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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Exit from Xihe Gate in the middle of the west side corridor of Taihe Gate Square, and this is Waichao West Road. You can reach Xihua Gate by walking west from Xihe Gate. There is also a large area of buildings south of this road, which is Nanda Warehouse.

There must have been buildings here in the Ming Dynasty, probably also warehouses, storing royal pots and pans. The pots, bowls, and ladles in the Ming and Qing imperial palaces are all custom-made by the royal family, with royal style and quality, so they cannot enter the common people. Therefore, this warehouse also has a supporting royal tomb for pots, bowls, and ladles, where the remains of royal pots, bowls, and ladles are buried. In 2014, the official gold mining team of the Forbidden City dug up the ground in the southwest corner of the Nandaku and unearthed a large number of royal pots and pans, causing a considerable sensation. However, the official team has an iron like discipline, and the Panjiayuan antique market has yet to see any results of this official excavation.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Nanda Warehouse was still used as a palace warehouse, storing various miscellaneous hemp and hemp. Later on, this place was filled with various types of furniture, some of which were outdated, and many were dismantled decorations. In 2017, the Forbidden City cleaned up these royal furniture, renovated the Nanda Warehouse, and improved storage conditions. Subsequently, the Forbidden City also repaired some furniture and opened an exhibition of Ming and Qing imperial palace furniture in the Nandaku, which is now known as the Furniture Museum.

There is a large amount of wood in the furniture museum, so there is air conditioning inside, constant temperature and humidity, and thick cotton door curtains hanging at the entrance year-round. Go inside and take a look at the furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it's the most high-end.

Entering the door is a set of halls and imperial thrones.

There is no floor, in the middle is a purple sandalwood inlaid jade throne and a matching purple sandalwood inlaid jade long table. Behind it is a three leaf screen made of rosewood inlaid with boxwood carvings, and the Pilu hat is extremely gorgeous. On both sides of the throne are a pair of rosewood trees that are several meters tall. This set of throne screens were all palace made during the Qianlong period and were produced by the Manufacturing Office. In fact, there are many words in the documents of Emperor Qianlong, such as "sent to Guangdong Customs for production" and "Guangdong Customs sent red sandalwood carved forks", indicating that these were all made by Guangren and have a clear Lingnan style. There is a pair of couplets hanging on both sides of the pillars. Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be carved with lacquer, which is too luxurious. This set of thrones shows that Qianlong was particularly wealthy and tasteful. They said this was the retreat of Jingyi Pavilion in Jianfu Palace. Don't forget that the big fire in Jianfu Palace Garden also burned Jingyi Pavilion down.

Let's take a look at a set of yellow rosewood.

The yellow pear wood throne and footrest, with a blue sky primer inlaid on the backrest, are adorned with ivory carvings and chicken wing woodcut landscape paintings. The screen is a set, and there are also small houses and people in the landscape. There are also yellow flower pears on both sides that are a bit tall. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, rosewood inlay was quite common, but this type of yellow pear wood inlay was rare and so exquisite that no one dared to imagine it, except for Lao Qian himself. They said this is the throne of the Fuwang Pavilion in the Ningshou Palace Garden. Fuwang Pavilion is not allowed to enter, but its throne can be seen here.

Take a look at the incomplete set.

Red sandalwood frame with yellow lacquer inlaid with jade, stone, and flower nine screens, each with a poem inscribed by Emperor Qianlong. Red sandalwood inlaid with jade and yellow pear bed board, Arhat bed, red sandalwood kang table.

There is also a replica of "Hongli is one of two pictures" hanging in the furniture store.

The original painting was painted by Qing Ding Guanpeng. Qianlong liked to paint himself, so he left behind quite a few shadows. Qing dynasty painters had already begun to be influenced by the West, and signs of Western perspective can be seen in this painting. Qianlong sat on the bed, savoring treasures collected by players, and there was also a portrait of Qianlong in the landscape painting on the wall behind him. According to this artistic conception, Qianlong inscribed on his painting "One is two, neither can be separated, Confucianism can be compared to ink, and there are no worries or thoughts.". There is a hidden ancient painting from the Song Dynasty in the Qianlong Palace, depicting Wang Xizhi as one person and two statues. He instructed Ding Guanpeng to draw five Hongli paintings, including one and two. Here is a version of the Heart Nourishing Hall, and another version of the Naluoyan Caves was sent to the Taipei Palace Museum for exhibition. The Naluoyan Caves are located in Laoshan. This is the first and second picture. All the furniture and decorations on the picture are the items that Qianlong had at his disposal in the palace back then. The Palace Museum has arranged a set of scenery in the furniture museum, and a few of them are really similar.

There are back screen, Arhat bed, round table, round table, square table and long table. On the right side of the screen, the Ming Xuande blue and white Sanskrit carved halberd, Dharma wheel, and jar are the original objects in the painting, as well as the two eared three legged furnace on the ground.

In addition to large-sized furniture, there are also some beautiful decorations. Take a look at this, carved lacquer double eave four corner pavilion style treasure grid. This should be the warehouse where the emperor stores the private seal, or the one with a raised spine.

Take a look at the warehouse behind you.

The repaired visible furniture is placed under the front lights. Take a look at the details of this red sandalwood painted carved square table, Lingnan style, exquisite craftsmanship!

Most of the displayed furniture is from the Qing Dynasty, flashy and flashy. The furniture of the Ming Dynasty was not so fancy, even palace furniture was simple and lively.

