My 2021 edition of the Forbidden City stickers, the 17th volume of the serial "Looking at the Red Walls and Gold Tiles, Appreciating the Ming and Qing Palaces", has been generously read by many readers. Among them, some readers put forward some opinions and suggestions, and pointed out some fallacies. This revised edition is republished on the second quarter, adopting the opinions and suggestions of previous readers, enriching some content, correcting clerical errors, and updating and supplementing some pictures. Although I dare not say that all the fallacies have been corrected, most of them should have been corrected. Remember in detail the architectural art of ancient Chinese top palaces seen in the Ming and Qing palaces, some royal cultural relics exhibited in the Forbidden City, and the traces of royal life in the Qing palace, and also think of some stories and legends that happened in the Ming and Qing palaces. Readers", just want to share with readers. thanks.
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Since Qianqing Palace is the emperor's home, of course there are some housework to be done here. These housework should include couples fighting and discussing whether to have a second child, but these are not recorded in the official history. I don’t know if there are records in the daily life notes of the emperors of each dynasty kept in Huangshicheng, and they have not been made public. The official history records some banquets in the Qianqing Palace that are family affairs, that is, loved ones and friends inside go to the Qianqing Palace to eat. This is a family banquet, which is different from the state banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The most important family banquet in Qianqing Palace is the New Year's Eve dinner. The Royal New Year's Eve dinner is separate for men and women. On New Year's Eve, it is for women, and on the first day of junior high school, it is for men. During the New Year's Eve dinner, the emperor himself dined on the rostrum, the queen ate in the back row of the rostrum, and the others ate on both sides under the rostrum. Because this is a family banquet, they follow the common practice of urban and rural people. They also serve cold dishes first, followed by hot dishes, and a fruit plate. The emperor is rich, although it is a housework, but there are still rules for housework. Cold dishes are served in enamel bowls. In the Ming Dynasty, there was salted duck, and in the Qing Dynasty, there was blood sausage, reflecting the origin and origin of the emperor. Hot dishes are also served in enamel bowls. In the Ming Dynasty, there was stewed white duck with bird's nest, and in the Qing Dynasty, there was stewed pork with deer tendon. Bird's nest is a precious product that Zheng He developed for Zhu Di in Nanyang during his voyages to the West. It was not available in China before, and even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had never eaten it. The fruit plate is a large carved lacquer plate, with various seasonal fruits and candied fruits. In the Ming Dynasty, there were bergamot, and in the Qing Dynasty, there were apples. Of course, there are also small snacks. In the Ming Dynasty, there were duck stuffed buns, and in the Qing Dynasty, there were carrots dipped in miso. These dishes will give each person 40 flavors on the rostrum, and 30 flavors per person off the rostrum. By the way, there is also wine. In the Ming Dynasty, it was Shaoxing wine, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was kicking a dead cow or suffocating a donkey. Because the imperial dining room is near the Qianqing Palace, you can eat hot dishes at the banquet in the Qianqing Palace, unlike the Taihe Palace where you can only eat cold rice. Look at these meals, they are no different from what we eat, right? This is because the emperor's stomach is the same as ours, and his molars and throat are similar to ours. If he is really the son of heaven, then he should not eat the world's fireworks and only eat elixir, right?
In addition to Chinese New Year, there are also family banquets in Qianqing Palace during other festivals. These festivals include Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival; Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice and Emperor's Birthday. In addition to family banquets, the emperor also held separate banquets here to entertain heroes from all walks of life, including court officials' banquets, kings' banquets and clan banquets. These are all banquets according to the system. In the Qing Dynasty, an unprecedented banquet was held here, that is, the Banquet of Thousand Seniors hosted by Kangxi and Qianlong. The May 4th Youth Day in the fifty-second year of Kangxi (AD 1713), Xuan Ye's sixtieth birthday. At this time, it was the year of peace after the pacification of San Francisco and Galdan, and there were several consecutive years of abundant grain and sufficient food for the government and the people. Some troublesome old men went to Beijing to celebrate Kangxi's birthday on the Longevity Day. Of course, these old men were rich and rich landlords from all over the country. Kangxi heard that every day there were old men with white beards walking around outside the palace gate holding steamed buns with long white hair in their hands. Then send spies to inquire, saying that they are here to celebrate the emperor's birthday. Emperor Kangxi was very happy about this, so he made a decree to serve a meal in Changchun Garden of Xiyuan to invite all the old people to eat (read eggs). As the saying goes, "The life of seventy is rare since ancient times", so all the people Kangxi invited to banquets were old people over the age of sixty-five. First, they said that it was not easy for them to come to Beijing; second, it was uncertain whether they could come next time. By the way, officials over sixty-five years old in the court and retired veteran cadres in Beijing were also invited once, and a total of more than 2,000 people were invited the second time. This time it's not called the Banquet of Thousands of Seniors, but it's an unprecedented feast for the old man. In the 60th year of Kangxi (1821 A.D.), in order to celebrate the 60th year of his accession to the throne, Emperor Kangxi held another palace banquet for a thousand old men. The last time it was in Xiyuan, this time it was seriously in the palace, it was in this Qianqing Palace. This time, it was divided into Manchu and Han Dynasties, and it was also the second time. Kangxi wrote "The Poems of a Thousand Old Man's Banquet", which