My 2021 version of the Palace Museum cover post, serialized as "Viewing Red Walls and Golden Tiles, Appreciating Ming and Qing Imperial Palaces" with seventeen pieces, has received many readers' generous reading. Some readers have put forward some opinions and suggestions, pointing out some fallacies. This revised version has been reissued, incorporating the opinions and suggestions of previous readers, enriching some content, correcting typos, and updating and supplementing some images. Although I dare not say that I have corrected all the fallacies, most of them have been corrected. Detailed appreciation of the top ancient Chinese palace architectural art seen in the Ming and Qing imperial palaces, some royal cultural relics exhibited in the Forbidden City, and traces of royal life in the Qing palace. It is also associated with some stories and legends that occurred in the Ming and Qing imperial palaces, and I dare not say "to entertain readers", but I just hope to share them with readers. thank you.

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Last time, it was said that Qianlong built a nursing home, Ningshou Palace, on Waichao East Road after returning to power. Because in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there had never been a monarch who returned to power before him, and both reigned by death, Qianlong was the first and only emperor of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In history, only Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, and Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, were the emperors who continued to abdicate. The abdication of Emperor Chaizong in the Later Zhou Dynasty did not count towards the abdication of Zhao Kuangyin and Yao, Shun, and Yu, as they were all dynastic changes. But the empresses are different. The empresses went to the tomb first to wait for the emperor. But there are also many who have died, and she is still tough. Retired empresses often appear, and after retirement, they are promoted to become Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager is the mother of the current emperor, and of course she should have a good house to live in. The legitimate empress lived in the main hall of Kunning Palace, while in the Qing Dynasty she lived in the East or West Six Palaces. As the Empress Dowager, she moved from her former residence to her current residence. According to the law of going up in the east and down in the west, the nursing home of the Supreme Emperor is located on the East Road outside the Inner Court, while the nursing home of the Empress Dowager is built on the West Road outside the Inner Court. I'm just joking, actually there was a nursing home for the Empress Dowager first.

This building is located outside Longzong Gate, roughly corresponding to the location of Ningshou Palace outside Jingyun Gate, slightly to the south. On the palace wall diagonally opposite the Longzong Gate, there are three glazed doors that follow the wall. This is the left gate of Yongkang.

After entering, there is a square, and the west end opposite the square is the right gate of Yongkang, which is closed. There is the Cining Gate on the north side of the square.

The architectural form of the Cining Gate is basically the same as that of the Qianqing Gate in the Later Three Palaces. In a different place, on both sides of the imperial road in the middle, there are a pair of gilded bronze lions in front of the Qianqing Gate, and here is a pair of gilded Luduan, just like in front of the Tianyi Gate in the Imperial Garden. The Qianqing Gate Imperial Road is the Yunlong Dan Emperor Stone, and here is the Dragon and Phoenix Dan Wall. On the eaves of the Qianqing Gate are painted double dragons and seals, and here are the dragon and phoenix seals.

The Cining Gate is the main entrance of the Cining Palace, which was the Renshou Palace in the early Ming Dynasty. In the fifteenth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1536 AD), Renshou Palace was transformed into Cining Palace, and there was a reconstruction during the Wanli period.

Entering the Cining Gate, there is a spacious platform leading directly to the main hall of the Cining Palace. In front of the Cining Palace is a spacious square in front of the hall.

The Cining Palace has a width of seven rooms and a depth of three rooms. Five doors are opened in the open, secondary, and slightly open rooms on the front, with each room having a threshold wall and a partition window. On the partition doors and windows, there are double intersecting four lotus lattice flowers, which are one level inferior to the three intersecting six lotus flowers in the palace. Above is the arch of wooden architecture lifting beam, the yellow glazed tile with double eaves rests on the top of the mountain, and there are nine roof figures, which are quite high in specification. There are eaves corridors in front and behind, and the eaves and beams are painted with overlapping double dragons, double phoenixes, and seals. There is a five foot high blue brick platform below, a wide white stone platform in front of the hall, and a ring of White Marble handrails. On the front of the platform, there are three roads to go to the throne, the middle road has Danwei Stone, and on the side of the platform, there are White Marble handrails. The plaques of the Cining Palace are still old, and what sets them apart from other palace plaques is that they are written in three languages: Manchu, Mongolian, and Han. After reading that Chinese character for a while, it turned out to be "Cining Palace", which is really impressive in seal script. Look at the decorations on the platform.