Coming out of the furniture store, follow the main road and head west. The Palace Museum has set up a fixed post at the intersection there. The sentinels joined forces with a red ribbon to block my way. Last time I came here, I was stopped by a sentinel female soldier, this time a sentinel male soldier. Men are good at talking to each other, so I'll ask him what's going on over there? He said that the Wuying Hall is not open, and the gate is not allowed to be seen because the gate cannot be seen now. I asked him if he couldn't even see the Nanxun Hall and Baoyun Tower further ahead? He said yes, then Xihuamen definitely can't leave either.

Recently, the Wuying Hall has reopened, and I am here again. The position of the sentry post moved westward, and I walked onto this main road. Continuing forward on this main road, the south side of the road is adjacent to the west side of the Nan Da Ku, which is the Nan Xun Hall. The tall building behind is not a palace building. It was built in 1973 when the east building of the Beijing Hotel was newly built. In order to block the view of Zhongnanhai from the 14th floor or above, several new tall buildings were built at this location.

When you see the word "Nanxun", you will think of Emperor Shun's song "Nanfeng Song", "The fragrance of the Nanfeng can alleviate the anger of our people.". When ancient emperors appeared, there was a scene of playing Shao music and singing Nanxun, so this Nanxun Hall was meant to be associated with ancient emperors.

There is only one main hall left in the courtyard of Nanxun Hall, which is intact and original from the Ming Dynasty. All other auxiliary halls have collapsed. The main hall faces north and south, with a width of five bays and a depth of three bays. It is topped by a single eaved yellow glazed tile. The East West Side Hall is the Hall of Passage, which is the East West Gate Hall of the courtyard. The side hall has a width of three rooms and a depth of one room, with a eaves gallery facing outward in front. The layout of Nanxun Hall is different from other courtyards in the palace. Its main entrance is not on the south wall, but on the east and west walls. The small door in the picture above should have been repaired after the collapse of the side hall, possibly from a recent building. Over the small door and the low wall, you can see the repaired roof of Nanxun Hall, plain mountain flowers, and five roof figures.

The Nanxun Hall existed in the early Ming Dynasty and underwent repairs during the Ming Dynasty. The main hall was still built during the Ming Dynasty. Nowadays, the palace is no longer entirely Ming built, and the components of the Zhonghe Hall bear the inscription "Zhongji Hall"; There are still inscriptions on the wooden components of the roof of the Jiaotai Hall in the Inner Court, which were rebuilt in a certain year of Jiajing. During the Ming Dynasty, the Nanxun Hall served as the Golden Book Editing Department of the Cabinet, where the Central Secretariat, equivalent to the Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat, wrote articles on the Golden Book. The Ming Emperor's appointment of empresses, enfeoffment of concubines, and the Empress Dowager's emblem all require the use of gold registers, as well as gold treasures, which are hand stamps. The princes outside the palace were also conferred titles with golden books. The lower level is the silver book decorated with gold, the lower level is the paper book, and the lowest level is the air book. A few years ago, a gold register of Ming Dynasty feudal lords was unearthed in Sichuan, which was at the level of a prince; He has also published a silver and gold book for the Ming Rongwang, which is also of the prince level. The Cabinet Secretary sat upright in the main hall of the Nanxun Hall, panting and studying ink, singing the song of the Southern Wind in his heart. With his hands up and his pen down, he wrote golden and sour essays. These volumes and texts were carved on gold plates and presented to the emperor. After the emperor finished reciting them at the coronation ceremony, he closed the gold books and rewarded them to the recipients, bringing them home for ancestral transmission. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen had people paint portraits of Ming emperors from various dynasties, which were hung in the Wuying Hall and Wenhua Hall.

After the Qing Dynasty came, although following the Ming system, he no longer wrote books and articles in the Nanxun Hall. After Emperor Qianlong came to power, he re framed and bound the portraits of emperors from the Ming Dynasty and enshrined them in the Nanxun Hall. The portrait of Emperor Taizu in court attire that I saw in the Wenhua Hall should be hidden here. Qianlong also left a "Record of Images in the Imperial Collection of Nanxun Hall" lying tablet inside the Nanxun Hall. There is not much difference between a tablet and a tablet in the Qing Dynasty, except that it does not have a tablet cap. I'll call it a lying tablet. Lying steles are rare because they are often referred to as shadow walls when they become larger in size. I mentioned in my last article "Visiting the Huangsi Temple in Beijing and Exploring the Secret of Three Hundred Years without Revealing People" that there is a European and American student union at the intersection of Dongchang'an Street and Nanheyan Road. It was the Pusheng Temple in the early Qing Dynasty, and there are two sleeping tablets inside. It is currently the only one in Beijing that exists in the Five Pagoda Temple to the north of the zoo. The Nanxun Hall does not allow entry, and the sleeping stele inside is unknown in reality. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a temple for emperors built within Fuchengmen. The Qing Emperor said that the Manchu people were part of the Chinese nation, so he also went there to worship the Chinese ancestors. Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty hung portraits of emperors from various dynasties in the palace for daily worship. Qing Qianlong received these portraits from the Nanxun Hall, but did not hang them up. Instead, they were rolled up and hidden in a wooden pavilion. Just like in the temples of emperors throughout history, emperors began with Taihao, Fuxi, and the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. I estimate this includes Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor of Ming Xi, but I don't know if this includes Emperor Yuan. Should we also include the wise and famous generals of various dynasties, such as Boyi, Jiang Shang, Duke of Zhou, Xiao He, and Zhuge Liang, and whether Guan Gong is with them or listed separately? The difference between Nanxun Hall and the temples of emperors throughout history is that there are also some empress statues here. A few days ago, there was news in the Forbidden City that the third phase of the furniture museum project would be exhibited in the Nanxun Hall, and a play would soon be open to the public. However, to open the Nanxun Hall, it must be repaired first, and the courtyard also needs to be renovated.