has since been called the Thousand Old Man's Banquet. In the Qianlong period, the world was more peaceful, and the officials and people were more prosperous. In the fifty years of Qianlong (AD 1785), Hongli wanted to learn from his grandfather to hold a feast for thousands of seniors, and it was in Qianqing Palace. Yuzi was the successful completion of "Siku Quanshu". This time, there are also elderly people over sixty-five years old, with a crowd of 3,000. In the sixty-first year of Qianlong (1796 A.D.), the "emperor of Fengtian Chengyun said": I am tired. Yong Yan (reading Yanyan), come up and play, your year name is Jiaqing. After Qianlong retired to the second line as a researcher, he held the last feast of thousands of seniors in the Qing Dynasty in the Taishang Palace. This is the largest one, and 5,000 old men are lucky enough to come to eat. I sat for a whole room in the Huangji Hall, but still couldn't sit down, and ended up sitting in the whole courtyard, and even sat outside the Ningshou Gate, with a total of 800 tables set up. They ate differently. Those above the provincial and ministerial levels in the hall and on the platform all ate hot pot, and there was a table for each person. Those at the bureau level in the yard and those at the county and regiment level outside the yard also eat hot pot. They still have the same dishes, but there are ten people at a table. Fortunately, each person has a bowl of hot rice with shredded pork, otherwise they would not be full at all. After the banquet, the dishes and chopsticks in the Taishang Palace were piled up all over the floor, and there was no leftovers, and the leftovers were taken home by the old men in their pockets. The old fathers of some ministers were also invited to this feast of thousands of elders, and the old Wangtou of Shanxi Wang Family Courtyard also participated. Among them, the oldest official may be Guo Zhongyue, a 104-year-old Jinshi from Fujian, the Imperial Academy. The oldest non-official person is Anhui Xiong Guopei, 106 years old, who was rewarded with the top six ranks after the banquet. Other non-official old men over the age of 90 all rewarded the seventh-rank Dingdai. Within a month after the banquet was over, Xiong Guopei led many elderly people to the Paradise to clean the house for Emperor Qianlong. In fact, if these old men eat vegetarian food and play Tai Chi quietly at home, they can still live for several years; Since then, the financial resources of the imperial court have become increasingly scarce, and they are unable to manage such a large-scale meal for thousands of people. Thirty years later, Emperor Daoguang, the grandson of Qianlong, held a mini banquet for the elderly in the third year of his ascension to the throne. It was in the Yulan Hall of the Summer Palace, and only fifteen old men were invited to the banquet, all of whom were officials from the Qing Council.
The Hou San Gong are also three halls, and the three halls are on the same platform. Look at the front eaves of the Qianqing Palace.
Looking back along the semi-enclosed side eaves corridor, you can see the Kunning Palace behind.
The front of the Housan Palace is Qianqing Palace, and the back one is Kunning Palace. Drying is the sky, Kun is the earth, and dryness is the sky and the earth is refreshing. You can also understand that there are no dark clouds and lightning in the sky, and there are no tigers, leopards and wolves on the ground. The ancients said that the emperor and the mother of the earth, since the emperor sleeps in the Qing Palace, the queen must sleep in the Kunning Palace. That's right, Zhu Di slept in Qianqing Palace, while his wife lived in Kunning Palace. Which lady? Zhu Di's queen was the daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang's general Xu Da. She died in the seventh year of Yongle and lived in the Kunning Palace in Nanjing. After the death of Empress Xu, Zhu Di never conferred the title of empress again, so there was no empress in Kunning Palace in Beijing during the Yongle period. After Zhu Di, the wives of the Ming emperors all lived in Kunning Palace, and it was Empress Fang who lived in Kunning Palace who rescued Emperor Jiajing during the Renyin Palace Incident.
At that time in the Ming Dynasty, the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace were in the shape of an "I" connected by a hall in the middle, and there was a round hall in the middle of the hall. Therefore, the Ming Palace is also known as "Three Palaces and Two Palaces". In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (AD 1557), the Forbidden City was struck by lightning and caused a fire. During the reconstruction, the corridors between the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace were rebuilt, and an independent square hall like the Zhonghe Hall in the first three halls was built to prevent the fire in the last three palaces. Camp, completed in the 41st year of Jiajing. Since then, the imperial palace has become "three halls and three palaces". This year, Emperor Jiajing originally wanted to build another outer city wall outside the inner city wall of Beijing. Because he had to rebuild several halls in the palace that had been burned by fire at the same time, he had insufficient financial resources, so he only built the southern outer city wall, which is Zuoanmen, Yongding Gate and You'anmen area. Take a look at the Jiaotai Hall newly built by Emperor Jiajing.
This Jiaotai Hall is one size smaller than the Zhonghe Hall of the first three halls, but it is the same shape as the Zhonghe Hall. It is a square hall with a width of three rooms, a structure of bucket arches and beams, and a yellow glazed tile single eaves and four corners with pointed roofs. The difference is that this Jiaotai Hall does not have a circle of eaves and corridors, and there are only open doors on all sides, four doors with six wipes, three crosses and six bowls with lattice flowers, and dragon and phoenix wood carvings with gold aprons. The second room is closed with blue brick sill walls and square sill windows. In the early Qing Dynasty, both Shunzhi and Kangxi rebuilt Jiaotai Hall. In the second year of Jiaqing (AD 1797), when Qianlong was still the Supreme Emperor, the Qianqing Palace was on fire, and the reconstruction of Qianqing Palace after the fire also included the Jiaotai Hall. What we see now is the Jiaotai Hall rebuilt in the second year of Jiaqing.
Look at the ridge brake of Jiaotai Hall, which is the same as that of Zhonghe Hall in front.
Look at the paintings on the crossbeams.
