The Forbidden City has magnificent regulations, strict layout, exquisite architecture, richness and luxury, and a large collection of rare cultural relics, which is the essence of ancient Chinese architecture, culture and art..

The best way to visit the Forbidden City is the middle road. If time permits, you can take a walk on the west road.

Wumen Gate

Wumen Gate is the main entrance of the Forbidden City, which is very majestic. The main hall on the rostrum has nine rooms in profile and five rooms in depth, reflecting the "Ninth Five-Year Plan". The main hall and the square pavilion with four corners are like five peaks, which are strewn at random, so they are also called "Wufeng Tower".

there are five openings at the noon gate, three bright and five dark. If you go to the Forbidden City again, you must find out where the other two doors are. Of course, the middle doorway is reserved for the emperor, but there are two kinds of people who can cross it. Guess who it is? Yes, the Queen of the Imperial Palace, the top three in palace examination. The civil and military officials take the left door, the imperial clan princes take the right door, and the other two doors are only used when the court is in session.

By the way, the beheading at the meridian gate is only a legend, and there is no basis. Imagine how such a sacred place can be used for execution.

Taihe Gate

Walk into the meridian gate, and the square in front of Taihe Gate is in front. The first thing you see is the five Jinshui Bridges. Standing on the Jinshui Bridges and looking to the left, they are the Xihe Gate leading to Wuying Hall. This Wuying Hall is the place where Li Zicheng ascended the throne in a hurry, the office of Regent Dourgen, and the place where a large number of books were edited in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

Standing on the bridge and looking to the right, it is the Concorde Gate leading to the Wenhua Hall, and the position of the Cultural Hall is even worse. This is the main hall of the prince in the early Qing Dynasty and the place where the famous banquet ceremony was held. That's where the emperor gave lectures to ministers. The back hall of the Cultural Hall is the famous Wenyuan Pavilion. In that year, Emperor Qianlong compiled the Sikuquanshu and wrote seven books, which were stored in seven places. Wenyuan Pavilion is one of them.

Looking straight ahead is Taihe Gate, which, together with Zhendu Gate on the left and Zhaode Gate on the right, forms the gateway to the three main halls.

three halls

Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe are the former parts of the Forbidden City.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the Golden Throne Hall, is the highest and largest palace in the Forbidden City and even the whole country, with eleven profiles and double eaves, which is the place where the imperial court holds important ceremonies. Such as New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and Wanshou (the birthday of the emperor); Emperor's accession to the throne, wedding, military commander's departure, palace examination's biography, etc.

Zhonghe Temple, a square pavilion building, is a place for emperors to prepare for activities in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It is also a place for emperors to check their utensils before offering sacrifices and performing farming (emperors should take part in farming once a year in Zhongnanhai to show their respect for agriculture).

Baohe Hall was the place where princes and ministers were given a banquet on New Year's Eve in Qing Dynasty. It was also the place where palace examination, the highest level of imperial examinations in Qing Dynasty, was held.

Ganqing Gate

Ganqing Gate is the gateway connecting the former court and the latter bedroom, that is, the gate separating the former three palaces, namely the three main halls, and the latter three palaces, also called the Imperial Gate.

It is often said that the imperial court listened to politics here, which is the performance of the Qing emperor's diligence in political affairs. The three imperial capitals of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong persisted very well, but after Jiaqing, they gradually decreased and were simply abolished after Xianfeng, from which we can see the gradual corruption of the Qing Dynasty.

When we get to Ganqingmen, we might as well look west. A row room under the wall on the west side of Ganqingmen is the famous military department. Established by yongzheng emperor, it was established here to be close to hall of mental cultivation. Once he was established, he gradually replaced the cabinet, which was the place to deal with all important matters in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, and also the performance of the feudal ruling class's control over the central government to its peak.

Ganqing Palace

Ganqing Palace is the largest palace in the last three palaces, and the "fair and square" plaque of the emperor shunzhi's imperial calligraphy is hung here. The secret message in the secret storage system established by yongzheng emperor was hidden behind the plaque.

Ganqing Palace is the living room of the emperors before Emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty, and also the main bedroom of the emperors in the Forbidden City. After arriving in Yong Zhengdi, the emperors lived in hall of mental cultivation.

Speaking of Ganqing Palace, I'll tell you another story. During Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, because of the emperor's wanton persecution of ladies-in-waiting, they rebelled. One morning, two concubines and more than ten ladies-in-waiting grabbed Emperor Jiajing's neck with a rope while he was asleep, and it was close to success. However, due to their excessive tension, they tied the rope into a dead button, and one of the ladies-in-waiting saw something bad. More than a dozen ladies-in-waiting were executed in the year. This is the famous "Jiajing Palace Change".

Jiaotai Hall

Jiaotai Hall is the second hall of the last three palaces, and its architectural form is basically similar to that of Zhonghe Hall, but the scale is slightly smaller. In the Ming Dynasty, she was the queen's bedroom, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was the place where the queen accepted the salute on her birthday. In addition, the ancient copper pot dripping on the east side of the throne of Jiaotai Hall and the modern dzmz on the west side were the benchmarks of time in the palace and even in the whole city. Because the time of Shenwumen and Bell and Drum Tower is based on this.