Continuing west along the main road in front of Nanxun Hall is in the direction of Xihua Gate, which is now the office of the Palace Museum and is prohibited for visitors. From a distance, one can see a palace gate, which is the Xian'an Gate.

This Xian'an Gate was the main entrance of the Xian'an Palace in the Qing Dynasty. The Xian'an Palace in the Ming Dynasty was located in the current position of the Shou'an Palace, behind the Shoukang Palace. Now this Xian'an Gate was the office of Shangyi Supervisor during the Ming Dynasty. What was Shangyi Supervisor for? He is the tailor's shop of the emperor, including a shoemaker. However, Shangyi Jian himself does not wear needlework to sew shoe soles, but instead plays in the design institute and the representative office of Party A. During the Ming Dynasty, there were twenty-four eunuch yamen, and Shangyi Jian was one of the twelve eunuchs in the twenty-four yamen. These yamen were responsible for overseeing the affairs of the royal family, including food, drink, transportation, and sleep, and could be considered as the General Affairs Office. When the Qing Dynasty entered the country, it first followed the establishment of the Ming Dynasty General Affairs Office, and later gradually reformed its organizational structure, establishing its own General Affairs Office.

The original Xian'an Palace once imprisoned the deposed Crown Prince Yinlun during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. After Yinlun's death during the Yongzheng period, it was converted into an official school, which was the Three Banners Cadre and Children's School. During the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners were divided into the Upper Three Banners and the Lower Five Banners, with the Yellow and Zhenghuang Banners under the command of Emperor Taiji. Zhengbaiqi was originally a subordinate of Dorgon. After Shunzhi dug the grave and whipped the corpse of Dorgon, Zhengbaiqi was taken back by Shunzhi. After Qianlong came to power, he transformed the original Xian'an Palace into Shou'an Palace and settled the retired former imperial concubines. The official school of Xian'an Palace was moved to the place shown in the picture above. In the early period of the Republic of China, the Antiquities Exhibition Center was established in Xian'an Palace in 1914, which can be considered as the first generation of national museums. In order to move the cultural relics of the Shenyang Palace Museum and the Summer Resort to the Beijing Palace Museum, the Baoyun Building was built in the Xian'an Palace, which can be considered as the first cultural relics warehouse. The cultural relics of the Anti Japanese War Palace Museum were relocated to the south, and the treasures in the Baoyun Tower followed suit. A few years ago, after the renovation of Baoyun Tower, it was transformed into a museum showcasing the history of the Forbidden City.

The Xian'an Palace now only has the gate shown in the picture above, and inside the gate is the Baoyun Tower. In the picture, you can see a corner of the west wing tower of Baoyun Tower, and also see a ound ridge roof ear room on the gable roof in the gate hall.

To the east of Xian'an Gate is the Wuying Hall.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Wuying Hall was symmetrical with the Wenhua Hall on Waichao East Road, with a symmetrical position, style, and layout. One wen and one wu, the east road is the essence of liberal arts, and the west road is the hero of the Wulin. The eastern route of the Ming Palace is dominated by literature, while the western route is dominated by martial arts. On the square of Taihe Palace, there is also a literary tower called Tiren Pavilion to the east and a military tower called Hongyi Pavilion to the west. In ancient China, emperors were both controlled by both civil and military forces, using culture to pacify the world and using military force to kill enemies. The ancient Silk Road also brought Chinese culture to the West. As mentioned earlier, I also saw statues symbolizing civil and military power at the entrance of the Palace in Florence. However, it is the opposite of the Ming Palace, with the right hand representing the image of David, a work by Michelangelo, which symbolizes Wenzhi; The left hand is the symbol of Wuwei in Hercules and Kakus, a work by Bandinelli.

Although the building has been changed into a pavilion, the Tiren Pavilion and Hongyi Pavilion in the Taihe Hall are basically the same. The Wenhua Hall underwent continuous renovation, and with the reconstruction during the Qing Dynasty, it gradually deviated from the model of the Wuying Hall. The main gate of Wuying Hall is the Wuying Gate in the above picture. In front of the gate, there is an internal Jinshui River. There are three white stone bridges with White Marble handrails on the river in front of the gate, and the middle one is the imperial road. The same should have happened in front of the Wenhua Hall in the early Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that during the Qianlong period, the Wenyuan Pavilion was built to divert the Jinshui River from the Wenhua Gate to the Wenyuan Pavilion.

The Wuying Gate, like the Wenhua Gate, is also a palace gate with five rooms and three openings. Go up to the main hall and take a look.

Entering the Wuying Gate also leads directly to the main hall Wuying Hall on the platform.

After the main hall, there is the Jingsi Hall in the back hall, which is also connected by corridors and has the same I-shaped layout as the Wenhua Hall. According to records, this corridor was built in the early period of the Republic of China, and the previous front and rear halls were two separate halls on a pedestal.

The difference is that there are White Marble handrails on the platform base outside Wuying Gate and on the platform corridor inside Wuying Gate, and there is also a circle on the platform base of I-shaped front and rear halls. There are also side halls on the east and west sides of the main hall, similar in specifications to the side halls of the Wenhua Hall. Take a look at the Huanzhang Hall in the West Wing.