You can see that the painted seals on the upper and lower horizontal arches are different from those in the Hall of Zhonghe. Walking down from the Meridian Gate to enter the palace, this is the first time that the phoenix appears in the painted paintings of Hexi. The lower square draws a dragon with its heart, and draws a phoenix with its head on both sides; the upper square draws a phoenix with its heart, and draws a dragon with its head on both sides. Dragons and phoenixes are painted with powder and gilded, that is, mineral pigments are used to pile up the lines of dragons and phoenixes, and then gilded to form a very bas-relief effect. According to the rules, when the heads on both sides of Fangxin have a green background, the dragon or phoenix painted inside is descending, which is called "subduing the dragon and descending the phoenix"; Shengfeng". The colorful paintings on the crossbar are all reflected.
The floor of the hall is made of gold bricks. In the Ming Dynasty, there is a screen between the golden pillars and a throne on the floor in front of the screen. On the top is the smallpox of dragon and phoenix flat chess, and on the throne is a caisson with douba stick gold dragons and pearls.
There are couplets on the golden pillars on both sides of the board screen: "Eternal salty harmony, nourished by the rest of the day; Guan Suilin toe, the foundation of the king's transformation." "Eternal Xianhe" comes from "Book of Changes", which means the world will always be peaceful and the country is prosperous and the people are safe; "Tianxiu" comes from "Book", which means God's blessing. "Guanju" is a beautiful bird call, which comes from "Guanguan Jujiu, in the river continent. A fair lady, a gentleman likes to eat" in "The Book of Songs"; "Linzhi" is the foot of a unicorn, which is very good and does not kick people. , from "The Book of Songs" "Lin's toe, Zhenzhen son, Yu Xilinxi"; "Wang Hua" means the enlightenment of the emperor. Quanlian means to keep the world peaceful, and God can bestow wealth and security on the country; the emperor should govern the world with kindness.
This pair of couplets was inscribed by Qianlong, and it should be the same as the "Jiaotai Palace Inscription" on the board screen. The date of inscription on the board screen is "Qianlong Renchen", which is the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong (AD 1772). . A plaque of "inaction" is hung on the board screen. "Inaction" must be the concept of inaction in the "Tao Te Ching". This is Lao Tzu's warning to the monarch, saying that the monarch does not compete with the people, and does not act rashly in accordance with the will of the people, that is, "doing inaction will cure everything." This plaque was inscribed by Kangxi, and what we see now is a reprint by Hongli in the 62nd year of Qianlong. There was no sixty-two years in the Qianlong Dynasty, that is, the second year of Jiaqing (1797 A.D.). This is a plaque rebuilt when the Jiaotai Hall was rebuilt after the fire in the second year of Jiaqing.
On both sides of the throne are placed enamel fish tanks, enamel bowls, and gilt incense pavilions, and below is an enamel incense burner. The most conspicuous thing is that there are many golden pagodas on both sides and behind the throne, which are all relics of the Qing Dynasty. There are a total of twenty-five of these golden pagodas, called "Twenty-Five Treasures". Treasure: Fu Xi also; imperial imperial seal. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were seventeen treasures, and Jiajing added seven treasures, making a total of twenty-four treasures. The twenty-four treasures of the Ming Dynasty were hidden by the female officials of Sibao, and there was another Shangbao supervisor to enforce the etiquette of using treasures. The twenty-four treasures of the Ming Dynasty have disappeared. Although there are suspicious objects in the Forbidden City, they are not real objects. Now Jiaotai Palace is home to the twenty-five treasures of the Qing Dynasty. The golden-looking pagoda has a bright yellow satin cover with dragon patterns. Now it is not easy to open the satin cover, and no tourists know what is inside the satin cover. According to the official statement, the object inside this satin cover is called "Baoyu". After the cover is opened, there are a few frames of golden nanmu inside. On several shelves is a big golden nanmu box, and inside the big box is a small sandalwood box. In the innermost small box is a seal in the common saying "hand stamped", which is called "Yubao" in official language, which is the official seal. "Book of Changes" interpreted the number of Tianyan, saying that "the number of days is twenty and five". According to this, Qianlong selected the twenty-five official seals from the thirty-nine that were disordered in the past, representing the royal power and dignity of the imperial court. It is generally difficult for us to see ancient texts with these official seals. At most, we can see "Qianlong Yubi Zhibao", which is a private seal, and the corresponding official seal should be "Emperor's Treasure". Among the twenty-five treasures, there are two Manchu-Chinese bilingual "Emperor's Treasure" official seals, and one is sapphire, which is not commonly used. Another most commonly used one is the "Emperor's Treasure" Imperial Treasure of sandalwood, which is used for issuing edicts and so on. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually used their private seals, and it was very troublesome to use their official seals. To use the seal of the imperial treasure, the Qin Tianjian must first choose an auspicious day. When the auspicious day arrives, the leader of the Qin Tianjian will enter the Jiaotai Hall together with the chief eunuch of the Jiaotai Hall. The eunuchs of the Jiaotai Hall usually squat in the duty room under the foundation of the Jiaotai Hall.
They set up a pre-planned altar in the hall, and the offerings on the table were not meat dishes such as pig's head and sheep's feet, but vegetarian dishes such as apple steamed buns. Of course, good wine and high incense were also served. Then these people have to kneel down and kowtow to salute first, waiting for the auspicious time to come. As soon as the auspicious time came, they opened the satin cover, took out the imperial treasure and ink pad box from the box, and placed them on the altar. After setting it up, the eunuch went to the Qianqing Palace in front to ask the emperor to use the seal. When the emperor came over, he had to salute three sticks of incense to the imperial treasure first, then dipped the official seal in the ink pad, took three breaths, and stamped the edict vigorously to ensure that the seals were perfectly stitched. This is called a seal. After the seal was sealed, the emperor left with a wave of his hand. The rest of the work was to be cleaned up by the chief of the Qin Tianjian and the eunuchs of the Jiaotai Palace, and put the imperial treasure back into the box and cover it with a satin cover. When the imperial edict of the Qing Dynasty is exhibited in the Forbidden City, you may see the seal of "Emperor's Treasure" on the edict.