Everyone knows the four gilded cauldron furnaces, and there is a sundial on the exposed pedestal to the east, which everyone also knows. On the exposed Chen throne to the west, there is a bronze lunar dial that some people may not recognize.

There are courtyard walls on both sides of this main hall, with hanging flower gates on the walls. Passing through the hanging flower gates leads to the backyard. The main hall and the back hall are on the same pedestal.

The back hall has a width of five rooms and a depth of two rooms. Each of the five rooms on the front has four six plastered partition doors, with double intersecting four lotus lattice flowers and gilded Ruyi patterned skirts. Above is the arch of wooden architecture lifting beam structure. The yellow glazed tile with a single eave rests on the top of the mountain. There are seven roof figures, which are lower than the main hall, the Cining Palace. The White Marble exposure seat on the platform is very beautiful.

There are east and west ear rooms in the back hall. Unlike the Six Palaces of the East and West, there are no side halls on either side of the main hall and the back hall here. Instead, they are surrounded by a circle of halls, which is higher in level than the Six Palaces of the East and West, similar to the Three Palaces of the Back. The base of the corridor is as high as the corridor between the Cining Gate and the Cining Palace.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the emperor was very cruel, and the noble concubines of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were all buried; One noble consort and four concubines of Emperor Hongxi, Zhu Gaozhi, were also buried, leaving behind Empress Zhang. Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji, who succeeded him, honored her as the Empress Dowager and lived in the Qingning Palace. Empress Zhang's son, Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji, was even more cruel, and a noble consort with nine concubines and ten others was buried. When Zhu Zhanji collapsed, Empress Zhang became the Empress Dowager, the first Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty, and moved into the predecessor Renshou Palace of the Cining Palace. Empress Zhu Zhanji's grandson became the Empress Dowager and lived in the Qingning Palace on the East Road. Empress Zhang lived in Renshou Palace until her grandson, Emperor Yingzong of Ming, passed away during the reign of Zhu Qizhen. At that time, the Renshou Hall in Renshou Palace was quite large, and there was also a Great Hall of Virtue in front of it. There is a poem praising that "both the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace shine brightly, and the Great Virtue shines brightly in the Renshou Palace". It can be seen that the scale of this hall is second only to the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace, and the Great Virtue Palace is equivalent to the Qianqing Palace and the Renshou Palace is equivalent to the Kunning Palace. However, Zhu Di did not initially build the Renshou Palace to accommodate the Empress Dowager, as he did not have a place for her to live at that time. The Renshou Palace was originally built for the worship of Buddha, and there are many Buddha statues enshrined in the Great Good Hall, all of which are passed down from the Yuan Dynasty imperial palace.

The last political achievement of Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was to abolish the system of imperial concubines being buried. After the death of Zhu Qizhen, Empress Qian became the Empress Dowager and lived in the Qingning Palace. Zhou Guifei of Zhu Qizhen was the birth mother of Zhu Jianshen, the reigning Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty. She was also granted the title of Empress Dowager and moved into the Renshou Palace by Zhu Jianshen. Zhu Jianshen gave his legitimate mother Empress Qian the emblem "Empress Dowager Ciyi" in order to honor her two palaces. Empress Qian became the first Empress Dowager in the Ming Dynasty to have a badge. Zhu Qiyu, the younger brother of Zhu Qizhen, served as a Ming Dynasty emperor during his northern hunting period in Zhu Qizhen after the Civil Engineering Rebellion, and his Tang Guifei was also buried. Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen's Wan Guifei died before the emperor, and shortly after her death, Zhu Jianshen also passed away. Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youbang practiced monogamy without any noble concubines. His wife Empress Zhang was honored as Empress Dowager by Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao and moved into the Renshou Palace.

