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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The Later Three Palaces are the sleeping quarters of the emperor and empress, and the Qianqing Gate is its main entrance. Because the east-west direction is very long and the north-south distance is not wide, the square in front of Qianqing Gate is still called Hengjie. The intersection of the Qianqing Gate Square Cross Street and the central axis from the Meridian Gate to the Shenwu Gate is the central point of the imperial palace. There is another street like this in front of Tiananmen Square, which is also called Tianjie. From Tiananmen Square to the east, there used to be several buildings on the street. The first one is the left gate of Chang'an, approximately at the intersection of the Labor People's Cultural Palace; Then there are the East Three Gates, approximately at the intersection of Nanchizi Road; There is another archway further east, which is Dongdan Archway. There are also several buildings to the west of Tiananmen Square, such as the Chang'an Right Gate at the intersection of Zhongshan Park Gate; The West Sanzuo Gate at the intersection of Nanchang Street and the Xidan Archway at the intersection of Xidan. Chang'an Street comes from the left and right gates of Chang'an. In the old photo of the founding ceremony below, you can see the image of the troops passing through the left gate of Chang'an. A few years ago, a Xidan archway was rebuilt at the Xidan Cultural Square for everyone to see.

There are also doors at the east and west ends of the cross street in front of Qianqing Palace, with Jingyun Gate to the east.

To the west is the Longzong Gate, and the two gates are the same. Take a look at the Longzong Sect.

These two doors are both five bay wide building style gates, with a yellow glazed tile single eaved gable roof above them. The Longzong Gate faces west, with five rooms and three openings. The middle three rooms are the main gate, and the door leaf is located at the back golden pillar, which is called the Golden Pillar Gate. On both sides of the three main gates are the branches. If you pay attention, you will find that the doors on the surrounding palace walls of the first three halls, including the side doors and side doors, are not stomping up and down in front, but on the Jiangzhuan Road, both inside and outside. Why is it like this? I guess it should be to make it easier for the horses to walk or for the imperial carriage to enter and exit.

Outside the gate of Longzong is the Cining Palace, with a main road leading to Xihua Gate, and then you can go to Xiyuan for leisure. So, this is a passage between the Inner Court and the Outer Court. In general, nobles and ministers go through the Donghua Gate, where they go through the inner relatives. After the emperor grew older, he often stationed himself in the Imperial Garden in the western suburbs, which was more comfortable than in the palace. As a result, some people went up from the Western Garden to heaven. Although the soul has left, the skin bag still needs to return to the palace to rest. These skin bags will come in through this Longzong Gate and walk to the Qianqing Palace.

After Qianlong, Jiaqing became the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In the 16th year of the Jiaqing reign (1811 AD), there was a Baiyang sect in Anyang, Henan Province. They also had a branch in Daxing, Beijing, with a leader named Lin Qing. Lin Qing later became the leader of the Tianli Sect and formulated a plan to capture the imperial palace and drive the Manchu people back to their hometown in Northeast China. In the 18th year of the Jiaqing reign, the emperor went to the south for investigation, and now the opportunity came. Lin Qing led a militia of over a hundred people and divided into two routes to attack the Forbidden City from Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate. They also developed several eunuchs as insiders in advance, doing auxiliary work such as opening doors and coaxing rice seedlings. At the time of the incident, they actually broke into the Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate, and the Western Militia attacked the Longzong Gate. At this time, only the princes in the palace followed their master to read books and newspapers. The personal soldiers are engaged in a fierce battle with the militia, and their daily martial arts skills are gradually gaining the upper hand. Emperor Jiaqing received a report that someone had taken a shortcut, so he issued an urgent order to the princes: it's time to test you, hurry up and bring your musket to charge me. The second son of the emperor, Minning, charged at the front with a gun. Of course, the cold weapons of the militia could not withstand the guns of the officers and soldiers. With a single shot, they killed most of the militia. At first glance, the militia had no choice but to shoot arrows, causing a flurry of arrows and many officers and soldiers to fall. In the end, the firearms of the officers and soldiers won, and the entire militia was annihilated. The imperial palace did not mention whether the urgent order for Jiaqing was sent by telegram or telephone, why was it so timely? After returning from Jiaqing, when he arrived at the crime scene, he found that there was an omission in cleaning the battlefield, and a cluster of arrows was still left on the plaque of "Longzong Gate". He asked to leave the arrow cluster there and make it a warning arrow cluster. Then I went back to my room and wrote an "edict to punish myself", which was filled with "sudden changes that are truly inexplicable" and "unfortunately, the ministers failed to understand and acted recklessly, resulting in things that were not seen in the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties.". The second son of the emperor, Minning, was later Emperor Daoguang. Later generations discovered that the position and direction of the arrow cluster were very suspicious, suspecting that they had shot an arrow themselves during the Jiaqing survey site. Take a look at this plaque and that arrow cluster.