On the left hand of the throne in Jiaotai Hall, which is the location of Dongcijian, there is a wooden pavilion with a copper pot hourglass inside, which is used for timekeeping.
This was built in the tenth year of Qianlong's reign. It was originally in the Huangji Hall, but it was moved here after a fire in the second year of Jiaqing's reign. The self-ringing bells were already used in the palace in the Qing Dynasty. This copper pot drip-glass is a ritual vessel, and no water was added after it was moved. On the right hand side of the throne of Jiaotai Hall, there used to be a self-ringing bell of the Ming Dynasty, which was also destroyed in the fire in the second year of Jiaqing. It was rebuilt in the third year of Jiaqing according to the scale of the copper pot on the opposite side. In the Qing Dynasty, Jiaotai Hall was the time service center of Beijing. After the self-ringing bell here, the bells and drums of Shenwumen rang together, and then the bell and drum tower outside Di'anmen rang with "seven booms and clangs"; People all over the city are winding their clocks at home.
This self-ringing bell was made by the Qing Palace Building Office. It is covered with wood carvings and is very delicate. Oddly enough, the column frame of the grand chime reminded me of the bronze canopy in St. Peter's Basilica. It is one of the masterpieces of the famous Italian Baroque artist Bernini, one hundred and fifty years earlier than the big chime bell in Jiaotai Palace.
It was mentioned earlier that the emperor personally inspected the sacrificial texts at the Zhonghe Hall, and the corn kernels and nine-toothed rake had to be inspected in the Zhonghe Hall before going to Xiannongtan to plant the land. The grand ceremony for the queen's personal sacrifice is only the silkworm ceremony, but the queen can't go to the front hall, so she is suspected of interfering in politics. In the Jiaotai Hall, which is equivalent to the Hall of Central Harmony, the Empress reviewed the copy of the silkworm ceremony speech, and also checked the utensils. Every year in mid-spring, the emperor leads his ministers out of the Meridian Gate to Tiananmen Square to worship Shennong at the Xiannong Altar and plant one-third of his acre of land. Every March, the queen leads all the female relatives in the palace to go out of Shenwu Gate to Beihai Xiansan Altar to sacrifice to the God of Silkworms, which is called the ceremony of kissing silkworms. In addition, on major festivals such as the first day of the lunar new year and the winter solstice, as well as the emperor's birthday and longevity festival, all ministers will go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to congratulate. At this time, the female family members in the palace and the Fujin of the palace will go to the Jiaotai Hall to congratulate the queen sitting on the throne inside, especially on the queen's birthday and Qianqiu Festival. So you see, this queen is known as the mother of the world, but the queens of the Qing Dynasty did not show their mother's ceremony in the Kunning Palace, but in the Jiaotai Palace. Some people say that Jiaotai Hall is the place where the emperor and empress have sex, but it is not true. In the Ming Dynasty, this was the corridor between Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace. How can we be intimate? In the Qing Dynasty, it was impossible to live on a throne that was neither a kang nor a couch in front of the ancestors’ royal treasures, could it?
Go to the side of Jiaotai Hall.
You can see the Kunning Palace in the back. If you pay attention, you will find that there is a partition door in the middle of the east and west sides of Jiaotai Hall, and the two sides are closed by green brick walls. Moreover, since the Qianqing Palace, the platform foundations of the Housan Palace are no longer white marble handrails, but have been changed to yellow and green glazed brick walls.
Behind the Jiaotai Hall is the Kunning Palace. Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace are a pair of palaces. The name is taken from the "Tao Te Ching" that "the sky can be cleared when the sky is clear, and the earth can be calmed when the earth is gained." It is Qianqing Kunning. The Heavenly Emperor and Earth Mother lived in the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace respectively.
The shape of the Kunning Palace is similar to that of the Palace of Preserving Harmony, but it is much smaller. It is only seven rooms wide and three rooms deep, and there are eaves and corridors around it. The top is also a structure of brackets and beams, with yellow glazed tiles and double eaves on the roof of the hall, and seven ridge beasts; the Baohe Hall is on the top of the double eaves, with nine ridge beasts. The platform in front of Kunning Palace is much smaller than Baohe Hall, so the distance between it and Jiaotai Hall is very close.
The Kunning Palace in the Ming Dynasty was the dormitory of the empress of the dynasty. It was a very formal hall with open doors in the middle and warm pavilions between the east and west ends. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen finally wrote the edict in the Qianqing Palace, and gave each of the concubines a white silk. After receiving the white silk, Empress Zhou returned to the Kunning Palace to kill herself. After Shunzhi entered Beijing, the Kunning Palace was rebuilt in the twelfth year of Shunzhi, and the Kunning Palace was completely remodeled according to the style of the Qingning Palace, the main palace of the Shenyang Imperial Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, the gate of Kunning Palace was opened in Dongcijian, and the original four partition doors were changed to two board doors. The original partition windows were also changed into mullion hanging windows.
The most important thing is to transform the interior. The two rooms on the east side of the entrance are converted into sleeping halls, and the four rooms on the west side of the entrance are converted into sacrificial halls. The Manchus believe in shaman, which is a very ancient worship similar to Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism has a theory, but shamans don't; Zoroastrianism has gods, but shamans don't; so Zoroastrianism is a religion, but shamanism is not. Worshiping shamans used to be popular in the cold northern regions, at least north of the Great Wall, such as Mongolia, Jurchen, Eskimos, Siberia and northern Europe. The shaman we know is Tiao Dashen, which is a means for the shaman to communicate with the heavens. The shaman communicates with the heavens by dancing to the gods, and then can exorcise ghosts, heal illnesses, and summon souls and so on. The Qing emperor brought the shaman worship activities into the palace, but he knew that the shaman dance would not solve anything. The emperor used shaman worship to rule the people who worshiped shaman, just like the emperor put incense on the inscriptions of temples.