The Wuying Hall was also the emperor's temporary hall during the Ming Dynasty, somewhat similar to the Jin Luan Hall in the Tang Dynasty's Chang'an Daming Palace. The Tang Dynasty emperor summoned ministers to discuss matters at the Jin Luan Hall, while the Ming Dynasty emperor summoned ministers to discuss matters at the Wu Ying Hall. The Tang Emperor was still doing something very artistic in the Jin Luan Hall, inviting those who were skilled in poetry to a gathering. And set up good poets in the Hanlin courtyard near the Jin Luan Hall as waiting for imperial edicts at any time. Emperor Ming placed the edict at the Wuying Hall, and selected those skilled in painting to reside there. The imperial palace needs various skilled individuals. Those who excel in great skills are appointed as officials in the Hanlin Academy, while those who perform minor skills are appointed to the Six Departments of the palace, such as those who cut the emperor's hair and dig his ears. By the way, some remote rural areas still refer to those who shave their heads as waiting for orders. Emperor Tang occasionally took a nap or stayed at the Jin Luan Hall, while Emperor Ming regularly stayed at the Wu Ying Hall, called Zhaiju. During the reign of Chongzhen, the Empress celebrated her birthday here and received congratulations from high-end housewives. I don't know why she didn't go to Kunning Palace at that time.

In the seventeenth year of the Ming Chongzhen reign (1644 AD), after Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty was forced to climb the coal mountain by King Chuang Li Zicheng, he entered the palace. He searched around the palace and dug up a lot of silver in the treasury. But at the beginning, Chuang Wang did not ascend to the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but instead worked in the Hall of Martial Arts. Later, on a certain day on April 20th, he couldn't help but hold a coronation ceremony at the Wuying Hall. As a result, Wu Sangui led Dorgon to drive him out of Beijing the next day, and he himself called it a "glorious retreat". Before leaving, he even set fire to the palace. The northwest wind blew that day, and the fire did not reach the Wuying Hall, but it burned down the Wenhua Hall. At this point, King Chuang stayed in the palace for over forty days.

Dorgon is a very bad boy. He asked Wu Sangui to pursue the King Chuang to avenge the destruction of the household, and he himself took charge of his politics in the Wu Ying Hall, where he was in a state of nirvana in the fire. While cleaning the embers of the fire in the palace to rebuild the palace, dourgen sent someone back to go home to bring Shunzhi to Beijing. The two people lived together in the Wuying Palace. After the first three halls were repaired, Shunzhi moved into the Baohe Hall. Dorgon built the Rui Qin Wang Mansion for himself outside the Donghua Gate South Palace where Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was placed under house arrest in the past, and moved in. After Dorgon was "whipped", the Ruiqin Prince's Mansion was transformed into the Pudu Temple, which still exists today. The remaining main hall is Dorgon's former dormitory. During the Kangxi period, the Three Great Halls and the Qianqing Palace were rebuilt. The emperor lived in the Wuying Palace for a while, and at that time, the Qianqing Palace was also unbearable to live in. Although Emperor Kangxi lived in the Wuying Hall, he still went to the south study of the Qianqing Palace to manage politics. It was at this time that he entrusted Aobai to manage.

In the nineteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1680 AD), the reconstruction of the Qianqing Palace was completed, and Emperor Kangxi moved back to live in the Qianqing Palace. Afterwards, the Royal Book Company was established in the Wuying Hall and began to engrave books. The predecessor of the Royal Book Company was the Wu Ying Hall Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729 AD), it was renamed as the Wu Ying Hall Book Repair Office. Although the Shushu Office is an institution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the personnel for procurement and compilation are all sent by the emperor and the Hanlin Academy, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is only a small worker. The Wuyingdian Printing Factory is very high-end, using brass movable type with beautiful fonts. The pictures are also made of copper plates, very exquisite. The printing of books in the Qing Dynasty was not done on rice paper, but on calligraphy and painting paper. The paper used for printing books is Kaihua paper, made by Kaihua in Zhejiang Province, and is a top-notch printing paper. Qianlong was a person who loved reading. He selected over a hundred unforgettable classics from the Yongle Encyclopedia and arranged for the Wuyingdian Bookstore to print and bind them into a collection of small booklets. They were often wrapped in sleeves and taken to various places to read, called "Dianben". After the completion of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, the original was stored in the Wenyuan Pavilion, which was manually copied at a high cost and difficult to circulate. Emperor Qianlong selected over a hundred pieces and printed them with jujube wood movable type into the "Collected Edition Series of Wuying Hall", which is also a palace edition. Only three hundred sets were printed, without any reprints. During the Guangxu period, there was lead typesetting and printing, but the production was already scarce.

Since the Qing Palace is printing books in the Wuying Hall, there will definitely be many papers with characters and blank spaces, all of which are the rations of the Fire God. In the fifteenth year of the Guangxu reign (1889 AD), in order to fight against the Fire God, the imperial palace set up a fire brigade called a semi-automatic sprinkler fire brigade in the Wuying Hall. It was located in a black glazed tile rooftop guard room south of the Wuying Hall, where black represented water in the Five Elements.

This is the first modern fire brigade in China, and the predecessor of the Guangxu Jitongchu was the fire brigade established in the 26th year of the Kangxi reign (1687 AD). Nowadays, the Forbidden City conducts annual fire drills, and fire prevention is the top priority for the Forbidden City.