Zhu Houzhao had no children, and his cousin Zhu Houcong took over as Emperor Jiajing without conferring a noble consort. Emperor Jiajing arranged for his sister-in-law, Empress Xia of Zhu Houzhao, to live in the Xiaosangong behind the Qingning Palace. Not long after, the Qingning Palace caught fire, and Emperor Jiajing moved Empress Xia and her cousin's concubines to Renshou Palace and Empress Zhang's residence. The Qingning Palace was rebuilt after the fire, and Emperor Jiajing moved his mother Empress Dowager Jiang to live in the newly built Qingning Palace. Coincidentally, as soon as the Qingning Palace was built, the Renshou Palace caught fire. Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Xia had to move elsewhere. The fire site of Renshou Palace was abandoned for ten years. Emperor Jiajing deliberately refused to rebuild it, so that his cousin's mother, Empress Zhang, could not live as well as his mother. In the fifteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1536 AD), a new palace was rebuilt on the ruins of Renshou Palace to form the Cining Palace, which was specifically designated as the Empress Dowager's Palace. Afterwards, the Cining Palace became the exclusive residence of the former Empress Dowager. The Cining Palace was completed in the 17th year of the Jiajing reign, and Empress Dowager Jiang moved in. Afterwards, Emperor Jiajing transformed the Qingning Palace into the Ciqing Palace, which served as the exclusive residence for the Empress Dowager. After its completion in the 19th year of the Jiajing reign, Empress Dowager Zhang moved in. As a result, neither of these two Empresses Dowagers had a good meal, and Empress Dowager Jiang passed away after living in the Cining Palace for six months; Empress Dowager Zhang also passed away six months after moving into the Ciqing Palace. The Qingning Palace and the renovated Ciqing Palace are now gone, possibly in the area around the present-day Ningshou Palace.

Zhu Zaiyuan, the son of Emperor Jiajing, served as Emperor Longqing of Emperor Mu of the Ming Dynasty for six years. He carried out some reforms and opening up to achieve stability and unity in the border areas for the sake of the emperor's humility. After the death of Emperor Longqing, the second Empress Chen became the Empress Dowager and moved into the Ciqing Palace; Crown Prince Zhu Yijun's birth mother, Consort Li, was also granted the title of Empress Dowager. When Zhu Yijun first became emperor, he was still young. Although he didn't need adults to urinate, he still had his mother coax him to sleep. Therefore, at the beginning, Empress Dowager Li lived in the Qianqing Palace to take care of her children. It was not until the sixth year of the Wanli reign (1578 AD) after Zhu Yijun's marriage that Empress Dowager Li moved to the Cining Palace to live. Empress Dowager Li was very strict with Zhu Yijun, but there seemed to be some negligence in taking care of him, which led to Zhu Yijun suffering from polio. Due to inconvenient walking, Zhu Yijun rarely went to court and was criticized by later generations for his neglect of politics. Now it seems that the patient Zhu Yijun has done a good job of treating Emperor Wanli. Empress Dowager Li came from a humble background and, in order to establish her authority, claimed to be the incarnation of the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva. She built a temple in the west of Beijing to worship the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva, called Cishou Temple, and built a tower called Yong'an Shou Pagoda in the temple. This temple is now extinct, and the tower is still there. It is the Linglong Pagoda on Linglong Road. I have a short article about this tower called "Linglong Temple on Linglong Road, Linglong Pagoda in Linglong Temple". Empress Dowager Li also built a riverside pavilion on the pond in the garden in front of the Cining Palace, stating that there are nine lotus flowers blooming in the pond.