The sacrificial activities in Kunning Palace are actually shamans involved in the worship of gods. The gods sacrificed come from all corners of the country, including Buddha Sakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Guan Gong, the God of Changbai Mountain, Mongolian God, and Land God. bit. There are sacrifices every day and night in Kunning Palace, especially on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year. Opposite the entrance is a kitchen with three large pots, two for cooking meat and one for steaming cakes. Every night at twelve o'clock, Mrs. Shaman, a third-rank female official, drove two pigs who were still panting to enter the palace. She had to enter the palace from Shenwumen to Kunning Palace before the Yuquan Shanshui cart. In the Kunning Palace, there are ministers and security eunuchs who are sent to accompany the sacrifices to participate in the sacrifice. The first and fifteenth queens are usually there, but the emperor may not be there. The shaman dances to the big god while singing, which is called a congratulatory speech. The shaman dances, sings, and accompanies herself. It is very hard. Look at her musical instrument, which is called "waist bell".
After the speech, the shaman took a bowl of wine and poured it on the ear of the panting pig, and the pig slapped its ears, and the shaman said that God had heard it. Push the pig to the stove to kill it, boil the meat and steam the cake in white water, and it will be cooked in a short time. Each person is given a piece of meat and a plate of cakes, which is called "fenfu", and the meat is called "Zuo (pronounced as) meat". Everyone took out their knives to cut the piece of meat, and those with high skills could cut out paper-thin slices of fat and lean meat with skin. According to the rules, this meat should be eaten for free, but it would be boring. Everyone secretly brought salt, or wrapped the meat with a brown towel. The brown color is actually miso. Food for the court sacrifice is not allowed to be taken away. This group of ministers is the most pitiful. After eating this piece of meat, it is estimated that they will vomit within a month, so it is not the same group of ministers who participate in the court sacrifice every day. Unfinished meat after Xisi can be taken home in your pocket, and so is cake. When some people brought the meat home, they circulated it among the neighbors and tasted it. When the neighbors tasted it, it tasted very delicious. The neighbor went to Xisi Street to rent a shop, and then set up a stove to cook meat in a pot, and started the business of cooking white meat. This is the origin of Beijing's time-honored Shaguoju.
In the Ming Dynasty, Qianqing Palace was the emperor's bedroom, called "Zhenggong"; Kunning Palace was the queen's bedroom, called "Zhonggong". The emperor's wedding is in the main palace, and the wedding ceremony is also in the main palace. In the Qing Dynasty, after the Kunning Palace was first repaired, it was lived in by Emperor Shunzhi, and was soon abolished; the successor Empress Xiaohuizhang lived in the Kunning Palace. The first two empresses of Kangxi lived in Kunning Palace successively, namely, Empress Xiaochengren, the granddaughter of Sony, and Empress Xiaozhaoren, daughter of Ye Bilong; Live in Kunning Palace. After arriving in Yongzheng, even the emperor lived in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and it was even more impossible for the empress to live in the Kunning Palace, which became the new house for the wedding ceremony. The emperor's wedding is the most pilgrimage ceremony in the palace. The potential queen sits in Fengyu and has to walk along the central axis from the Meridian Gate to Kunning Palace section by section. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, only Shunzhi, Kangxi, Tongzhi, and Emperor Guangxu's Zhonggong Empress walked this road. The Kunning Palace has been used four times as a new house, each time for three days, and it has become a royal temple for sacrifices. Although the Qianqing Palace in the Qing Dynasty was still called the Zhenggong Palace, it became the emperor's office; and the so-called "Queens of the Zhonggong Palace" did not live in the Zhonggong Kunning Palace. The current Kunning Palace is arranged according to the appearance of the Qing Dynasty. The East Nuan Pavilion is the new house, and the west four rooms are the worship hall. In Manchu customs, the new house cannot be too far away from the gods, nor can it be too close to the gods, so there is an east room between the new house of Kunning Palace and the worship hall. Dongshaojian and Jinjian are a closed room, and a red carpet is laid under the south window. On the north side of the top room is the wedding kang, and on the north side of the farthest room is the wooden couch for living.
There are bright red curtains hanging on the wedding kang, and they are beaming. There are only a pair of cushions and cushions on the wooden couch in the far end, it must be that the emperor is sitting there, and the queen is sitting on the emperor's lap for daily living. The big quilt on the emperor's wedding kang was very beautiful, with pictures of a hundred sons embroidered on the brocade quilt. The earliest person to have a hundred sons in Chinese written records is "Wen Wang Baizi", and Wen Wang refers to Zhou Wen Wang Jichang. This text comes from "The Book of Songs·Da Ya·Si Qi". The original words say "Da Si (Nian Si) inherits the Huiyin, and then Bai Si Nan", which means that Ji Chang's wife Tai Si inherited the good name of her predecessors and gave birth to a hundred a son. This must be a very exaggerated statement, which violates the laws of nature. This is the originator of the current "rainbow fart". In fact, King Wen of Zhou had only twenty sons. The eldest son born to Tai Si died young, and the second son, Ji Fa, later became King Wu of Zhou. After King Wen, Chinese emperors of all dynasties prayed for more sons to benefit the continuation of Emperor Zuo. Therefore, there must be a hundred quilts in the royal wedding room. Now spread among the people, there are also a hundred quilts for marriage.
Look at the double happiness paper-cuts on the ceiling of the semi-enclosed eaves on both sides of the Kunning Palace.