The last reconstruction of the Wuying Hall was after the great fire in the eighth year of the Qing Dynasty's Tongzhi reign (1869 AD), which completely burned through the entire Wuying Hall. Emperor Tongzhi had no choice but to order the Construction Office to rebuild it. After that, the Wuying Hall was renovated during the Guangxu period and lasted until 2005. In 2005, the Forbidden City organized a major renovation of the Wuying Hall, which was previously closed. After the renovation in 2008, a calligraphy and painting museum was opened, causing a sensation. During the epidemic, it was closed again, and it was said to be a re exhibition. More than a year later, when it reopened on May Day in 2021, it was transformed into a ceramic museum.

Inside the Wuying Hall.

Inside the corridors of the front and rear halls.

The rear hall is dedicated to the inside of the temple.

There are many ceramic treasures in the collection of the Forbidden City. It is said that there are 350000 pieces, of which more than 20000 have been collected since the founding of New China. The earliest illustration consists of pottery pieces pieced together from 5000 years ago. Below is a pottery pot from 2500 years ago.

There are two ears next to it that can be tied with grass rope as a shoulder bag. Look at the position of those ears, this shoulder bag is easy to flip over. Such pottery has long been absent in China, and bronze and the like existed during the Zhou Dynasty. But I also saw such pottery in their farmhouse kitchen in Türkiye. Their pot stewed beef uses such an ancient pottery pot.

Here is a blue glazed pile plastic jar from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Is there glaze on the outside of pottery or pottery, indicating that glaze appeared before porcelain.

Tang Sancai must have a female figurine. Still pottery, painted pottery.

Hu people and merchants on the Silk Road.

Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been quite serious porcelain, with the most mysterious being the top secret colored porcelain from the Yue kiln, exclusively for the royal family. This secret color has been widely discussed, and no one can explain it clearly, nor do they know if it really exists. It was not until 1987 that a batch of Tang Dynasty cultural relics were unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple in Shaanxi that the secret colored porcelain became widely known. Among the porcelain offerings to Buddha, there are Yue kiln secret colored porcelain and related written records. This underground excavation also revealed a silver body, golden flower, four strands, and twelve ring tin staff, the highest level and only tin staff king in the world. Take a look at the Yue kiln secret color porcelain clean bottles in the collection of the Forbidden City.

Take a look at Song porcelain, Longquan open pieces.

The new Ceramic Museum has opened, and the Palace Museum has displayed the treasure of the museum, which is the Song Ding Kiln Children's Pillow below. One of the nine treasures of the country.

Among the nine treasures of Zhenguo, there are four in the Forbidden City, including the Chencang stone drum seen in the Ningshou Palace, the Jin Dynasty Lu Ji's "Pingfu Tie" exhibited in the Wuying Hall before the epidemic, Han Huang's "Five Bulls Picture" exhibited in the Wuying Hall before the "Pingfu Tie", and the Ding kiln child pillow shown in the above picture. Now in Beijing, there are also the Western Zhou Ligui from the National Museum and the Dushan Dayuhai from the Beihai Tuancheng.

The Ru kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty was the top of Song porcelain, boasting that "having a wealth of wealth is not as good as a piece of Ru kiln.". Agate glaze, sky blue, with cicada wing patterns. There are less than a hundred pieces of Ru kiln porcelain from the Northern Song Dynasty that have been passed down, and there are more than ten pieces in the Palace Museum. Take a look at this Ru kiln light sky blue glazed three legged jar style stove with string patterns. There are only two pieces that have been passed down, and this is one of them.

The emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty loved art, and there were many high-end porcelain pieces. As the ancient saying goes, "Gold is valuable but Jun is priceless", which refers to Jun porcelain from the Northern Song Dynasty. Jun porcelain has extremely dazzling colors, and there are secrets hidden in the glaze. After being applied, it remains hidden before entering the kiln. When leaving the kiln, the effect depends entirely on the mask. So every piece of Jun porcelain is a unique piece, and the craftsmanship cannot be repeated. Take a look at this Jun kiln rose purple glazed diamond shaped three legged flowerpot holder below, which has a pearl like luster and resembles a shell.

Jingdezhen porcelain was already an official kiln in the Song Dynasty and one of the five famous kilns. Take a look at this blue and white glazed carved plum vase below.

Take a look at this, the blue and white porcelain from the Jingdezhen kiln of the Yuan Dynasty, a top-notch item of Yuan blue and white porcelain.

The underglaze red from the same kiln during the same period, Yuan blue and white underglaze red, is more advanced and precious than monochromatic blue and white.

Take a look at this blue and white underglaze red carved lid jar below. It's a masterpiece with Yuan blue and white, underglaze red, and carving. Is this the earliest carved porcelain in China?

Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain has reached its peak. Take a look at this one below. Xuande blue and white porcelain was once exhibited in a furniture museum and can only be seen from afar. It appears in the previously mentioned painting "Qianlong is one of two pictures", in which Ming Xuande's blue and white Sanskrit style was used to examine the halberd, Dharma wheel, and jar.

Take a look at the underglaze red of the Ming Dynasty, called fresh red glaze, which is quite beautiful. Hongwu Guan Kiln Cloud Dragon Pattern High Foot Bowl. Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, began to establish imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, specifically for the production of porcelain for the royal family. This was the earliest official kiln in China. From then on, the manufacturing year number was written on the bottom of official kiln works, so the earliest year number visible on the bottom of porcelain was the Hongwu year system.

Blue and white porcelain originated in the Tang Dynasty and reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty. Many Ming Dynasty porcelain have been passed down, especially during the Chenghua period. Ming Chenghua porcelain depends on the words on the bottom of the bowl.

In addition to the official version mentioned above, there is also a girl version of Chenghua porcelain in the market.

This time, a batch of Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain unearthed from Dingling, the original works of Zhu Yijun, the Ming Emperor Shenzong, from the Chenghua period, were also displayed.