When Emperor Wanli died, his empress was no longer around for many years. Finally, Empress Zheng moved into the Cining Palace, and during the Tianqi period, she moved to the Renshou Palace. She passed away during the Chongzhen period and was buried in the tomb of Empress Zheng, which is not far from the tomb of Empress Wan. It is the largest tomb of Empress Zheng alone in the Thirteen Tombs. After Emperor Wanli, the short-lived Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo passed away in the Red Maru case. His original wife passed away early, as did Prince Zhu You's mother Wang Cairen and Zhu You's mother Liu Shunu. Zhu Youxiao ascended to the throne of Emperor Tianqi, and Zhang Yan, the first beautiful woman in the first year of the Tianqi draft, was registered as the empress. Zhu Youxiao had no son, and when she was critically ill, Empress Zhang strongly advocated to pass on the throne to her younger brother Zhu Youjian, in order to prevent Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family from conspiring to forge the crown prince's usurpation. After the death of Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao, his Empress Zhang moved into the Ciqing Palace. Although Zhu Youjian succeeded to the throne of Chongzhen, he ultimately lost the Ming Dynasty throne. Before Chongzhen committed suicide, in addition to sweeping away all the women in the harem, Empress Zhang also committed suicide in the palace. After Shunzhi entered Beijing, Empress Zhang was buried in the Mingde Mausoleum of Zhu Youxiao, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty.

The first Empress Dowager to live in the Cining Palace during the Qing Dynasty was Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of Shunzhi. The Empress Dowager of Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty was Empress Xiaoduanwen Zhezhe, the Left First Class Consort was Empress Guanju Palace Chen Consort Hai Lanzhu, and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was the Right Second Class Consort Yongfu Palace Zhuang Consort at that time. When Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang lived in the Cining Palace, the front hall was the hall for holding celebrations and no one lived there. The back hall is a sleeping palace, which was later transformed into a large Buddha hall by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang during the Kangxi period, specifically dedicated to Buddha worship. The dormitory of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang is gone, and she said she wants to live in the narrow southeast palace. As a result, Emperor Kangxi had to build a new dormitory for her grandmother outside the east wall, and the Empress Dowager repeatedly called it "good". There is a small door on the east side of the Cining Gate. Inside the small door is the newly built Cining Palace for Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang by Emperor Kangxi, which is currently closed. This is the small door taken by the two photographers in the picture below. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang certainly did not walk through this small gate, she walked through the main gate of the Cining Palace.

I lay on the ground and looked inside through the crack in the door, and now it seems like an office.

After the death of Xiaozhuang, Kangxi issued an order to move the entire dormitory outside the Cining Palace to the Qing Zhaoling Mausoleum for the burial of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. The rear hall of the Cining Palace has been transformed into a large Buddha hall, which is of course not easy to live in. After the death of Yin Zhen in the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735 AD), Qianlong began to build the Shoukang Palace on the west side of the Cining Palace to accommodate the Empress Dowager, and then proceeded to rebuild the Cining Palace. In the 36th year of Qianlong's reign (1771 AD), in order to celebrate the 80th birthday of his mother Chongqing Empress Dowager, Brother Hongli changed the single eaved Xieshan Peak in the main hall of the Cining Palace into a double eaved peak, which is exactly what it is now. To the north of the rear hall of the Cining Palace is the West Three Houses, which used to be the nursing home of former imperial concubines. Now it is a cultural relic restoration factory of the Forbidden City.

The Cining Palace is a place with a lot of stories. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di built the Renshou Palace to enshrine Buddha statues inherited from the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Jiajing of Ming Dynasty created the Cining Palace as the empress dowager's palace in order to fight for the treatment of Empress dowager his mother Jiang. Empress Dowager Li, the mother of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun, moved from the Qianqing Palace to the Cining Palace in order to create a theory of the incarnation of the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva for herself. Empress Dowager Qingxiaozhuang converted the Cining Palace back into a Buddhist temple and moved herself to a small house outside the wall. In order to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager his mother Chongqing, Qianlong upgraded the Cining Palace and changed the single eaves roof to double eaves. The building level of the Cining Palace reached the peak. At the beginning of the Qianlong Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty, Shoukang Palace became the residence of the former empress, also known as the Empress Dowager's Palace.