In addition, there is another cluster of arrows from this battle left on the Longzong Gate, which is on the rafter head under the eaves inside the door. I looked around but didn't see it. Forget it, keep it for you to explore.

Although this place is called Hengjie, its scientific name should still be called Qianqingmen Square. The most authentic building here is undoubtedly the Qianqing Gate, which faces the front Baohe Hall and the back Imperial Road.

The walls on both sides of the Qianqing Gate are crucial, with the exterior facing outward and the interior facing inward. Under normal circumstances, external officials are not allowed to enter the inner palace; Inner relatives are also not allowed to come out.

Look at the Qianqing Gate under the sunset.

The Qianqing Gate is not a court gate like the Taihe Gate, so it doesn't need to be too big. If it's too big, it's just a matter of dominating. Moreover, the emperor works outside, and when he comes home from work, this is the door of his home. Every door should have its own appearance. As a family, the Qianqing Gate is already very impressive. Below it is a five foot high white stone Xumizuo platform with a ring of White Marble handrails. There are three handrails in front, and the middle one is the imperial road taken by the emperor. On this pedestal, the Qianqing Gate is the highest level of building style house gate in the country, and even the Prince's Mansion cannot have such a high-end house gate. Above the base is the gate hall, which is five rooms wide and two rooms deep. The roof of the arch of wooden architecture lifting beam structure, yellow glazed tile single eaves rest on the top of the mountain. Xu Xun's sword is stuck on the back of the Zhengji Owl Kiss, with a big gold chain on his body, and there are five roof figures on the ridge. The middle three rooms open the door, with gray brick sills below and grid sills above. Many terraces in the Forbidden City use this type of white stone, which is actually white marble. There is a Baishi Mountain in Laiyuan, Hebei not far from Beijing, which is part of the Fangshan World Geopark in Beijing. The entire mountain there is made of white marble. I wonder if these white stones in the Forbidden City were collected from there?

Take a look inside the gate hall.

Above is the ceiling of Shuanglong Pingqi, with a golden plaque depicting the gate of Qianqing written in both Manchu and Chinese characters.

The gate is located at the position of the back golden pillar, resulting in the gate hall appearing particularly large.

The pair of glazed eight character screen walls on both sides of the Qianqing Gate are very attractive. The installation of an eight character shadow wall in front of the door is usually to create a square effect in front of the door. This not only provides a larger space in front of the Qianqing Gate, but also fills the visual content of the Qianqing Gate, avoiding the sudden transition from the front three halls to a bare wall that is too abrupt. This shadow wall features a yellow glazed Sumeru pedestal, glazed walls, and a single eaved glazed roof. Inside the square box on the wall is a magnificent glass flower basket. Look at the large glass flower basket.

The pair of gilded bronze lions in front of the gate are the second pair after entering the Forbidden City, and the first pair is in front of the Taihe Gate. In front of the Taihe Gate is a pair of primitive bronze lions, while the Qianqing Gate is gilded.

The two pairs of bronze lions in front of these two main gates were both made in the Ming Dynasty, and the exact age is unknown. It is likely that they were built in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign (1562 AD). Why are these lion's ears droopy? Everyone knows that this symbolizes being indifferent to the secrets of the palace.

In addition to the golden lion, there are other golden objects in front of the Qianqing Gate. There are two golden jars next to the golden lion at the entrance, and four golden jars are sitting under each side of the wall, with numerous knife marks on the surface. These gold tanks are of course used to hold water, they are fire water tanks. Once an open flame rises in the rear three palaces, two teams of eunuchs will run from east to west. One team will jump into the water tank, climb out, and rush into the Qianqing Gate to grab the emperor's edict. The other team also jumped into the water tank, climbed out, and rushed into the Qianqing Gate to grab the Empress's jewelry. Where did you receive these instructions and jewelry after they were snatched out? Not mentioned in historical records.

You see, there is a stone seat under each cylinder, which is not a seat, but a stove. In ancient times, the Hou Guan stove was called "Cuan (Nianchan)". There was a village in Mentougou, Beijing, named Cuanxia because the surrounding mountains resembled Cuan. In winter, a boiler worker eunuch is responsible for adding water to every cylinder in the palace, and also starting a fire in the stove with a lid on the cylinder. It wasn't until the warm weather of Jingzhe in the following year that the fire was withdrawn.