Look at the gilded Panlong and seal ceilings on the eaves of Kunning Palace.
In the past, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a wooden screen wall on the platform outside the window of the East Nuan Pavilion of the Kunning Palace to prevent eunuchs and maids from spying on the emperor and queen's newlyweds. There is also a sundial on the platform outside the Kunning Palace, which is only for decoration, and no one lives there, and of course no one watches the time.
There is also such a platform on the other side of the platform, which is empty and has no capacity.
There is also a white marble base on the platform, which looks like a flagpole base, which may be related to worshiping gods.
Although it was rebuilt in the third year of Jiaqing, the corners and corners have decayed and fallen.
Like the first three palaces, the rear three palaces also have three courtyards. The Qianqing Palace and the side halls on both sides, the east and west verandahs and the Qianqing Gate are surrounded by the first entrance courtyard, which is the Qianqing Palace Square; the east and west side halls of the Kunning Palace also form the second entrance courtyard with the Qianqing Palace, which is the Housan Palace The Kunning Palace and the subsequent Kunning Gate form the third courtyard, which is the Kunning Gate Square.
In the small courtyard on the east side of Qianqing Palace, there is a hall called Hongde Hall. It was called Yongsu Hall in Ming Dynasty, and it was renamed Hongde Hall in Wanli of Ming Dynasty.
After the Jiaqing fire in the Qing Dynasty, it was rebuilt according to the Ming system. Yong, harmony, harmony; Su, respectful, respectful. Hongde, Hongwen Shangde. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor held private meetings with ministers here to avoid being too formal. In the Qing Dynasty, it was the emperor's lecture room, where he and the emperor's teachers lectured on Confucianism, Four Books and Five Classics. Especially those son emperors who enthroned in childhood must have an emperor teacher to teach him books. Although it is too late to read and break through thousands of volumes, you must have the text in your head and the book in your chest before you can go to government.
The hall in the small courtyard on the west side of Qianqing Palace is called Zhaoren Hall, which was rebuilt according to the Ming system after the Jiaqing fire in the Qing Dynasty. Zhaoren is also a manifestation of benevolence. There is no research on the function of this hall in Ming Dynasty. Before Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide at the end of Ming Dynasty, he gave his concubine a white silk to supervise her. He also summoned Princess Zhaoren to the Zhaoren Palace, to kill her. This is the ultimate use of this hall in the Ming Dynasty, which is extremely tragic. In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor used this hall as a place to collect books for private reading. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the collection of books in this hall was sorted out, and the fake and inferior editions were thrown out. The remaining precious and rare editions were compiled into the "Tianlu Linlang Bibliography", and a plaque titled "Tianlu Linlang" was hung in the room. After the fire in the second year of Jiaqing, the hall was reduced to ashes, and many rare books were lost. It was rebuilt in three years, and only more than 600 volumes were collected again, and the "Sequel to Tianlu Linlang" was recompiled.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were corridors connecting Hongde Hall and Zhaoren Hall from east to west of Qianqing Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, the corridor was changed into a wall, and an independent small courtyard was built, which is what we see now. Standing on the platform behind Qianqing Palace and looking at the small courtyard of Hongde Hall, the main hall inside is the top of the mountain with a single eaves, which is regular and correct. But the hut at the back is a rolling shed with a hard mountain top, which shows that the hut is very small.
There are also several small and well-known halls in the corridors of the Qianqing Palace. One of them is the South Study Room. The South Study Room is a verandah at the westernmost end of the South Verandah in the Qianqing Gate, which faces south and north. It is the one in the picture below with a hanging belt in front of the door.
There is nothing special about this verandah, and no one has verified how it was used in the Ming Dynasty. When Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty Xuanye was six years old, Emperor Shunzhi suddenly became seriously ill. Because the third son Xuanye had been immune to smallpox in his childhood, he made him the crown prince in his last edict, and ordered Sony, Sukesaha, Ye Bilong and Ao Worship the four ministers to assist the government. Xuanye ascended the throne and became Emperor Kangxi, and gradually understood the truth, but he was controlled by four assistant ministers and could not use it. Especially Oboi, not to mention monopolizing power, he has repeatedly abused power. In the sixth year of Kangxi's reign, Sony died of illness and was buried in the Suojia Tomb outside Xizhimen. Kangxi took the opportunity to jump out and climb into the Hall of Supreme Harmony to rule in person. Unexpectedly, this Oboi dared to murder Sukesaha ten days later, isn't this to be "side of the Qing emperor"? He also appointed himself and Ye Bilong a first-class duke without authorization. Although Kangxi attended classes in Hongde Hall when he was young, he opened the South Study Room as a self-study room. After class, he often wrestled with a few core guards and practiced kung fu, and thus privately identified a few caring and powerful guards. On May 16, the eighth year of Kangxi (1662 A.D.), Kangxi was sitting in the south study and writing, when he suddenly thought of Oboi's many bad deeds, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. It's unbearable to be born and unbearable to be cooked! He called the caring guards into the south study to accompany him in his self-study, and then ordered the eunuch Xuan Aobai to enter the palace to face the king. The eunuch led Oboi to the South Study Room, and as soon as he entered, Kangxi yelled, "This thief dares to see me with a sword, take it down!" Before Oboi could hear the dialect that Kangxi had learned from the guards of Southern Shaolin Temple in Fujian, he was knocked down and held down by several warriors behind the door. When he looked up on the ground and saw Kangxi's big riding boots in front of him, he shouted, "Your Majesty, what else is in my waist is not a sword, but a tickle". Kangxi said angrily, "How dare you talk back"? When Aobai heard this, he knew "it's over". Kangxi imprisoned Aobai without bail, and asked the ministers to draw up his thirty major crimes, please punish him. Kangxi pretended to reminisce about his old achievements, sentenced him to life in a lighter sentence, and killed all his cronies; in another case, all the famous titles of Ye Bilong were cut off, and the first-class duke was passed on to his son. In the second year, Kangxi restored Ye Bilong's reputation, accepted his daughter as a concubine, and was named the second queen in the later Jin Dynasty. From then on, Kangxi relaxed his chest, got rid of all the shackles (Nian Zhigu), and truly became the emperor. In the sixteenth year of Kangxi, during the period of the Ping San Francisco, the war situation was chaotic, and the emperor not only had a mess in his heart, but also in his hands. That's really "this worry has no way to get rid of it, so I lower my brows, but get on my heart". In order to avoid the shackles of cabinet officials, Kangxi selected several capable ministers and let them walk in the South Study Room. When there is something to do, these capable ministers can offer advice and suggestions to the emperor and draft an edict; when there is nothing to do, they can accompany the emperor to point out the country and promote writing, or just chat with the emperor. The confidential secretariat of the South Study Room was not abolished until the Guangxu period. In fact, when the Military Aircraft Office was established in Yongzheng after Kangxi, the South Study Room was basically abandoned.