The current Cining Palace is the sculpture museum of the Forbidden City, exhibiting many Buddha statues and maintaining the meaning of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang offering sacrifices to the Buddha. However, the ceremonial furnishings of the Empress Dowager in the front hall are all gone, just the noble throne. Take a look at the Buddha statue, a collection from the Forbidden City.

Three stone carvings, with Buddha in the middle and Bodhisattva on both sides. All of them were from the Northern Qi period, which was during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, over 500 AD.

The "Ren De Da Long" on top was written by Empress Dowager Cixi and is original. It was renovated in 2016. The seal on top is the "Treasure of Empress Dowager Cixi's Imperial Pen" in the middle, with the left hand "Peace, Benevolence, and Harmony with Heaven and Earth" and the right hand "Counting the Heart of Plum Blossoms in Heaven and Earth". This is a set of three large sandalwood interlocking dragon button imperial seals newly made by Empress Dowager Cixi in his later years, specifically used on large character plaques. Therefore, this plaque should have been used during the ceremony of Empress Dowager Cixi's promotion to the position of Empress Dowager.

Wooden carved, painted and gilded statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, during the Northern Song Dynasty. This is a typical free Avalokitesvara statue, usually placed behind the Buddhist niche in the the Shakya ManiHall.

The three colored glazed Arhat statue was made in Chenghua year of the Ming Dynasty. There are words on the back, which indicate the donor, cultivator, craftsman, and time. It is rare to have a complete record. The handprint on the right hand of the Bodhisattva seems to be "piu piu", which is extremely rare.

Stone Fearless Beast Statue, Northern Qi Dynasty. The Fearless Beast, also known as the Avoiding Evil Beast, comes from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It is a legendary beast that can ward off evil spirits, with horns on its head and wings on its shoulders. The ancients had pictures, but not unique, of all kinds.

The stone fearing beast above is from the largest Cave 9 of Xiangtangshan Grottoes. I once visited this cave in 2018, and there is a travel note called "Riding Horses to South Hebei when Winter and Spring Meet". At the innermost part of the Nine Caves, there are still some fearsome animal statues that have not been excavated. At the bottom of the stone pillars on both sides of the Buddha niche in the picture below, there is a stone fearsome animal on one side that is the same as the one above.

Take a look at the Stone Fearless Beasts under the Panchen Lama Pagoda of the Huangsi Temple in Beijing, and see my short article "Visiting the Huangsi Temple in Beijing, Exploring the Secret of Three Hundred Years without Revealing People".

Next, let's take a look at the Buddha statues exhibited in the Cining Palace. Wooden carved and painted Avalokitesvara avatar, from the Jin Dynasty. The precious pearl on the forehead has been lost.

Bronze gilded statue of Guanyin with thousands of hands and eyes, from the Five Dynasties period. The typical Thousand Handed and Thousand Eyed Avalokitesvara statue has twenty on each side, each representing twenty-five hands, totaling a thousand hands. Guanyin Bodhisattva has six incarnations called Six Guanyin. Different Buddhas have different Six Avalokitesvara, and Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Avalokitesvara is one of the Six Avalokitesvara in Tantric Buddhism.

Take a look at the painted agarwood carved sandalwood Buddha statue below. It was built in the 55th year of the Qianlong reign (1790 AD) with respect from the office and was originally preserved in the Yuqing Palace.

