As the palace city of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the "outer court" and the "inner court". Located in front of the Forbidden City. The outer court consists of the central axis composed of Tiananmen - Duanmen - Meridian Gate - Taihe Hall - Zhonghe Hall - Baohe Hall and the pavilions and verandas on both sides of the central axis. The outer dynasty is dominated by the three palaces of Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe. There is the Taihe Gate in front and two groups of palaces, Wenhua and Wuying, on both sides. Judging from the function of the building, the outer court was the place where the emperor handled government affairs and held court meetings. All major national activities and various rituals were held in the outer court. The inner court is where the emperor's concubines live, and it consists of the Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, Kunning Palace, Imperial Garden on the central axis, and the six east and west palaces on both sides. The inner court is located at the rear (north) of the Forbidden City, including the Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, and Kunning Palace. It is where the emperor and his queen lived. On both sides of this group of palaces are the East and West Sixth Palace for residence, Ningshou Palace, and Cining Palace. etc.; and four imperial gardens distributed throughout the inner court. There are also rooms for the imperial guards and some service buildings in the palace, as well as small houses where eunuchs and maids live. Between the Meridian Gate and Tiananmen Gate, the main entrance of the palace, there are court rooms on both sides of the imperial road. Outside the court room, there is the Taimiao Temple in the east and the Sheji Altar in the west. Jingshan in the north of the palace is another group of buildings attached to the palace.
Taihe Gate
Taihe Gate was built in the 18th year of Yongle. It is the south gate of the three main halls of the outer dynasties. It was called "Fengtian Gate" in the early Ming Dynasty and was renamed "Taihe Gate" in the Qing Dynasty. and gate". It is located on a three-meter-high one-story stone Xumi court. It is nine rooms wide, four rooms deep, and 23.8 meters high. It is the tallest and largest door among the existing ancient buildings in my country. Its roof form is double-eaves Xieshan style. There is a pair of tall bronze lions in front of the door. There are two gates on both sides of Taihe Gate: Zhaode Gate and Zhendu Gate; on the east and west sides of the courtyard, there are Xiehe Gate and Xihe Gate; there are verandas connecting each gate, and there are Chou Towers on the northeast and northwest corners. . The scale and volume of all these gates, towers and verandas are smaller than that of Taihe Gate, which makes Taihe Gate occupy a prominent position in the entire square. After entering the Gate of Supreme Harmony, there is a larger courtyard. It is still 200 meters wide from east to west and about 190 meters deep from north to south, enough to accommodate an honor guard of ten thousand people. In the Guangting are the three main halls of the outer dynasty: Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall (called Fengtian Hall, Huagai Hall and Jinshen Hall in the Ming Dynasty. During the Jiajing period, they were renamed: Huangji Hall, Zhongji Hall and Jianji Hall). ).
Taihe Hall
The Taihe Hall, commonly known as the "Jinluan Hall", is the tallest building in the Beijing palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It includes a three-story Xumizuo with a height of 35.05 meters, plus the Zhengqi The total height is 37.44 meters. Each floor is in the form of a Xumizuo. It is surrounded by white jade railings. On the railings there is a pillar head, and there is a chi head spitting water below. Each pillar head is decorated. Its hall is eleven rooms wide and five rooms deep, with a construction area of ??2,377 square meters. It is also the largest wooden structure palace among the existing ancient buildings in China. The roof of the main hall is in the veranda style with double eaves, which is the "four heavy houses" of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and is a "supreme" shape. The horned beasts and dougongs on the roof also have the largest number of jumps; the carvings on the royal road and railings, the paintings in the palace and the caisson patterns all use dragon and phoenix themes that represent imperial power; the sundial, jialiang, bronze turtle, etc. on the platform are all used. Bronze cranes, etc. can only be displayed here. The gold-lacquered dragon "throne" in the palace is a symbol of autocratic imperial power. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where the emperor holds enthronement ceremonies, celebrations, and receives congratulations from civil and military officials. If a general is ordered to go on an expedition, he must also receive his seal in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In the Ming Dynasty, palace examinations and New Year's Day banquets were also held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Zhonghe Hall
The Zhonghe Hall behind the Taihe Hall is a medium-rectangular building with three bays deep and three rooms wide, and is surrounded by corridors. It covers an area of ??580 square meters. The roof has a single eaves and pointed roof, and a gilded copper roof. It was a resting place and a place for the emperor to practice etiquette when he went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to attend court. The Baohe Hall behind the Zhonghe Hall is the place where the emperor gives banquets to princes from other vassals every New Year's Eve. During the Qing Dynasty, it was the place where imperial examinations were held.
