palace. There was no need to build a new palace for fear of wasting people and money, and the simple expansion lasted for a long time. It was not until 1632 that the main building was completed.
Mystery 3: Concubine Zhuang recruits Hong Chengchou to surrender?
Concubine Zhuang, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, was a legendary figure in the history of the Qing Dynasty. She helped the six-year-old Fulin defeat powerful opponents such as Dorgon and ascend to the throne, and helped Kangxi eliminate Ao. bye. Before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the most legendary legend about Concubine Zhuang was that she persuaded Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty, who had vowed not to surrender.
After the defeat in the Battle of Songjin and being captured, Hong Chengchou was imprisoned in the Sanguan Temple inside the Forbidden City. Huang Taiji sent people many times to persuade him to surrender, but Hong Chengchou ignored him and even went on a hunger strike to seek death. Later, Fan Wencheng, a Han official who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, went to persuade Hong Chengchou to surrender. He found that Hong Chengchou dusted off his clothes several times, so he went back and told Huang Taiji that Hong Chengchou "must die", and the beautiful woman's plan to persuade him to surrender began.
In the dead of night, Hong Chengchou was lying on the bed, when a charming young woman walked up to him, softly called "Sir", and then expressed her admiration for Hong Chengchou's integrity in vowing to die. Hong Chengchou immediately felt the warmth of being cared for. There was such a beautiful woman in the world who understood him so well. He couldn't help but think of his majesty in commanding thousands of troops and the beautiful wives and concubines at home. His desire to die was immediately shaken. The beauty saw the opportunity and gave her a cup of fragrant tea. Hong Chengchou, who had not eaten for many days, immediately became more energetic after drinking it. After the beauty left, Hong Chengchou felt that the world was beautiful and decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.
According to legend, this beauty is Concubine Zhuang. Tong Yue introduced that these are legends in unofficial history and there is no written evidence. Historical data records that Huang Taiji personally visited Hong Chengchou at Sanguan Temple and put a mink coat on Hong Chengchou with his own hands. Hong Chengchou then knelt down and proclaimed himself a minister. Tong Yue analyzed that before Huang Taiji persuaded him to surrender, a beautiful woman might have done the preliminary work for the surrender, and it was also possible that Concubine Zhuang persuaded her to surrender.
The Shenyang Forbidden City hides four unsolved mysteries
One of the mysteries: King Han hurriedly moved the capital just to protect the country?
In 1621 AD, Nurhachi led The Eight Banners army advanced into Liaodong with an unstoppable momentum, and moved the capital from Hetuala to Liaoyang, an important town in Liaodong, and carried out extensive construction and palace construction.
However, unexpectedly, during the early morning court meeting on the third day of March 1625, Nurhachi suddenly summoned all ministers and Baylor to discuss the matter, and proposed to move the capital to Shengjing (today's Shenyang). The princes and ministers immediately strongly opposed it, but Nurhaci Stand up for yourself.
Why did Nurhachi move the capital in such a hurry? It has been rumored among the people that Nurhachi believed deeply in "traditional Feng Shui". According to the instructions of Mr. Feng Shui, he built the Niangniang Temple in the southwest corner of Tokyo at that time, the Amitabha Temple in the east gate, and the Thousand Buddha Temple at the foot of Fengling Mountain. He wanted to use three temples Suppress the dragon to preserve the dragon's royal energy.
However, the three temples only suppressed the dragon's head, dragon's claws and dragon's tail, and the dragon's spine in the city was not suppressed. So as soon as the dragon arched its waist, it was about to fly away, flying north to the north bank of the Hun River. King Han thought that Long was serving heaven's will and ordered him to build another city in the place where Long was hiding. So a new city was built and named "Fengtian". And because the Hun River was called Shenshui in ancient times, and the north bank of the river was Yang (the rules about yin and yang in Feng Shui are: the south of the mountain is yang, the north is yin, the south of the water is yin, and the north is yang), it is also called "Shenyang".
Of course, the legend seems too magical, but Professor Li Zhiting, a member of the National Qing History Compilation Committee, and Tong Yue, director of the Research Office of the Shenyang Palace Museum, said that Feng Shui has always been given priority when building capitals and cities. Shenyang is located on the Yangtze River of the Hun River, on the Liao River, and the Liao River leads to the sea. It can be said to be a "geomantic treasure land".
However, the two experts also pointed out that the main purpose of Nurhachi moving the capital to Shenyang should be out of strategic advancement considerations. First of all, Shenyang is connected in all directions, and its geographical location was very advantageous for the Manchus at that time. They could conquer Mongolia in the north, the Ming Dynasty in the west, and Korea in the south, and they could advance and retreat freely. Secondly, the original capital, Liaoyang, had serious conflicts between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups. At that time, Shenyang was only a medium-sized city with a small population and easy management, which could avoid the intensification of the Manchu-Han conflict.
Mystery 2: When did the construction of the Shenyang Forbidden City begin?
Since there are no clear records in historical materials, when the construction of the Shenyang Forbidden City began has always been a major unsolved mystery in history and a focus of debate among historians.