Colorful fish and algae jar, Ming Jiajing.

Qing Dynasty porcelain is of various colors, dazzling and reaching its peak. Take a look at this pink, peach blossom long necked bottle.

Take a look at this one, the bowl with a golden baby scene painted in alum red, is incredibly beautiful.

Enamel color that only appeared in the Qing Dynasty.

During the Kangxi period, in addition to enamel, there was also the famous Langyao Red, a very special gem red color.

Since it is ceramics, besides ancient pottery, Yixing kiln is definitely indispensable. The specialty of Yixing Kiln is purple sand, and the most common one is purple sand teapot, but there are also others like this. Yixing kiln purple sand tire green space pink painted gold Japanese melon pot.

Integrated with various colored large bottles, the Jingdezhen kiln of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong reign is an unprecedented masterpiece of Chinese porcelain, known as the mother of porcelain.

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, the court selected a porcelain expert to serve as the chief manager of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln, known as an assistant official. This expert is Tang Ying, a famous master of craftsmanship in the ceramic industry during the Qing Dynasty. Every piece of Tang Ying's work in the Qing Palace is top-notch. He not only imitates the ancients, but also has innovation, which is absolutely unparalleled. Take a look at these works by Tang Ying below.

A warm pavilion has been built inside the gate of Wuying Hall.

Inside are several large hollow porcelain heart-shaped vases from the Qianlong Dynasty, each exquisitely crafted. A spinning bottle has a rotating inner liner inside, with a picture on it. There are hollow windows on the belly of the heart turning bottle, through which you can observe the pictures on the inside of the heart turning bottle.

The following yellow ground pink hollowed out stem and branch character elephant ear rotating heart bottle, made by Tang Ying in the eighth year of Qianlong, has two circles of heavenly stems and earthly branches on the neck that can rotate, corresponding to a perpetual calendar.

During the Qianlong period, there was also a type of large bottle with two layers of hollowed out sleeves. Although the upper and lower layers were cut together, they could not be separated. I didn't see it in this exhibition.

Emperor Qianlong not only sent Tang Ying to burn porcelain, but also devoted himself to his creation with the spirit of "pouring water into the pit and bravely moving forward". The pink and enamel colored bottle with landscape patterns on the neck is inscribed with a poem by Emperor Qianlong. The painting reads "Wind wrinkled valley patterns return to the distant sea, and the rosy peaks reflect the bright river.". There are also two seals, "Qianlong Chenhan" and "Weijing Uniqueness", which are a set of two special seals for Qianlong's imperial poetry and books.

Exit the main hall of Wuying Hall and walk to the west side.

At the side by side of the back hall, there is a small house on the platform, which is the Yude Hall.

Yudetang is not big, three rooms wide and one room deep. arch of wooden architecture lifting beam structure roof, yellow glazed tile ound ridge roof rests on the top of the mountain. Go inside and take a look.

The interior is completely exposed, without smallpox. This is now also the exhibition room of the Ceramic Museum, showcasing exported porcelain, commonly known as "customer goods".

Take a look at the pink gold badge pattern plate in the middle, which is written in Chinese characters with the words "Wishing your mother good health, always healthy".

China's porcelain has a large external sales volume, starting from the Sui and Tang dynasties. The enthusiasm of ancient European palaces and upper class societies for pursuing Chinese silk and porcelain is unimaginable now, surpassing some Chinese people's admiration for foreign things. In order to purchase luxury goods such as Chinese silk and porcelain, European silver has been emptied. 15、 The great voyages and geographical discoveries of the 16th century began the development of the Americas, and Europeans discovered large silver mines in South America, which immediately made them wealthy. Later, Europeans established a sea route from South America to Guangzhou, China, transporting silver from the Americas to China, which is the famous silver route in history. They unloaded silver in Guangzhou, exchanged it with Chinese merchants for silk, porcelain, and tea, and then transported these luxury goods back to Europe to make a fortune. Later on, the silver from the Americas was also mined out, and the British wanted to trade with China using black clay. Failure to do so led to the First Opium War. The Qing Dynasty suffered a defeat and had to compensate the imperialists with the silver exchanged for silk and porcelain. Stop talking, it's full of tears.

There is a darkroom behind the small house in Yude Tang, which is a brick and stone structure with a square bottom and a dome with a skylight above. This dome reminds you of the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, just a small one. That dark room is too small to let tourists in for a visit, fearing that everyone will be crowded and stomp on each other. A picture of a dark room was hung inside the bathhouse, and a part of the dome could be vaguely seen from the outside.