The Zhantan Buddha statue is the first Buddha statue in the world. According to the Book of Gratitude, after becoming a Buddha, Shakyamuni went to heaven to repay his mother's kindness, but still did not return several months later. King Youfu, who revered Buddhism, saw that the Buddha had not returned for a long time, and day and night thoughts were gradually getting sick. He invited a Arhat with the greatest power to take a piece of Zhan sandalwood to the sky, asked him to meet the Buddha and carve a Buddha statue to bring back. When Arhat came to the sky, he saw the buddha standing on a single layer of lotus near the water, with the fearless seal in his right hand and the wish seal in his left. Arhat carved the image of the buddha into a chantan buddha. because the ripples in the water reflected on the buddha, the buddha was covered with ripples. This Zhantan Buddha statue set sail eastward several hundred years later and was eventually introduced to China. It entered Bianjing during the Song Dynasty, Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty, Sheng'an Temple outside Xuanwu Gate during the Ming Dynasty, and Hongren Temple near Beihai Park during the Qing Dynasty. Because there is a statue of Zhantan Buddha in the temple, the people call Hongren Temple Zhantan Temple. When the Eight Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, they burned down the Hongren Temple. The whereabouts of this precious Zhantan Buddha statue are unknown, whether it was destroyed or stolen. In China, this type of Buddha statue is called Zhantan Buddha statue, and there are various Zhantan Buddha statues from different periods in various places. Zhantan wood, also known as white sandalwood, is very rare and a specialty of the Western Regions. It is rare in the mainland. There is a huge Buddha statue carved from a single piece of wood in the Wanfu Pavilion of Yonghe Palace. Although it is made of white sandalwood, it is not a Zhantan Buddha. The Qing Palace Office has replicated several statues of Zhantan Buddha from the Western Regions, and there is still one in the Yonghe Palace. The statue exhibited here in the Cining Palace is one of the imitations of the Qing Dynasty palace. This Buddha statue has a high meat bun with water ripple patterns on its hair, sunken eye sockets, a high nose and thin lips, and is an Aryan face with an early style of Gyantra. But his earlobes are really too big, which is a blessing for Han people.

Clay sculpture painted statue of Guan Yu, Ming Dynasty. There is often a Guan Gong Temple in Chinese Buddhist temples, so the statue of Guan Gong is also displayed in the Buddha Statue Museum.

There are two doors in the east and west halls of the Cining Palace. The left door of Huiyin, which leads to the dormitory of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang on the east side, is not open, while the right door of Huiyin is on the west side. The plaques on the forehead are in the three languages of Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese. This should be the style of the early years of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. In the thirteenth year of the Shunzhi reign, all plaques in the palace were changed to be bilingual in Manchu and Chinese.

Standing on the foundation of the right gate of Huiyin, take another look at the main hall of the Cining Palace.

The right door of Huiyin is the small square in front of Shoukang Gate, and there is no door on the west side of the opposite square. It is a west wing room.

This is the main entrance of the Shoukang Palace on the west side of the Cining Palace. Across the door is a red brick screen wall, with a wooden screen door inside. Passing through the screen door is the entrance to the Shoukang Palace. On the front is the main hall, Shoukang Palace.

The main hall sits on a five foot high green brick platform, five bays wide and three bays deep. Above it is the arch of wooden architecture lifting beam structure, yellow glazed tiles with single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and seven roof figures. There is a eaves corridor in front, with painted dragon and phoenix seals on the eaves. The front and secondary compartments have separate doors, and the slightly lower threshold walls have separate windows, all of which are made of three intersecting six lotus lattice flowers, higher in level than the Cining Palace. On the back, there is only a clear door opening. There is a small white stone platform in front of the Shoukang Palace, with three paths leading up to the emperor on the front and a Dan Emperor stone in the middle. There are auxiliary halls on the east and west sides of the main hall.

The side hall is three rooms wide, with yellow glazed tile single eaves on the gable roof and eaves gallery in front. There is an ear room on the south side of the side hall, and a side hall on the north side leads to the backyard. Walk to the backyard and take a look at the back hall of Shoukang Palace.