Jiaotai Hall is also the place where twenty-five treasures are stored. The twenty-five treasures were made by Emperor Qianlong and symbolized the imperial power. There is also a story about the origin of the number twenty-five. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty in ancient China was the longest and had the largest number of generations. The Emperor Qianlong hoped that the Qing Dynasty could also have twenty-five generations, so he set the national seal as twenty-five. However, history played a joke on Emperor Qianlong. It only took ten generations for Qing Dynasty to enter the customs from Emperor Shunzhi, which was not what Emperor Qianlong imagined.

Kunning Palace

Kunning Palace is the third of the last three palaces. In the Ming Dynasty, it was the queen's main bedroom. In the Qing Dynasty, the second room in the East was set up as a bridal chamber for the emperor's wedding, and the fifth room in the West was changed into a shrine dedicated to Shamanism. The sacrificial ceremony was presided over by a shaman's wife, and the shaman's wife was served by a satisfied woman. It can be seen that the male mage in Huanzhugege was invented by Miss Qiong Yao herself, and her knowledge in this respect is obviously not as good as that of Mr. Jin Yong.

Shunzhi, Kangxi, Tongzhi, Guangxu and Puyi in Qing Dynasty all used the bridal chamber of Kunning Palace. Other emperors are useless because they are married in a hidden house.

Imperial Garden

After passing through the Palace of Kunning, you will come to the Imperial Garden. There are more than 21 pavilions, more than 161 ancient trees and two rockery pools in the Imperial Garden. Qin 'an Hall is the central building of the imperial garden, which was built by Emperor Jiajing in Ming Dynasty to worship Taoist gods.

Dui Xiushan is the tallest building in the courtyard, and there is a royal pavilion on the mountain, which is the place where the emperor climbed on the Double Ninth Festival. There are Qianqiu Pavilion and Wanshou Pavilion on both sides of the garden. In the south of the two pavilions, there is a nourishing lent and a snow porch. Nourishing lent is where Puyi learns English.

At the northern end of the imperial garden is Shunzhen Gate, where Emperor Jiaqing was assassinated. When you leave Shunzhen Gate, you will reach Shenwumen, the central axis of the Forbidden City, and it will end.

Dongliugong

Neidong Road is the same as Neixi Road, with Dongwusuo in the north and Dongliugong in the south. The East Sixth Palace includes Zhong Cui Palace, Chenggan Palace, Jingren Palace, Jingyang Palace, Yonghe Palace and Yanxi Palace.

Among them, the Empress Dowager Ci 'an lived in Zhongcui Palace. In addition, Yanxi Palace is also very famous, because the only western building in the Forbidden City is in Yanxi Palace, which is the crystal palace widely circulated among the people. Yanxi Palace was destroyed by lightning during Daoguang period, so the rulers of Qing Dynasty decided to build a palace that was not afraid of fire during Xuantong period, so a palace with white marble and glass as the main materials began to start construction. But when the project was halfway through, the Qing Dynasty perished and the whole project was forced to stop. Are you eager to see the western scenery in the Forbidden City, then go to the Forbidden City ... By the way, I forgot to tell you that Yanxi Palace is not open to the public yet, and you can't see it if you go.

From Dongliugong to the south, you can reach Yuqing Palace and Zhai Palace. Yuqing Palace is the palace of the Prince of Kangxi Dynasty, where reng, the Prince of Yongzheng Dynasty, lived. Qianlong gave way to Emperor Jiaqing, and he still lived in hall of mental cultivation. Emperor Jiaqing lived in Yuqing Palace. In addition, Emperor Puyi also studied in Yuqing Palace. The fasting palace is the place where the emperor fasted before offering sacrifices to heaven and earth. Generally, he stayed in the fasting palace for the first two days and stayed in the fasting palace in the Temple of Heaven or Ditan on the last day. When fasting, I don't drink alcohol, eat onions, garlic, leeks, onions (xie), pray, ignore the name of punishment, and don't go to bed, but I can't help eating meat.

Ningshou Palace

Emperor Qianlong swore that he would only be emperor for 61 years, and then he was transferred to the Prince. When he was over sixty, he set out to build a palace for his retirement. So he built the emperor's palace on the basis of Ningshou Palace. The whole palace group is also divided into two parts: the former dynasty and the latter bedroom, with strict layout and luxurious decoration. Among them, Ningshou Palace Garden is well known.

There is a famous Liubei Pavilion in Ningshou Palace Garden. On March 3 every year, the emperor and several ministers sat around the pavilion, put the glass on the water, walked with the water, and stopped in front of someone, who would drink all the wine in the glass and write a poem. Changyin Pavilion is the largest stage in the palace, located in the back bedroom of Ningshou Palace. He * * * is divided into three floors, and the bottom floor is 211 square meters. Mei Lanfang and Tan Xinpei, masters of Peking Opera, have performed here.