According to experts from the Forbidden City, the Yude Hall was a building of the Yuan Dynasty imperial palace. I said why does that dark room look like a yurt? It turns out it was built by Mongolians. What is the use of Mongolian people building this darkroom? It is said to be a bathroom in Türkiye, with supporting boiler room and water supply and drainage pipes. According to research, this place was the headquarters of the Metropolitan Garrison Command in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was appropriate to build a yurt style bathroom for the commander to take a bath. The ancient Han people despised the bath in Türkiye. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's sacrificial ceremony was to fast and bathe, which was called Zhaifu (chanting). Legend has it that the Ming emperors came here to bathe and fast in the Zhai Palace. Actually, it's not right. The Zhai Palace was built by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty and did not exist in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty emperor fasted at the Wuying Hall. I wonder if it's because there is a bathhouse called Yude Tang here? The name Yudetang was definitely not given by the Yuan Dynasty Emperor Boerjiaojin, it should have been from the Ming Dynasty. The meaning of "Yude" comes from Dai Sheng's "Book of Rites - Confucian Conduct" in the Western Han Dynasty, which means "a Confucian person bathes in virtue, expresses his words and subdues them, remains calm and upright, and achieves enlightenment." It means cultivating one's mind and character. In the Qing Dynasty, Wuyingdian became a publishing house and printing factory, and it was said that this darkroom was used for steaming paper. There is a folk legend about the Qing Emperor Qianlong's consort, who was incredibly divine. Emperor Qianlong had only one concubine, Lady Rong and Lady Zhuo. In the 23rd year of the Qianlong reign (1758 AD), the elder brother of Empress Rong cooperated with the court in suppressing the rebellion of the Hui tribe. Later, he was granted an official position and entered Beijing. The Empress Rong family later settled in Beijing. In the 25th year of the Qianlong reign, 27 year old Concubine Rong entered the palace and was initially conferred the title of He Guiren. Later, she gradually advanced and was granted the title of Empress Rong in the 33rd year of the Qianlong reign. Before the enfeoffment of Empress Rong, she had been wearing Hui clothing, eating meals, and had a separate halal stove in the palace. During the Qing Dynasty, there were occasional Han concubines who were specially granted permission to wear Hanfu in the palace. During the Qianlong period, after the death of Empress Dowager Ling, the status of Empress Rong gradually rose to second place among Empresses. In the 53rd year of the Qianlong reign (1788 AD), Empress Rong passed away at the age of 55 and was buried in the garden of Empress Yuling in Dongling. In 1979, when sorting out the tomb of Empress Rong, which had already been stolen, the remains of Empress Rong were discovered, and there was a palindrome written in the Quran on the coffin. It is said that Xiangfei has a peculiar fragrance. This bathhouse in Türkiye was built for Xiangfei. Since the Yongzheng Dynasty, the Yude Hall has been changed to a printing and printing bureau for steaming paper. Emperor Qianlong will never change it back to the use of the Yude Hall, so bury it more! Moreover, Emperor Qianlong could not have allowed his concubine to leave the harem and take a bath in the side hall of this foreign court, and there is no record of this in the Qing Palace's Internal Affairs Office. These are all unfounded and fabricated during the Republic of China period, limited to legends.

The pipeline of Yudetang Türkiye Bathroom leads to a well pavilion, and the water in the well pavilion is certainly used for Yudetang bathing. The architectural layout of the east and west roads of the Ming Imperial Palace is symmetrical. The well pavilion of Yude Hall is the same as the Dabao Well of the Chuanxin Hall in the east courtyard of Wenhua Hall on the east road. It is also a yellow glazed tile ound ridge roof hanging on the top of the mountain with a skylight. This is a special pair of well pavilions in the Forbidden City. The Zhou Gong Dan ritual, also known as the Zhou ritual or Zhou system, is the foundation of the ritual system in Chinese culture. In the Zhou system, there is a saying that "left pao and right pao" means "death", which means "bathhouse.". Last time, it was mentioned that the royal families of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped the well god at the Dapao Well every year. There is no bathing god among the five gods of Chinese folk customs (door, household, well, stove, and earth), so the Ming and Qing royal families did not worship gods here at the Yude Hall.

After watching the ceramic exhibition at the Wuying Hall, stand in the courtyard and take another look at the big tree.

After coming out of the Wuying Hall, follow the main road and turn north. Within a short distance, there is a small stone bridge, a single arch stone bridge. According to research, this is an old item from the Yuan Dynasty Palace.

The river below this small stone bridge is the Neijinshui River, flowing from the front gate of the Wuying Hall and preparing to flow towards the Taihe Gate Square inside the Meridian Gate. This is the Broken Rainbow Bridge. The white stones on the bridge deck and the White Marble railings on both sides look very modern. There is a relief sculpture of two dragons eating grass on the railing. There is a stone carved squatting dragon at the end of the railing.

Take a look at this Yuan Dynasty squatting dragon, and recall that this stone carved squatting dragon is the same as the stone carved squatting dragons in the Jingren Palace of the Eastern Six Palaces and the Yongshou Palace of the Western Six Palaces, both with long and flowing hair. Since the eight squatting dragons at the four corners of the two marble shadow wall bases in the harem are the same as the four squatting dragons at the head of this bridge, they also mutually confirm that they are all relics of the Yuan Dynasty imperial palace.

There are lions sitting on the lotus seat on the pillar. They are all White Marble stone carvings.

There is a dragon head in the middle of the arch connecting the two sides of the bridge, which is called "Jiaolong Wangshui". Look at the dragon in the Yuan Dynasty, also known as a water sucking beast.

Take a look at the Sui Dynasty "Jiaolong Wangshui" unearthed from the Hongji Bridge outside the ancient city of Guangfu in Handan, Hebei, for comparison.