The Qianqing Gate is the last gate among the five gates of the Zhou system, which is the Road Gate and the Road Sleeping Gate.

As mentioned earlier, during the Ming Dynasty, the early court was located at the Taihe Gate and had regular requirements. The emperor who loved to sleep in the Ming Dynasty the most was Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun. He did not attend court for 28 years, and of course, did not attend the early court. The most diligent emperor of the Ming Dynasty was Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, who arrived every dynasty.

Before the reign of Emperor Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the Regent was in charge of politics, and it was probably at the Gate of Taihe. In the ninth year of the Shunzhi reign (1652 AD), after the reign of Fulin, he was in charge of politics at the Taihe Gate, not every day, but every five days (the fifth, fifteenth, and twenty fifth of each month). After Kangxi came to power, he was very diligent, almost going to court early every day, and was transferred to the Qianqing Gate to listen to politics. In the early days of Shunzhi, he lived in the Baohe Palace, and later moved into the Qianqing Palace after it was repaired. In the early days of Kangxi, he also lived in the Baohe Hall, but later he continued to live in the Qianqing Palace, which was very close to the Qianqing Gate and did not require going up or down stairs. In the early days of Kangxi's reign, he was very busy. I estimate that he changed the imperial gate to Qianqing Gate to save time on the road. Since the Qing Dynasty, he has been listening to politics at Qianqing Gate. After Kangxi, Yongzheng changed the memorial to a confidential one, which was called a small report. With more small reports, there will naturally be fewer public hearings, therefore, since the beginning of Emperor Yongzheng's reign, the number of imperial hearings has decreased. After the reign of Emperor Qianlong, there were even fewer imperial court hearings, with an average of less than 12 times per year during his 60 year reign. During the Xianfeng period, the average frequency was less than five times per year.

The Taihe Gate is a court gate, which can be considered as a national gate. The Ming Dynasty emperor ruled at the national gate. The Qianqing Gate is a sleeping gate, which can be considered as a family gate. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty emperor was stationed at the entrance of the house to listen to politics. The emperor listens to politics at the entrance rather than in the palace, because he wants the heavens to see how he governs. In fact, this is all formalism, and anything that you don't want heaven to know can still be moved inside the palace to do. The emperor shouted loudly "pull out and hit the twenty major boards" inside the palace, and the matter of beheading was quietly completed with a red pen.

There are twelve rooms on each side of the cross street outside the Qianqing Gate, which were built in the Qing Dynasty. A row on the east side, east of the inner left gate, near the Jingyun Gate. That is the waiting place for the ministers of the previous court, called the Nine Ministers' Office. This Jiuqing is just a title and does not specifically refer to Jiuqing. In the Qing Dynasty, Jiuqing did not include the Six Ministries. If specifically referred to, there is no fixed rule, but it usually includes the chief officials of the Imperial Censorate, Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, Taipu Temple, Tongzheng Shi Si, Zongren Fu, and Luanyi Wei, such as "Taichang Temple Qing".

They waited outside the Meridian Gate while listening to politics at the Imperial Gate of Taihe Gate. In the early Qing Dynasty, after the Qianqing Gate, it was changed to wait here, and it was more convenient for ministers to come in from Donghua Gate. There should have been a kang at the earliest in this room, but the ministers were all standing, afraid to cough or sneeze.