The main hall and rear hall are also on the same pedestal, just like the Cining Palace. The back hall is also five rooms wide and three rooms deep. The yellow glazed tile with single eaves rests on the top of the mountain, and there are seven roof figures. There is a eaves gallery in front, and the door opens in the open space. There is also an entrance courtyard behind the back hall, which is a row of rear covered rooms and is not open.

During the Kangxi period, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang transformed the Cining Palace into a Buddhist temple. In the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign, the emperor passed away and the new emperor was promoted. At that time, the Cining Palace was the former residence of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and its outer eastern dormitory had been relocated to the Qing Zhaoling Mausoleum. During this period, there was also the Ningshou Palace built by Kangxi for the elderly care of the former imperial concubines, and there were still several Kangxi concubines living inside. Qianlong definitely couldn't let his mother live with those elders. The new emperor Qianlong immediately planned to build the Empress Dowager's Palace on the west side of the Cining Palace, which is the Shoukang Palace. It was completed in the first year of Qianlong's reign. Lao Qian personally named the newly-built Empress Dowager's Palace "Shoukang Palace", which is derived from the "Five Blessings" in the Book of Documents: "One is longevity, two is wealth, three is Kang Ning, four is good virtue, and five is the examination of destiny.". In the Southern Song and Northern Jin dynasties, there was a large house called Shoukang Palace where the emperor's parents lived. Because a few years ago, people liked to watch "The Legend of Zhen Huan". When they came to see Shoukang Palace, they said they were looking at the palace where Zhen Huan lived back then. In fact, Zhen Huan made up many stories, which was incompatible with Qianlong's his mother Xi.

Empress Dowager Xi of Lao Qian was upgraded to Empress Dowager Chongqing and moved into the Shoukang Palace. The Cining Palace still serves as the auditorium for the Empress Dowager's grand ceremony, where she moved, kowtowed, conferred the title of Empress Dowager, and put on her emblem. The memorials and annual gifts of the first and second years of the Qianlong reign were also presented at the Cining Palace. Starting from the third year of the Qianlong reign, the annual greetings were changed to Shoukang Palace. I estimate that the decoration and furniture in the main hall of Shoukang Palace were not fully in place before. Lao Qian was still young at the time and felt that his mother could not compare to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. He dared not live in the Cining Palace and only dared to hold a ceremony temporarily there.

Take a look inside the Shoukang Palace.

Looking at the Empress Dowager's throne from the front.

In the center, there is a floor with a nanmu screen and the throne of the Empress Dowager. This set of screen thrones was originally created by Emperor Qianlong for the 80th birthday ceremony of Empress Dowager Chongqing, and was placed until the Tongzhi period. A few years ago, when the Shoukang Palace was restored to its original state and displayed, it was found in the warehouse. On both sides of the throne, there are inevitably gold wire enamel poles and incense pavilions, and the leaning fans on both sides are also necessary. The "Cishou Ningxi" plaque and couplet behind the throne were also made by Lao Qian to congratulate his eighty year old mother on her birthday, but they are not the original.

Take a look at the dragon and phoenix, the seal, the flat chess ceiling, the eight muddy gold coiled dragon caisson, and the dragon mouth with a Xuan Yuan mirror above.

The East West Warm Pavilion is slightly separated on both sides, and you can see the magnificent yellow pear Pilu hat on the door of the East Warm Pavilion.

The picture I took above is of the door of Dongnuan Pavilion. Don't be fooled by it being just an ordinary panel door, it makes sense for me to take it. This Dongnuan Pavilion is a small Buddhist temple of Empress Dowager Chongqing, custom-made by herself. The Empress Dowager usually worships Buddha here. This door doesn't open easily. Occasionally, when you open it, you can see a golden inlaid gemstone pagoda inside.