Qianqing Gate
The main entrance of the inner court is called Qianqing Gate. In front of it is a long and flat courtyard, commonly known as Hengjie. To the south of Hengjie is the Baohe Hall. To the north behind the Baohe Hall, you can reach Hengjie by going straight down three floors of the platform. Therefore, this is the junction between the outer court and the inner court. Qianqing Gate is located in the north of Hengjie, centered in the middle and facing south. It is a palace-style gate with a width of five bays, a single-eave gable roof, and a white stone platform below. The size of Qianqing Gate is slightly lower than that of Taihe Gate, the main entrance of the three main halls. On both sides of the door, there is a glazed screen wall arranged in a figure of eight. The pair of screen walls are made of bricks, with a glazed eaves on the red wall and a glazed xumi pedestal below. The center and four corners of the walls are also decorated with glazed.
Qianqing Palace
Qianqing Palace is the main hall of the Housan Palace. In the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, Qianqing Palace has always been the bedroom of the emperor and queen. At the front of the inner court, the high 20 meters in height, the palace is nine bays wide, with a verandah-style roof with double eaves. There are two small halls, Zhaoren Hall and Hongde Hall, connected to the left and right. There is a passage between the two ends, which can communicate with Taidian Palace and Kunning Palace. In addition to the emperor's residence, he often summoned court officials here, read memorials, handled government affairs, and even received foreign envoys in the palace.
The Qianqing Palace is the main hall of the inner court. There is a throne in the middle of the hall and a plaque saying "Justice and Brightness" inside. There are warm pavilions at both ends. Qianqing Palace was the residence of the feudal emperor. Before Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, this was the place where the emperor lived and handled government affairs. After Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor moved to Yangxin Hall, but he still reviewed memorials, selected officials and summoned ministers here.
Jiaotai Hall
Jiaotai Hall is located between Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, which means "the union of heaven and earth, health and happiness". It was built in the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the third year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1798 AD). It is a square hall with pointed corners, a gold-plated roof and dragon and phoenix patterns. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this hall was the place where birthday celebrations were held for the Queen. The queen of the Qing Dynasty had to come here to check the preparations for the so-called silkworm kissing ceremony. The "Baoxi" (seal) of the Qing Dynasty is also collected here.
Kunning Palace
Kunning Palace is located to the north of Qianqing Palace. It is also a nine-bay main hall with double eaves and verandah roof. It has been the main palace where the queen lived during the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. During the Shunye period of the Qing Dynasty, Kunning Palace was renovated according to Manchu customs and habits, mainly dividing the palace into east and west parts. In the west part, a ring-shaped Kang was added along the wall, and a large pot was placed indoors. The east part of Kunning Palace was built as the emperor's wedding bridal chamber. The entrance was changed to the east. There are double happiness palace lanterns in the palace, a red background and golden double happiness screen wall. There is a dragon and phoenix wedding bed against the north wall. In front of the bed there is an embroidered The colorful gauze curtain of Baizi Tu.
Yangxin Hall
The Yangxin Hall is located on the west side of the Qianqing Palace in the inner court. It is an independent courtyard with a length of about 63 meters from north to south and a width of 80 meters from east to west, covering an area of ??5,000 square meters. . The front hall of Yangxin Hall is three rooms wide and three rooms deep. The main hall is seven rooms wide and three rooms deep. During the two hundred years from Yongzheng to the end of the Qing Dynasty, emperors mostly lived here and conducted daily activities.
In the eastern and northern half of the Forbidden City, there is a complete group of palace buildings, which is the Ningshou Palace complex. In the Ming Dynasty, there was also a group of buildings here, but the scale was not very large; during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong announced his abdication and became the Supreme Emperor and built the Ningshou Palace here. This is a very complete building group, which is divided into the front There are two parts: the palace and the sleeping quarters at the back. In the latter part, it can be divided into three areas. The middle road is the residential area, the east road is the entertainment area, and the west road is the garden area. The entire building complex is surrounded by high walls and becomes a fairly closed and independent area.
Ningshou Palace
The front entrance of the Ningshou Palace complex is Huangji Gate. There is a horizontal courtyard in front of the gate. On the left and right sides are Qinxi Gate and Xiqing Gate. A screen wall faces the Huangji Gate, forming a square in front of the gate. Huangji Gate uses colored glaze to make three doors on the outside of the wall, with three rooms on the seventh floor and hanging lotus pillars. The three door openings have glazed tiles eaves, and there are dougongs and beams under the eaves, and there are spirals made of colored glaze on the beams. There are colorful paintings, there is a stone Xumizuo on the door, and four water tanks are placed in front of the door. The whole door is gorgeous and solemn. To the south of Huangji Gate stands a glazed screen wall with nine dragons on it, commonly known as the Nine Dragon Wall.
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