To the west of the inner right gate, there is another row of twelve rooms, which was also built in the Qing Dynasty and is a famous military aircraft office.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the Prime Minister and the Central Secretariat, and rolled up his sleeves to personally manage politics. Without anyone to help, of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was exhausted and dizzy. Later on, he came up with many tricks. First, he appointed four auxiliary officials, who were actually deputy officials and couldn't do anything serious. Then, some grand scholars were arranged in various attics to provide advice and suggestions. After Zhu Di arrived in Beijing, he established a cabinet system. At the beginning, the cabinet was the Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, responsible for providing advice and recording the emperor's edicts, which was called the transmission of imperial edicts as a pen. Later, this cabinet began drafting edicts and gained increasing power. When Emperor Jiajing arrived, the cabinet was already the chief decision-making body under the emperor. After Shunzhi entered Beijing, Regent King Dorgon continued the Ming Dynasty cabinet system, with the six ministries working in the corridors on both sides of the Taihe Gate, and the cabinet working in the southern cabinet lobby outside the Donglang Concordia Gate. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he began to send troops to fight in the northwest of Junggar in the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729 AD). During the war, Emperor Yongzheng planned and strategized thousands of miles away, with frequent exchanges of battle orders and reports. The distance between the Cabinet Hall outside the Concord Gate and the Hall of Nurturing Heart is quite far, and outsiders often peep along the way. In order to efficiently transmit information and avoid military aircraft leakage, a military aircraft office has been set up at the location shown in the picture inside the Longzong Gate. This place is closest to the external facing ground of the Heart Nourishing Hall. The door of the Military Aircraft Department is adjacent to the inner right door. After entering the inner right door, you can run two steps to reach the Heart Nourishing Hall. The personnel of the Military Aircraft Department are called Military Aircraft Ministers, all selected from the cabinet, with meticulous thinking, strict confidentiality, and the ability to withstand attacks and build. At the beginning, the Military Aircraft Department mainly handled military affairs, equivalent to the General Staff Department. After the war, he began to preprocess memorials for the emperor, except for confidential ones, which actually served as the emperor's confidential secretariat. Afterwards, the power of the Military Aircraft Department grew stronger and gradually overshadowed the cabinet, and the system of participating in politics by the Chief Councilor was also abolished. The ministers of the Military Aircraft Department are all part-time workers and do not have any wages. The most powerful military minister of the Qing Dynasty was He Shen, as everyone knows.

Look inside the military aircraft department.

In the past, there was a kang in the house, along with tables, chairs, and benches, which were very simple. In summer, there is no air conditioning, so we rely solely on holding a fan to start our own business. Because they are all big bosses, if they are too hot, they will be naked and have no dignity to speak of. In winter, there is no heating, so we can burn the kang. On the third and ninth day, the emperor also gave a stove and coal balls as gifts, and the ministers cooked them themselves. On the stove, they baked sugar cakes and salted fish brought by the family. People who have nothing to do gather around the stove to heat the fire, while those who write are lying on the table and writing vigorously. The Military Aircraft Department is on duty 24 hours a day, and the military aircraft ministers work in three shifts. Once something happens, they will discuss and write an idea on paper, then go out through the opposite door in the picture above, run into the inner right door, and take it to the Heart Nourishing Hall separated by two walls. Since Emperor Yongzheng moved out of the Qianqing Palace in the Qing Dynasty, the emperors have been living in the Hall of Nurturing the Heart.

The Military Aircraft Department began operating for 182 years in the seventh year of the Yongzheng reign, and was abolished in the third year of the Xuantong reign (1911 AD), establishing a responsible cabinet system. Soon after, the Qing Dynasty was destroyed.

Standing on the platform outside the Qianqing Gate, you can see the Qianqing Palace behind you by passing through the gate.

Behind the Qianqing Gate, there is a platform corridor as high as the foundation of the Qianqing Gate, which leads directly to the Qianqing Palace behind. There are White Marble handrails on both sides of the corridor, and the royal road is in the middle of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, there is a higher level platform of the Qianqing Palace, connected by handrails and steps, with a Dan Emperor stone in the middle. There are handrails on both sides of the corridor, leading directly to the ground of Qianqing Palace Square.

Yulu and Erlu are hollow and can be used for walking, called "Tiger Cave". When the emperor was a child playing hide and seek with the palace maids, he often hid here and the adults couldn't even call him.

Of course, there are corresponding decorations on the platform. Like the platform of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there are also four bronze cauldron furnaces here, but they are gilded and more advanced.

Look at the ancient clock and sundial.

If there is a sundial, there will also be a quantity. The Jialiang here is round, gilded with copper, higher than that of the Taihe Hall, while Qianlong imitated Xinmang.

There are copper cranes on the platform of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, as well as here.

You look hard and see the difference from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, right? The bronze crane on the platform of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is standing directly on the White Marble exposure seat, while the crane here is standing in a copper plate on the exposure seat. The copper plate is rolling with waves and towering mountains. This is a three-dimensional version of the Haihai River Cliff. And this copper crane is closed, indicating that there is no loud noise here to avoid affecting the emperor's sleep.

Take a look at the copper turtle again.

Is it different from the Hall of Supreme Harmony? There is also a copper plate with waves inside, but there are no cliffs. This is not a sea or river cliff. Look carefully at the water, there are fish, shrimp, and small turtles. This should be a symbol of the Five Lakes and Four Seas, as well as representing the country. Look at this turtle again, he's not even a genuine turtle! The eldest son of the Dragon King is called Bixi (Nian Bi Xie). Legend has it that at first he carried the three mountains and five peaks to make waves everywhere, but later he was subdued by the Great Yu in controlling the floods. The ancient people used the bi xi to symbolize longevity and auspiciousness, which definitely means that the rivers and mountains will be forever fixed. The current decorations on the platform should all be from the Qianlong period.