Hongde Hall is the place where the son emperor studied. Kangxi set up the self-study room in the South Study Room. He also opened a school for the princes and hired teachers to teach. Kangxi's children's school was first set up in the Nanyu Hall next to the east of Qianqing Gate, and it was named Shangshufang. The advantage of putting it here is that one can go out of the window to check the classroom discipline at any time, and the other is to prevent the teacher from traveling thousands of miles in the inner palace to see the real king in the subtleties.
The boundary wall of the upper study room is the respect room of the Qing Palace, which was established in the Kangxi Dynasty and changed to the Palace Supervisor in the Yongzheng Dynasty. This is the Qing Palace Office Affairs Administration, which is the agency that manages the eunuchs in the palace.
On the west verandah of Qianqing Palace, there is Mao (Nian Mao) Qin Hall, where the Qing emperor collected calligraphy and paintings.
Maoqin means "Maoxueqin and diligent administration", which means to study hard every day to be in politics. "Maoqin" is often used in the study. Last year, the Forbidden City brought Su Shi's calligraphy and paintings collected by the Qing Palace to the Wenhua Palace for exhibition. There are also many calligraphic stones in the collection of the Qing Palace. Kangxi once privately expanded and compiled them, and the name is called "Maoqin Temple Fatie". He often took out the Fateh to play with, but left the carved stones in a hut far away. When New China sorted out the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and discovered these carved stones, most of them had been weathered and the handwriting was unclear. To say that there are so many ancient cultural relics ruined by the palaces of the past dynasties, the jade seal of Chuanguo has long been lost; Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection" was also lost by the palace. In addition to practicing calligraphy in the Maoqin Hall, the Qing emperor also approved the autumn chopping list sent by the ministers here, which is called "Gou Dao Yi". Whoever's name is ticked off by the emperor with a vermilion pen, the Ministry of Punishment will take him to Caishikou and eliminate them.
Take a look at the Rijing Gate in the east verandah of Qianqing Palace Square. This door is stomping up and down, not a door. You see there is no Danbi stone in the middle of the stomp, this is not the imperial road, the emperor does not go here, the emperor walks on the veranda. Every time the sun goes down in winter today, there are many people standing at the Rijing Gate facing the wall to the east. It turned out that the setting sun at this time projected the ridge beast on the ridge of the roof of Rijingmen onto the east wall, and those people were using cameras to collect the phantom shadow of the ridge beast on the wall.
The opposite of the east verandah of the Qianqing Palace and the Maoqin Hall is the Duanning Hall, which means dignified and dignified. The emperor's solemn clothes, hats, shoes and socks are all hung here, and the room is bright yellow.
The southernmost end of the East Verandah of Qianqing Palace is the imperial pharmacy, where the imperial doctors are on duty.
The imperial physicians are for the emperor and empress, and the imperial physicians are for other people in the palace. The imperial physicians sit in the outpatient department of the imperial hospital inside the Donghua Gate. The imperial doctor is of course a highly skilled person selected from the imperial hospital. If the emperor's favorite concubine is sick, the emperor will also ask the imperial doctor to see it. The imperial doctor had to prescribe a prescription after seeing the illness, and then the eunuch of the imperial pharmacy took the prescription and ran to the longevity pharmacy in the West Palace of Kunning Palace to get the medicine.
The small door next to the Shou Pharmacy, the drug delivery car enters the palace from the Shenwu Gate, and then walks along Xiyi Changjie to get here.
There was no imperial dining room in the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning, Guanglu Temple was in charge of cooking, and later the eunuchs of Qianqing Palace cooked for the emperor. In the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial dining room was located in the east corridor of Qianqing Palace. After Emperor Yongzheng moved to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he built an imperial dining room alone in the south of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The Imperial Dining Room of Qianqing Palace was moved to the outside of the east verandah of Baohe Hall, which is located in the west of Jianting Pavilion opposite the gate of the Treasure Hall, and it was called the Outer Imperial Dining Room. Now it is the Forbidden City restaurant. Because the Forbidden City is a top-level cultural relic, it is forbidden to light fire. In the past, there were no restaurants. After Mr. Shan Jixiang took office as the director of the Forbidden City, he walked in the palace and saw tourists eating the cold bread or frozen steamed buns they brought. It was very tragic. He fully exercised his power of compassion, and cooperated with relevant leaders of Dongcheng District to make suggestions and set up the Forbidden City restaurant that is now without open fire. Dean Shan was very pleased to see the tourists donating money and eating hot noodles in the restaurant of the Forbidden City.