Don't look at the base, it's not important. Look at this tower itself, it is a typical Qing Dynasty style covered bowl pagoda, and all the fragments are present, including the body of the covered bowl pagoda, the Thirteen Heavenly Wheel, the canopy, and the Moonlight Pearl Pagoda. Apart from tassels, there are also hanging straps hanging from the canopy. Even with the base, the entire tower is adorned with various gemstones, luxurious, isn't it? On the lotus seat inside the teapot door is the seated statue of Shakyamuni, hidden behind the Buddha statue, which is completely invisible to ordinary people. It is said that there is a small box behind the Buddha statue, which is not a Buddha relic, but a bundle of hair. This strand of hair is not from Empress Fucha or Empress Ling, but from Empress Zhen Huan. After the death of Empress Dowager Chongqing, Emperor Qianlong ordered the use of elemental gold from all the gold artifacts in the Shoukang Palace to merge and make this golden hair pagoda for display here, with the help of Heshen. Now, this Golden Buddha Pagoda has been moved to the Empress Dowager's ceremonial exhibition room in the west hall of Shoukang Palace. You can see it in the section on "Mother Child Love".

Take a look inside the back hall again. The back hall is divided into five rooms, and the most frightening one is the wooden bed and large kang under the mountain wall in the eastern corner, which is quite majestic.

This is still considered a simple display now. In the tenth year of the reign of Empress Dowager Chongqing, such as the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth year of the reign, Lao Qian was required to compose a congratulatory poem for longevity, which was then engraved on twelve screens and placed here. These four twelve screens are all gone, except for the manuscript of Lao Qian's great poem that was still kept by the Forbidden City. The "Yan Xi" plaque and couplet hanging on the Dongnuan Pavilion were originally created by Lao Qian in the past. Judging from the handwriting, it has a rather perfunctory taste. The decorations on the kang were mostly gifts given to his mother to celebrate her birthday in the past, which Lao Qian bought at his own expense.

Take a look at the West Warm Pavilion again.

The West Warm Pavilion is the bedroom of Empress Dowager Chongqing, and the furniture and decorations are all for daily use, not just birthday gifts. The most magical thing is next to the table under the western mountain wall in the top of the inner room, where you can see a black lacquer gilded Fangsheng style incense table. It's not because it's beautiful, but it's really beautiful. This incense table is also a birthday gift furniture for Empress Dowager Chongqing. There are only two pairs of Fangsheng style incense tables in the palace, and now there is only one left for each pair. This is one of them. After the death of Empress Dowager Chongqing, Qianlong presented her old belongings as a reward. He once saved up more than thirty incense tables for rewards, which were given to people like Fujin and Princess, including this pair of incense tables. But why is this incense table still in the palace? Is there anything that Lao Qian wants to reward people or things that he cannot give? Or did the princess who was rewarded treat it as a fake and return it to her father?

The decorations and small pieces of furniture in this rear hall are mostly gifts received by Empress Dowager Chongqing during her birthday celebration. These gifts include everything, including the cushions and seat cushions you see, and even tablecloths.

After the Qianlong Dynasty, during the Jiaqing period, Empress Yinggui and Empress Wangui lived in this Shoukang Palace; During the reign of Emperor Daoguang, she was Empress Dowager Xiaohe Rui, the second empress of Jiaqing; During the Xianfeng period, she was Empress Dowager Kangci, Empress Dowager Jinghuang of Daoguang, and adopted mother of Xianfeng. During the reign of Emperor Tongzhi, Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi listened to politics from the curtains and lived in the Hall of Nurturing the Heart; After returning to politics, the rolling curtains returned to their original Zhongcui Palace and Changchun Palace, unwilling to leave the Six Palaces of East and West. Afterwards, the Shoukang Palace was uninhabited, and Cixi also received the Empress Dowager's gift at the Cining Palace. During the Tongzhi period, the interior decoration of Shoukang Palace was removed.

The owners of Shoukang Palace are all widowed empresses. Despite their temporary glory, living in Shoukang Palace is what Bai Juyi said: "Shangyang people, Shangyang people, with dark and old red faces and new white hair." They live a life of "the birds return to Yan and grow quietly, and spring and autumn do not remember the year.".

(To be continued)