Standing next to the copper turtle, tilting your head, you can see a small golden hall outside the railing.

Originally, there were decorations under the platform, and the small golden hall above was called the Jiangshan Sheji Golden Hall.

Stepping down the handrail on the side of the platform, you can carefully admire this small golden hall. There is one on each side of the platform. There is a square one foot high plain faced stone base below it, a step to the south, and a circle of handrails around it. This is not White Marble, but white stone. On the pillar is not the head of the Yunlong pillar, but the little lion. On the foundation of the platform is a three story stone house stacked together, called Wenshi Terrace, which is also made of white stone. The relief carvings on it are full of seawater and river cliffs. The lower floor is quite high, and the small door to the south can accommodate an adult eunuch. The eunuch entered for nothing else, just to ascend to the roof and offer incense to the Little Golden Palace. The height of the Wenshi Platform is the same as that of the Qianqing Palace Platform, so standing on the platform can see the entire view of the Xiaojin Hall. The Xiaojin Palace is extremely high-end, with a copper gilded structure and a faux wood structure. The square pavilion with double eaves at four corners is surrounded by four waist eaves below, the round and sharp roof above, and the Baozhu Ridge Temple sits on the dew bearing plate. Each side is equipped with four doors with four plastered partitions, three intersecting six lotus lattice flowers, a round dragon relief skirt board, and a double dragon and seal on the horizontal beam. There are arch of wooden architecture, beams, beams, purlins and rafters under the eaves, and there are many ridge snouts, roof figures and end beasts on the eaves. The casting of this small golden hall is very exquisite, making people marvel at it. These two Jiangshan Sheji Golden Temples were added during the renovation of the imperial palace in Beijing by Shunzhi.

A high-end Dongdong is also installed next to the Xiaojin Hall.

This Dongdong is a pedestal called a sky lamp. There is no lamp post set up now, and copper plates are placed inside. Every year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, when the copper plate is removed, an iron sleeve can be seen inside, which is inserted into a ten meter long lamp post with a cantilever at the top. On New Year's Eve, the first day of the lunar new year, and from the 14th to the 16th, a red lantern should be hung on the cantilever, and on other days, a lantern couplet should be hung. On the lantern couplets, auspicious words must be written, which were already written in the Ming Dynasty and continued to be displayed in the Qing Dynasty. There is a sky lamp on one side below the pedestal, and one on each side of the red pavilion above the pedestal. The one above the pedestal is called the Wanshou Lamp. The difference between a longevity lantern and a sky lantern is that it has eight cantilevers on top and requires hanging eight light strings instead of eight lanterns. After the Qingdao light, these lights no longer hang up. I don't know if the Palace Museum will hang the sky lanterns and longevity lanterns during the Chinese New Year every year now.

Take a look at the pedestal of the Wanshou Lamp on the pedestal, one on each side of the east and west sides of the Danchi.

After looking around, it's time to take a good look at the main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

The Qianqing Palace was originally built by Zhu Di as a sleeping palace, and has been burned down for hundreds of years, and has been rebuilt several times. The current main hall was rebuilt in the third year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1798 AD), more than two hundred years ago. "Qian" naturally means heaven, and the universe is heaven and earth. "Qianqing" means that the sky is pure, which means "there are no clouds floating in the blue sky".

Below the Palace of Heavenly Purity is a nearly six foot high bluestone base. On the base is the platform, with a ring of White Marble handrails. The main hall is seven rooms wide and five rooms deep, with arch of wooden architecture beam lifting structure and eaves gallery around. Above is the roof of the double eaved veranda with yellow glazed tiles, and there are nine roof figures on the vertical ridge.

There are painted and gilded double dragons and seals on the horizontal beam. The Mingjian and Dongxicijian are the highest standard six door partitions, with three intersecting six lotus lattice flowers and a coiled dragon woodcut skirt board. Green brick sills and square windows between the eastern and western branches. The Qianqing Palace during the Ming Dynasty was like this. When Shunzhi entered Beijing to rebuild the Qianqing Palace, a smaller palace was built to accommodate the Empress Dowager, while he himself lived in the front Baohe Hall. Later, according to the Ming system, the Qianqing Palace was rebuilt and he moved in by himself.

