Next I will talk about three topics, namely the construction, value and burning of the Old Summer Palace.

Now let’s talk about the first question about the construction of the Old Summer Palace. Everyone knows that after the Manchu emperor moved the capital to Beijing, he was very unsuitable to Beijing’s humanities, geography, ethnicity, climate and other conditions. Dorgon once said, “Beijing has three seasons: spring, autumn and winter.

It can still be stopped, but in the summer months, the heat is unbearable."

Let’s just say that the climate in Beijing is okay in spring, autumn and winter, but it’s too hot in summer. Because the Manchu emperor is outside the Great Wall, he is not afraid of the cold in winter. But Beijing is so hot in summer that he can’t stand it, so Dorgon decided to build a karaoke outside the Great Wall.

In order to escape the summer heat and go hunting, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing for spring and autumn hunting and to escape the summer heat, so they overhauled royal gardens in Beijing and the Gyeonggi region.

The Kangxi Dynasty built Changchun Garden, Summer Resort and Mulan Paddock. The Yongzheng and Qianlong Dynasties built Changchun Garden, which later became the Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The Old Summer Palace included three gardens, namely Old Summer Palace, Changchun Garden and Wanchun Garden, and was later renamed Qichun.

garden.

The Old Summer Palace was first built in 1709, the 48th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. Emperor Kangxi gave an abandoned garden originally owned by a relative of the Ming Dynasty emperor to Prince Yong.

The name was given by Emperor Kangxi and was called "Yuanming".

After Kangxi's death, Kangxi often stayed in Changchun Garden, where the empress dowager mainly lived.

Therefore, Yongzheng lived in the Old Summer Palace for a long time. Starting from the Yongzheng Dynasty, the Old Summer Palace was built on a large scale. The Old Summer Palace is located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing, between the Summer Palace and today's Tsinghua University.

Surrounded by 20 miles, the Old Summer Palace is the largest of the three gardens.

The Grand Palace Gate and the Second Palace Gate of the Old Summer Palace, and further inside is the Zhengda Guangming Hall. Outside the Zhengda Guangming Hall are the offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Clan's Mansion, the Military Aircraft Department, the Cabinet, the Sixth Ministry, the Supervisory Office, the Lifan Yuan, etc.

It is equivalent to a royal palace.

The Zhengda Guangming Hall is the main palace of the Old Summer Palace, equivalent to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Qianqing in the Forbidden City. The emperor held court meetings and listened to government affairs in the Zhengda Guangming Hall.

Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor met with princes and ministers in the Zhengda Guangming Hall, met with princes from Mongolia, and also met with leaders of the Hui tribe.

Next to the Zhengda Guangming Hall is an important palace called the "Qinzheng Qinxian Hall", referred to as the "Qinzheng Hall".

This palace is very important. There is a plaque in the palace, written in Yongzheng's handwriting, with three words, "It is difficult for you."

Emperor Qianlong gave a new interpretation to his father's three words, "It is difficult to be an emperor". Qianlong said, "It is difficult to be an emperor, it is not easy to be a minister." It means that it is difficult to be an emperor and it is not easy to be a minister. Qianlong also elaborated

Regarding the relationship between starting a business and defending the city, Qianlong said, "It is difficult to create a cause that brings chaos, but it is not easy to maintain the established foundation."

It is difficult to maintain success and difficult to start a business. Which of the two is the most difficult?

Some people emphasize that it is difficult to start a business, while others emphasize that it is difficult to maintain success. Qianlong meant that it is difficult to start a business and it is also difficult to maintain success.

What did the Qing emperor do in this palace?

There are three sentences recorded in the literature, which are called "Reading the memorials, summoning the ministers and workers, the pavilion begins to retreat at noon", which means that the memorials of the ministers are reviewed here, and the ministers are received to discuss state affairs. "The pavilion begins to retreat at noon", which means it does not start until noon.

Resigning from the court, so it is called the Hall of Qinzheng and Qinxian, which highlights two meanings. The first is to be diligent in government and not to be lazy in government. The second is to be close to virtuous ministers and not to be close to villains.

There are 48 scenic spots in the Old Summer Palace. One of the important scenic spots is called "High Mountains and Long Waters". There is an open space in front of "High Mountains and Long Waters".

Every year around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor met here with princes, princes, ministers, Mongolian princes, etc.

The night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival. In front of the long hall with mountains and rivers, a lamp holder is erected. This lamp is more than six feet high, about twenty meters high. It is hung with lanterns. The whole front of the hall is bright. Here

There are shooting competitions, dragon and lion dances, equestrian performances and other acrobatics.

There is a record in the archives that once Emperor Qianlong celebrated the fifteenth day of the first lunar month here, 994 large and small firecrackers were set off in one day.

There is also an important temple called "Wanfang Anhe", "Wan" is the word "Wan" in the word "Wan", that is, the shape of this temple is like the word "Wan". This temple is in the water, and the foundation is completely laid in the water.

It is the only example in the history of Chinese architecture to build a ten thousand-shaped palace with water on all sides.

There is none in front of it, and there is none behind it.

Yongzheng met with his ministers here, discussed state affairs, and watched the fish swimming in the lake.

Then there is Tongyuan Garden, which is the theater in the Old Summer Palace. This theater is very important.

Every year around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor would listen to a play here and invite princes, princesses, concubines from the harem, princes, nobles and some court ministers to perform the play for ten days. During the heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong, especially the reign of Qianlong, this place reflected the

There was singing and dancing, and then there was Fuhai, which was very large.

An important feature of the Old Summer Palace is that the water surface is wide, there are islands in the water, and there are buildings on the islands. In terms of architecture, there are gardens, water, buildings, and garden landscapes blended together. In the middle of Fuhai, there is a platform called Pengdao Yaotai, which is modeled after Li Sixun's one.

The artistic conception builds a heaven and earth.

Later, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, especially Qianlong, felt that the scale of the Old Summer Palace was not enough, so they expanded it to the northeast and became the Changchun Garden.

Qianlong went to the south and visited Jiangnan six times. He ordered some craftsmen to depict the scenic spots in Jiangnan and imitate them in the Old Summer Palace and the Changchun Garden.

One of the great features of Changchun Garden architecture is the Western-style building.

This is like no other garden. Emperor Qianlong asked Castiglione, Wang Shicheng, etc. to design it.

According to the architectural characteristics of the Italian Renaissance era in Europe, the Changchun Garden in the Old Summer Palace was designed as a Western-style building.