Tong Yue, director of the research office of the Shenyang Palace Museum, said that this may be because building a palace is a waste of money and people, and the rulers of the Qing Dynasty thought it was not worth promoting. Moreover, building a palace itself is to build a home for the emperor. There is no need to enter the specific year of construction into the history books. However, a few years ago, a staff member of the Anshan Cultural Relics Station discovered a "Hou Family Genealogy" locally, which contained very detailed records about the construction of Liaoyang Tokyo City and Shenyang Shengjing City. According to the "Hou Family Genealogy", the Hou Zhenju family, who was responsible for firing glazed tiles for the Shenyang Forbidden City, "moved to Shenyang in the ninth year of Tianming to recreate the palace, Dragon Tower, Phoenix Que, and the three tombs." Some experts infer based on this that the construction of the Shenyang Forbidden City should have started in the ninth year of Tianming, that is, 1624.
On January 15, 2003, the Shenyang Evening News published an article titled "In which year was the Shenyang Forbidden City built?" ” article, after many years of research by researcher Zhi Yunting, director of the Shenyang Palace Museum and an expert on Qing history, it was determined that the founding year of the Shenyang Palace Museum should be 1624 (the ninth year of destiny).
But Director Tong disagrees with this statement. He believes that the "Nine Years of Destiny" mentioned in "The Genealogy of the Hou Family" refers to the time when Hou Zhenju's family moved to Shenyang, rather than the time when Hou Zhenju moved to Shenyang. After arriving in Shenyang, he immediately started building the Forbidden City. Tong Yue believes that the construction of the Shenyang Forbidden City should have started in 1625 for two reasons: First, in 1624, the city of Tokyo had not yet been built, and many beile and ministers were still busy building their own residences. Nurhaci did not issue an order to move the capital. Before the order, it was impossible to build the Forbidden City in Shenyang; secondly, Nurhachi lived in the Han Palace located in the north of the city, not in the Forbidden City. If the construction of the Shenyang Forbidden City began in 1624, then why did Nurhaci not live in the Forbidden City but next to the Forbidden City?
Mystery 3: Who is the "chief engineer" of the Shenyang Forbidden City?
Who designed these Qing Dynasty palace buildings? And who built it? This time, it was also the "Hou Family Genealogy" that revealed the tip of the iceberg.
There is a passage recorded in the genealogy: "The Emperor Gao of the Qing Dynasty raised an army to conquer Liaoyang, which was the capital of Tokyo. In the seventh year of Tianming, he built the Octagonal Golden Palace, which required glazed dragon bricks and colorful tiles, that is, Yu great-grandfather was ordered to Zhenju Gongdong to supervise the affairs, and he was given the post of Qianzong. Later, in the ninth year of Tianming, he moved to Shenyang and built the palace, Longlou, Fengque and Sanling. He also gave more than 600 young men to work on it. It should be used by the servants. Yu Zengzong tried his best to serve, and the great work was carried out. He chose 17 craftsmen and worked hard to serve..." Tong Yue believes that this passage shows that Hou Zhenju. This person has a lot to do with the construction of Shenyang Palace. It can be judged from the above text that Hou Zhenju should be one of the persons in charge of building the Forbidden City. However, considering that many buildings in the Forbidden City in Shenyang are in Manchu and Mongolian style, it is impossible for Hou Zhenju, a Han Chinese, to design them. Therefore, in addition to Hou Zhenju, there should be others Other designers and builders.
Some people have also expressed different opinions on this. Some experts believe that Hou Zhenju was just a "cellar man who fired glazed tiles" rather than an "engineer" of the Shenyang Forbidden City, because Hou Zhenju moved to Shenyang from Haicheng. According to the "Haicheng County Chronicle": "Thirty-five years old in the southeast of the city" There is a yellow tile cellar at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, which made yellow glazed tiles. In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Industry sent five-level officials to supervise the production of yellow tiles for use in mausoleums and palaces. "There is this record in Volume 2 of "Nationality": "The Hou family. He was originally from Mingfu County, Shanxi Province, and later moved to this area. He was a hereditary official of the fifth rank in Shengjing, and had a large family. He lived in Ximu City in the southeast of the city. "The Preface to the Inscriptions of the Ling Temple" says: "In the early Qing Dynasty, dragon bricks and colorful tiles were needed to repair mausoleums and palaces, because they were rewarded for promoting the fifth-rank officials of the Ministry of Industry in Shengjing..."
So, how many people worked together? Whether this Qing Dynasty palace was built or specifically designed by a certain master has always been an unsolved mystery.
Mystery No. 4: Did Nurhaci build part of the Forbidden City?
Did Nurhaci build part of the Forbidden City during his reign? This is also highly controversial in the field of historians. Professor Li Zhiting believes that Nurhaci always lived next to the north gate of the Forbidden City in Shenyang instead of living in the Forbidden City in Shenyang, which shows that the Forbidden City must not have been completed at that time. Moreover, building a palace was a costly project, and the preliminary preparation work was complicated. Nurhachi died suddenly 18 months after he led his troops to move the capital to Shenyang. In such a short period of time, there was simply not enough time to build a complex palace so quickly.
Director Tong believes that one and a half years is not too short. It only took more than two years to build the palace in Liaoyang City. Nurhachi had enough time to build the palace during his reign. According to the earliest historical records, on the first day of the first lunar month in 1627, Huang Taiji held a ceremony in the Dazheng Hall. According to the weather in Shenyang, it means that the Dazheng Palace should have been completed before October 1626. In other words, during the Nurhaci period, the Dazheng Palace and the Ten King Pavilions that formed a group with it should have been built. Of course, there are still many unsolved mysteries about the Shenyang Forbidden City. However, Professor Li emphasized that as long as the Forbidden City can be analyzed and interpreted from a cultural perspective, then this is the most important cultural heritage left by the royal palace to future generations.