During the epidemic, our audience was not allowed to approach and could only stand at the steps in front of the hall, squinting their eyes and looking inside through the gate. The main hall is covered with golden bricks and covered with floor tiles, and the warm pavilions are enclosed between the east and west, making it much smaller than the Taihe Hall in front. In order to increase the interior space of the hall, the front golden pillar was subtracted. There is a back screen between the golden pillars, and in front of the back screen is a yellow sandalwood platform with a throne on it. There are some decorations around the throne, including a smoking stove (multi-layer pavilion), a crane, and an incense burner (should be called Yan, Nian Yan), all of which are enamel.

On both sides of the back screen, there is a pair of couplets on the golden pillars, which read "Conquer breadth and benevolence, and the emperor builds its excellence", "Only with excellence and uniqueness, the ultimate way is to bow and bow.". This is a question from Emperor Qianlong, which said that one must have both a benevolent heart and a legal system, which emphasizes both kindness and authority. Above the screen is the famous "Zhengda Guangming" plaque.

The position of this plaque is very magical. It is not as profound as the plaque in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but it is not as close to the door as the plaque in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Every year around the winter solstice, the sun reaches its lowest altitude in Beijing. At around noon, the sun flies from east to west in front of the main hall, and the sunlight enters the Qianqing Hall through the Mingjian Gate. This sunlight is reflected by the golden bricks on the ground to form a beam of golden light, which sweeps from west to east on the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque and the five golden dragons below. This is one of the several scenic spots where the people of Beijing gather to take photos in winter: to see the golden light sweeping over the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque, and another famous one is to go to the Summer Palace to see the "Golden Light piercing through the hole". This winter solstice falls on Monday, and the Forbidden City is closed for one day. I came to observe this wonderful time on the second day of the winter solstice. At 11 o'clock in the morning, a line of photographers had already been arranged in front of the Mingjian Gate of the Qianqing Palace, and the cameras stood tightly on a tripod from low to high, without any ventilation. It is said that the one with the best position was waiting outside the gate of the Forbidden City early in the morning, and rushing all the way to occupy the C position. I can't snatch them away, so I can only go to the entrance of the second room to enjoy this scene, and also watch from afar as the middle road photographers compete for seats and fight. The picture I took above was taken at 12:00 noon on August 20, 2020, with a scattered light effect. Take a look at the following photo taken at noon on the day after the winter solstice, focusing on light.

You see, the shadow of the wooden carved dragon head in the middle of the screen cap is perfectly aligned with the middle of the five golden dragons on the five dragon plaques above, with light shining in the middle and slightly dim on both sides. The most accurate moment is 12:04:45 noon. Why isn't it exactly 12 o'clock? The first possibility is that the central axis of the main hall is not aligned with the longitude line and is not due south or north. The second reason is that the central axis of the Forbidden City is not on the longitude line of Beijing time. Beijing time is 120 degrees east longitude, while Beijing's longitude is 116.4 degrees east longitude. According to this data calculation, the sun should pass through the central axis of Beijing at 12:14:28 seconds. I took a photo at 12:14:42, and it looks like this.

how? Obviously not in the middle! The front one is closer to the center, let's say it's 12:05:00. Why was it advanced? The accurate longitude of the Qianqing Palace is 116.397009, while the Yongding Gate is 116.399361, is it heading east? In this way, considering both longitude error and directional deviation, the time when the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque is illuminated in the middle is approximately 12:04:45 noon before and after the winter solstice.

In fact, besides the Qianqing Palace, the "Jianji Suiyou" plaque in the Hall of Supreme Harmony will also be illuminated like here. However, the ancient style of "Jianji Suiyou" is too strong and not as close to modern Chinese as "Zhengda Guangming". So, coming to the Qianqing Palace to see the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque becomes more popular. Look at the "Jianji Suiyou" plaque illuminated by golden light on the winter solstice at 11:00:37 on the day of the 2021 winter solstice.

Why is it 11 o'clock instead of 12 o'clock? The "Jianji Suiyou" plaque in the Hall of Supreme Harmony is both higher and more profound. In addition, there is a lintel blocking the entrance of the Ming Dynasty, so the sunlight entering from the main entrance of the Ming Dynasty at 12 o'clock cannot shine on that plaque. The picture I captured above shows sunlight shining through the entrance of the East Second Room. There is no lintel blocking the entrance, and the angle of the sun is lower, allowing for further illumination. Therefore, the "Jianji Suiyou" plaque was illuminated one hour earlier. Of course, one hour after 12 o'clock, this plaque will be illuminated again, when sunlight enters through the West Gate.