Zhenfeijing

When it comes to Zhenfeijing, I believe everyone is familiar with it. It is located at the northernmost part of Waidong Road and is the last stop to visit the Forbidden City.

Zhenfei was the beloved princess of Emperor Guangxu. After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi imprisoned Emperor Guangxu in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, and Zhenfei in a small courtyard next to Zhenfei Well. She ate the food of a servant, so she couldn't talk to people. On holidays, Empress Dowager Cixi sent eunuchs to reprimand her. In this way, Princess Zhen lived for three years. In 1911, Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing. Just the day before Empress Dowager Cixi cooperated with Emperor Guangxu to escape, she spread Princess Zhen to Yihe Xuan. She told Princess Zhen that foreigners would come in. If Princess Zhen was humiliated, she would lose all her royal face and it would be inconvenient to take Princess Zhen away. Princess Zhen argued that the emperor should stay in the capital. Cixi became angry and ordered people to throw Princess Zhen into the well. Princess Zhen shouted all the way, "Emperor, I will repay your kindness in the afterlife."

the year after princess Zhen died, cixi returned to Beijing from Xi' an. The body of Princess Zhen was fished out and buried in the graveyard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After the death of Empress Dowager Cixi, Zhenfei's sister, Jinfei, moved Zhenfei's tomb from the interior office to the chongling of Guangxu Emperor in the second year of the Republic of China. If you visit the Qing Xiling Mausoleum, don't forget to go to chongling's Princess Garden to see Zhenfei's tomb.

Zhenfei was not only in trouble before her death, but also in trouble after her death. Her grave was robbed several years later, which also led to a thrilling story of stealing Zhenfei's tomb at night.

West Sixth Palace

The West Sixth Palace includes Palace of Gathered Elegance, Yikun Palace, Yongshou Palace, Xianfu Palace, Changchun Palace and Taiji Hall.

Each of the East, West and Six Palaces is a square with a width of 51 meters and a depth of 51 meters, which adopts the pattern of one front, two compartments and two courtyards.

Changchun Palace in the Western Sixth Palace is famous for the murals of a Dream of Red Mansions. The murals were made in Guangxu period, when Empress Dowager Cixi lived here. The murals may have been painted at her behest.

Palace of Gathered Elegance is also worth seeing. He still keeps the original appearance of Empress Dowager Cixi on her 51th birthday. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi ignored the national crisis and squandered it, tearing down the Chuxiu Gate and connecting it with the Yikun Palace, making it a grand courtyard with luxurious decoration and impressive expenses.

hall of mental cultivation

During the Yongzheng period, the emperor's bedroom was moved from Ganqing Palace to hall of mental cultivation. Hall of mental cultivation is an I-shaped building, which is divided into front and back bedrooms, and the middle is connected by a hall. There are three front halls, one in the middle is the place where the emperor summoned his ministers to handle government affairs, and the other in the east is the place where "the curtain hangs over the politics"; In the west, there is a plaque written by yongzheng emperor, which is the place where the emperor summoned the minister of military aircraft.

The back hall of hall of mental cultivation is divided into five rooms, of which two rooms at the east and west ends have two dragon beds. The bed at the east end is exquisite and is said to be used by the emperor and queen, while the one at the west is slightly frugal and used by the emperor and concubines.

hall of mental cultivation's Xinuange has the famous Sanxi Hall, which is famous for its three copybooks. They are Wang Xizhi's Sunny Post in Fast Snow, Wang Xianzhi's Mid-Autumn Post and Wang Xun's Bo Yuan Post. Of the three posts, "A Sunny Post in Fast Snow" is in Taipei, and the other two posts are now in the Forbidden City.

hall of mental cultivation, Xiliu Palace and Xiwu House form Neixi Road, and there is another building on the west side of this road, which is called Waixi Road, and the Cining Palace where the Empress Dowager lives is located here. However, the buildings along this road are closed to the outside world. Fortunately, Waidong Road, where the Emperor Tai Shang lives, has been opened to the outside world, which can alleviate our regrets to some extent.

Zhong Hua Palace

The Royal Garden is flanked by East Five Institutes and West Five Institutes, which are kindergartens in the palace. Emperor Qianlong lived in two of the West Five Institutes, so it became a hidden mansion, so after Qianlong ascended the throne, it was converted into Zhong Hua Palace.

Zhong Hua Gongdong Road is the famous Shufangzhai. There is a stage in Shufangzhai, which is second only to Changyin Pavilion. Every year on the third day of the first month, Emperor Qianlong held a tea party here to entertain the ministers of civil and military affairs. It can be seen that this place can't be given to the little swallow to live in.

As for Shu Fangzhai, everyone can only listen to my theory on paper, because this place is closed to visitors, and he is a resting place for state leaders and foreign leaders when they visit the Forbidden City. I also wish the netizens who come to this page can sit in Shu Fang Zhai one day.