There are many chefs in the outer imperial dining room, because they are the ones who cook when the emperor holds a big banquet. You know a big banquet, it can't be compared with the emperor's private meal. The names of the dishes at the banquet are very bluffing, but the taste is definitely not as good as cooking for the emperor alone. Besides, you don't go to the emperor's banquet to eat the dishes, but to appreciate the names of the dishes. The emperor eats alone, and eats a large table alone. There are groups of delicacies of mountains and seas, pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. Occasionally, when the emperor was having a meal, a minister came to play something. The emperor heard that the minister's words were inconsistent, and when he looked up, it turned out that he was watching the dinner table and swallowing. At this time, the emperor will let the ministers eat some together, but the ministers can only eat standing up, and they can only eat the dishes that the emperor has touched. Among the Qing emperors, Yongzheng had the smallest appetite, and he often only drank porridge and pickles. Qianlong had the biggest appetite. He was rich, and he always ate at a big table, and rewarded people who couldn't eat. Now some self-proclaimed descendants of imperial chefs open restaurants, I guess they are the descendants of the chefs of this outer imperial kitchen, anyway, Beihai Fangshan is. The dishes made by the heirs of the Imperial Cuisine are very dignified, and after you taste them, you will silently say "let's save them for the emperor to eat". The emperor's festive banquet is roughly equivalent to the state banquet in the banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People today. The banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People is now open to the public. One month before the Spring Festival, many enterprises and institutions hold annual dinners in the banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People. That big banquet hall can hold almost 400 tables, so there are nearly 4,000 people eating a mock state banquet. I have also eaten such a dinner for enterprises and institutions, and it is definitely not as delicious as the big dish that Premier Zhou invited Nixon to dinner. Premier Zhou often serves Huaiyang cuisine when entertaining guests. Although he is originally from Shaoxing, he is from Huai'an and is proficient in Huaiyang cuisine. Therefore, the top Huaiyang cuisine can be served at the state banquet in the Great Hall of the People.
There are also side halls on the east and west sides of Kunning Palace, probably because the side halls have not been used much since Kunning Palace became a place of worship, so they have no proper names, they are called Dongnuan Hall and Xinuan Hall. Look at the small courtyard of Xinuan Temple, which is the same as the small courtyard of Zhaoren Hall on the west side of Qianqing Palace.
Standing on the back platform of Kunning Palace and looking at the small courtyard of Xinuan Temple, there is actually a chimney behind the main hall inside. This reminds me of the chimney behind Qingning Palace in Shenyang Imperial Palace.
Turning around, I saw that there was a stove hole under the chimney.
Is this the boiler room of the Housangong? Manchu people sleep on the kang, and this boiler room should be built in the Qing Dynasty. How did the royal family of the Ming Dynasty keep warm in winter? Zhu's family is from the south, and they should use braziers to keep warm in winter. However, Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace are very large, and the horsepower of the brazier is estimated to be limited. Therefore, this boiler room may have existed in the Ming Dynasty, and there is no textual research, so it is impossible to guess. Anyway, this boiler room must be heating the Housan Palace, and there must be more than one boiler room in the Forbidden City, and the main hall should be heated by floor heating.
After stepping off the handrail on the platform behind the Kunning Palace, you are facing the Kunning Gate.
To the north of Kunning Palace and south of Kunning Gate is Kunning Gate Square. This square is small and also a strip. Compared with Qianqingmen Square, this Kunningmen Square is not only narrower, but also shorter. However, similar to the east and west sides of Qianqingmen Square, there are also two buildings on the east and west sides of Kunning Gate. Look at the Kunning West Courtyard to the west.
There are verandas on both sides of the Kunning Gate, and the West Courtyard of Kunning is a small courtyard in front of the West Veranda. Go into the small courtyard and see that the verandahs on both sides of Kunning Gate must face south. The verandah on the west side is called Jingyu (Nianqi) Zhai.
The verandah on the east side is simply called the East Banfang, and there is also a small courtyard in front, which is of course the Kunning East Courtyard.
The verandah in the east courtyard of Kunning used to store the tea of the Qing emperors, that is, various tribute teas. Look at the sign in front of the door, it is still a teahouse.
Walking to the Kunning Gate, the Housan Palace is considered to have come to an end. Out of the Kunning Gate is the Imperial Garden.
When the sky is dark at dusk, standing on the square of Qianqing Palace, you will find that this hall is very eerie.
Even the usually shining golden cauldrons on the platform have lost their refreshing golden light.
Such a day must be quite uncomfortable for the emperor, so no matter how many of the emperor's confidantes you are, it is best not to come to the emperor at this time to send a note to the emperor, because this kind of day is also the emperor's "killing and arson day" ".
If it was a clear and clear day at sunset, the hall would look golden.
At this time, there will be passionate tourists disguised as princesses standing in the square, and professionals will come and take pictures of them for a fee.
After filming, they all walked into the shadows of the side porch.
It was dusk in the corridor of the main hall.
Of course, the eaves are also full of golden light.
The cauldron is no longer gloomy.
The small golden hall of Jiangshan Sheji alternates between light and dark.
Day to go also.
The eaves are wrong, the pillars are falling, and the palace yard is flickering in the dusk. There is no smoke in the furnace, and there are no immortals in the palace. After a hundred years of emperor, the people of Sri Lanka have passed away.
Evening is still evening, and Ni is still Ni, the ancient palace is rare for today's guests. White jade railings, golden tiles, carved dragon thrones, painted phoenixes and painted squares, ho ho ho ho.
Play a song "The Hairpin Head Phoenix" for self-entertainment.
(to be continued)