Zhengda Guangming originated from Zhu Xi, a Song Dynasty scholar, who believed that if the heart of Fan Gong were true, then his righteousness and righteousness would be steadfast and without any long-standing grievances, and the righteousness of justice and righteousness would truly embody the country. The meaning is to look at people from the front, and to see areas illuminated by light from the front; That is to say, having an open mind and not hiding anything in one's life and actions. This plaque was originally inscribed by Emperor Shunzhi during the reconstruction of the Qianqing Palace in the 13th year of Shunzhi's reign (1656 AD). During the Ming Chongzhen period before Shunzhi, the plaque at this position was "Respecting the Heavenly Ancestor". After Kangxi took office, when he moved into the Qianqing Palace, he saw that his father's plaque was not very shiny, so he copied it and made a new one, and covered it with his own hand poke "Kangxi Treasure". In the second year of the Jiaqing reign (1797 AD), during the reconstruction after the great fire, Emperor Qianlong copied and remade a "Zhengda Guangming" plaque to hang, and stamped it with his own hand stamp "Emperor's Treasure". He moved the "Kangxi Treasure" to the upper right corner in front, which is the replica we see now.

Although this Qianqing Palace has a "righteous and bright" plaque, compared to the ceremonies on the table in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the stories in the Qianqing Palace are not all straightforward. During the Ming Dynasty, the Qianqing Palace was the emperor's sleeping quarters, with nine bedrooms upstairs and downstairs, all without windows, right? There is more than one bed in each dormitory, and Han people use it as a bed. Later, when everyone was full, they slept on a kang. The emperor sleeps in a certain room or bed every day, constantly appearing and disappearing, making it impossible for outsiders to guess. The Emperor will announce to the Empress or a certain concubine to enter the palace in the evening, and there is a secret way to determine whether to go to Room 101 or Room 203 for pleasure. Don't be fooled by the emperor's cunning calculations, but there must be a slip in every hundred secrets. Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Houcong, detested politics and enjoyed alchemy, and extensively collected treasures from young palace maids for alchemy. Legend has it that collecting treasures and refining pills caused palace maids to change their minds. On a dark night when Empress Cao entered the Qianqing Palace, palace maids gathered to sneak into the palace and almost strangled Emperor Jiajing with yellow silk, but were not caught. After the defeat, Emperor Jiajing not only destroyed these palace maids, but also confiscated the yellow silk as an official. It is the Renyin Palace Incident, and the year of Renyin in Jiajing was the 21st year (1542 AD). After this incident occurred in the Qianqing Palace, Jiajing dared not live in the palace anymore. He moved to the West Garden and also moved the alchemy furnace together. This West Garden is not the current Yuanmingyuan, but the garden west of the Imperial Palace outside Xihuamen, which is now Zhongnanhai. Until the second to last day of his life, he was left on his sickbed and moved back to the Qianqing Palace. The next day, he fell to his roots. This incident illustrates two things. Firstly, Emperor Jiajing should not expose his whereabouts without proper discipline; The second reason is that yellow silk is not as effective as white silk. If palace maids used white silk at that time, Emperor Jiajing might have been in danger.

In the 48th year of the Ming Dynasty's Wanli reign (1620 AD), after the death of Emperor Wanli, the grandson of Emperor Jiajing, Crown Prince Zhu Changluo ascended to the throne and became Emperor Taichang. Just ten days after the coronation ceremony, the 38 year old strong emperor fell ill with great joy and sorrow. He took away the imperial physician and took a pair of medicine from eunuch Cui Wensheng, but he couldn't even put on his pants and passed out on the toilet. He heard that Li Kezhuo, who is equivalent to the current Chief of Protocol, Honglu Temple Chief, has a divine medicine. He obtained several red pills from Mount Emei in his early years and insisted on taking three of them. After Li Kezhuo brought the pill into the Qianqing Palace, he indeed gave the Taichang Emperor three pills to feed your mother. I didn't want the emperor to get up first and then lie down, and I also passed away three days later. I only became the emperor for a month. Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao, who succeeded him, investigated the "Red Pill Case" for a year. In the end, because it was the responsibility of Emperor Taichang to take medicine himself, he had to symbolically punish several officials who were feeding the medicine to complete the matter. Emperor Taichang was the saddest emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and few people still remember a Taichang year in the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Changluo ascended the throne, his son Zhu Youxiao and his beloved concubine Li Xuanshi also moved into the Qianqing Palace. After Zhu Changluo's death, his beloved concubine Li Xuanshi relied on the Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao to raise her and stayed in the Qianqing Palace without leaving. She also blocked Zhu Youxiao from ascending the throne, clearly intending to participate in political affairs. At this time, Zhu Youxiao was already sixteen years old but still undecided. Li Xuanshi asked the eunuch to deliver a message to the cabinet ministers, saying, "Every day, you must first read the chapter before presenting it to me, and then you must listen to political punishment from behind the curtain.". Below, the minister accompanied Zhu Youxiao with a small sedan chair (also known as the Shoulder Yu) to fight against Li Xuanshi in the Wenhua Hall, similar to how Cao Cao held the emperor hostage and ordered the world. Finally, Li Xuanshi was moved out of the Qianqing Palace to the predecessor of the Cining Palace, the Renshou Hall, for retirement. Zhu Youxiao immediately ascended to the throne as Emperor Tianqi. This became a case in the Ming Dynasty called the Palace Relocation Case. This year of many events was the 48th year of the Wanli reign, the first year of Taichang, and finally the first year of Tianqi was declared, which was 1620 AD. Three different reign titles were created in a year, and almost caused the Ming Dynasty's hanging curtains to listen to politics.