This Duanhong Bridge is not recorded in the imperial texts of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is unclear whether it was from the early Ming dynasty or a relic of the Yuan imperial palace. The name Duanhong Bridge was given by later generations. After expert research, many people believe that the Duanhong Bridge is a relic of the Yuan Dynasty. This location should be on the central axis of the Yuan Dynasty imperial palace, which is also the central axis of the Yuan capital city. The Duanhong Bridge is equivalent to the current Neijinshui Bridge, which was called the Zhou Bridge in the past. Zhou Bridge is three stone bridges arranged side by side, similar to the current five Inner Jinshui Bridges. The current Broken Rainbow Bridge is one of the Three Rainbows, and the other two have passed away, so the one left behind is called the Broken Rainbow Bridge. The current Duanhong Bridge is the middle rainbow of the Three Rainbows in the past, and it is part of the Imperial Road. There are reliefs of dragons on the bridge railings, and these dragons do not fly in the auspicious clouds, but swim among the flowers. It seems that Mongolian dragons are associated with flowers. The Youlong stone carvings we see on the foundation railing of the Qin'an Hall in the Imperial Garden are the same as those here, and those railings were also removed from the architecture of the Yuan Palace. I'll tell you, throughout Chinese dynasties, there have been people who demolished buildings from previous dynasties and built their own houses. Not only Chinese people, but also foreigners, demolishing stones from the castles of the previous dynasty to build their own palaces. The exterior walls of the famous Flavian Arena in Rome, Italy were all demolished. The Duanhong Bridge used to have a flying dragon relief on the middle stone slab of the bridge deck, similar to the current Yulu Dan Emperor Stone. The flying dragon relief was chiseled off in the early Ming Dynasty. A bridge like Duanhong Bridge, which is full of stone carved dragons and little lions, is the only one in the Forbidden City. The others are all cloud dragons or lotus shaped pillars. It is generally believed that Duanhong Bridge is the most beautiful bridge in the Forbidden City. Combined with the Türkiye Bathroom of Yudetang just seen in the Wuying Palace, I'm afraid that these are the only two remaining palaces of the Yuan Dynasty in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. From this bridge component, it can be inferred that the long haired squatting dragons in the Forbidden City are all remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, such as the marble shadow walls inside the gates of Jingren Palace and Yongshou Palace; Those dragon eating grass relief railings are also available, such as a circle of handrails in the Qin'an Hall.

To the north of Duanhong Bridge, there is an ancient tree called Shiba Huai.

During the Yuan Dynasty, large willow trees were planted here. The poet of the Yuan Dynasty once said, "The green and white jade bridge of the willows is forbidden, and the spring scenery is inexplicably adorned with palace robes." This refers to the high willows by the Broken Rainbow Bridge. When Zhu Di built the imperial palace, these tall willows had already passed away, so he ordered the planting of these locust trees on the homeland of the tall willows. These ancient locusts have been around for 600 years, and even if they are not towering, their trunks are one meter thick. According to the GB series of national standards, trees with a diameter at breast height exceeding 100cm and a tree age exceeding 300 years are classified as first-class ancient trees. The ancients had great experience in planting locust willows in the palace, and we don't need to mention the palace willows, as we all know. Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi visited his friends in the imperial city and wrote a poem: "At the end of the Jin Bridge, the moon shines at dawn, and the wind and dew are desolate. The Forbidden City is deep. The willows and locusts in the city palace sway, and sorrow does not reach the hearts of the nobles.".

After seeing the eighteen locusts, continue north and there is a courtyard between the Wuying Hall and the Cining Palace Garden.

This courtyard dates back to the Ming Dynasty, but its function is unknown. During the Qing Dynasty, this was the office of the Guangchu Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Guangchu Department is equivalent to the current finance department and general affairs warehouse, responsible for managing money and goods. He is in charge of all the silver, silk, leather, and tea warehouses. Now this is the office complex of the direct unit of the Palace Museum, with a sign hanging at the entrance. In the early Qing Dynasty, there was also a Ruyi Hall here, which was a place where imperial painters painted. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi moved the Ruyi Hall to the North Five behind the East Six Palaces.

By the way, there is also a warehouse outside the north wall of this courtyard that he manages, which is the ice cellar. It is now one of the sub numbers of the Palace Museum restaurant. Another thing related to the ice cellar inside is that you can buy popsicles, which are definitely not from the Qing Dynasty. You can eat them with confidence.

Before freezing every year, the water in the Guanzi River outside the palace needs to be drained, the river channel cleaned, and new water added. It is the clear water at the foot of Yuquan Mountain in the western suburbs, without pollution. Ancient pollution was a scarce strategic resource that was not commonly seen in certain areas. After the winter solstice, after a non day long cold, the moat water froze three feet. At this moment, the hardworking eunuchs in the palace came here to keep warm. They cut the ice on the river into one and a half foot square ice bricks and transported them to the ice cellar above. Everyone was working feverishly, sweating profusely and sweating profusely, extremely hot. This ice cellar has four cellars and can store over 5000 ice bricks. The emperor sent someone to the ice cellar the following summer to fetch ice and cool it, and added snow seeds to the refrigerators of all sizes in the palace. At that time, the refrigerators in the palace were not as front doors as we are now. They were all top doors and had wire enamel, which was quite luxurious. Although there were refrigerators in the palace back then, there were no air conditioners, only manual fans, and the emperor could not enjoy the air conditioning and cold air of ordinary people's homes today. Did ordinary people have refrigerators in their homes back then? There are also, but they are all officials of the royal family or in luxury hotels. Where does ice come from? It definitely doesn't come from the Tongzi River. It usually comes from the moat and other water bodies, just outside the city wall of Beijing, and now it is surrounded by the Second Ring Road. There is an ice cellar just outside the entrance of Xinjiekou, which is the place where civilian ice blocks are stored. There is also the place name "Ice Cellar Entrance". In fact, this ice cellar contains a lot of ingredients used by the imperial court, and most of the ice is still supplied to the palace because the scale of the ice cellar in the palace is too small to serve the royal family through the summer heat. After the ice cellar outside Xinjiekou was abandoned, the pit where ice blocks were stored was transformed into the current Youth Lake. Other places in Beijing used to have such ice cellars.

Further north leads to the Cining Palace, continue to look behind.

(To be continued)