Don't be fooled by Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor of the late Ming Dynasty, who was very diligent and almost listened to politics every day; But he was stubborn, indecisive, and ultimately managed the Ming Dynasty in a state of continuous decline, ultimately leading to the emergence of a rebellious king named Li Zicheng. In the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign (1644 AD), the vanguard army arrived at the outskirts of Beijing, and Zhu Youjian wrote a final edict in the Qianqing Palace. He sent the princes to their relatives for hiding, and the concubines each cut themselves a white silk and even cut the princess with knives. Finally, I went to the old locust tree on the eastern slope of Jingshan, hanging from the slanted branches of the tree. In the 277 year world of the Ming Dynasty, once abandoned, this is a farewell letter he wrote on a yellow robe before climbing a tree.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Qianqing Palace was repaired twice from the beginning. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645 AD), he made do with some repairs, but the emperor refused to move in. In the thirteenth year of the Shunzhi reign, it was well repaired and the emperor finally moved in. After living for a few years and leaking rain, the emperor stopped living again. In the eighth year of Kangxi's reign (1669 AD), at the request of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, Kangxi moved from the Baohe Hall to the Qianqing Palace for residence. Kangxi not only slept here, but also worked here. From then on, the Qianqing Palace changed from a sleeping palace to a bilingual hall for both Manchu and Chinese, with both political and sleeping functions.

Kangxi was very powerful, having been in politics for 61 years, and Yang Shou was 68 years old. Although Kangxi's foreign affairs are quite good, the family affairs are very Congee. The princes stare at each other and pinch each other's eyes, almost turning the sky. Finally, Prince Yong, the fourth son who lived farthest from the palace, Yin Zhen, was appointed as Emperor Yongzheng. The imperial edict of Kangxi was bilingual between Manchu and Chinese, and there were no simplified characters back then, so the saying of "passing down the position of fourteen sons" is purely a modern misconception. At that time, it was the princes and their accomplices who fabricated the suspicion of Yongzheng's succession that the failed attempts to seize the throne were suppressed by Yongzheng. These princes and the remnants of their accomplices in modern times have continued to create misleading statements about the succession of fourteen sons, which are not worth refuting.

After Kangxi left, his coffin was parked in the Qianqing Palace according to regulations, which was a rule of the Qing Dynasty, and it is probably the same for the Ming Dynasty. It is unknown whether this has been tested. How many days will it stop? Maybe it's not a multiple of seven days, but it's definitely longer than seven days. It all depends on how well the Shouhuang Hall or Guande Hall are prepared behind Jingshan. Wherever the emperor goes, he must return to the Qianqing Palace and lie down for a few more days, so that the new emperor can stay in the Qianqing Palace to guard the spirit. After Yongzheng came to power, he had some resentment towards his father for not arranging his succession smoothly. Yongzheng was unwilling to watch over his father's spirit in his heart, so he refused to live in the Qianqing Palace. He instructed the Zao Office to turn the Yangxin Hall where they worked into a house and move in. His excuse was that the Qianqing Palace was the place where his father had lived for sixty years, and he couldn't bear to live there himself. He wanted to go to the Yangxin Palace to observe filial piety for twenty-seven months. Filial piety is also quite serious. During this period, one cannot eat meat or drink alcohol, but can only eat vegetarian food; I can't be intimate with the queen, I can only face the wall late at night. As a result, the Qianqing Palace was no longer inhabited by people, but rather the daily office of the emperor. You see, the Qianqing Palace has been built several times since its completion until the emperor's downfall, and its function has evolved from a dual-purpose palace for the emperor's sleeping and political affairs to a palace for the emperor to handle daily affairs.

Here, you can count the five gates and three dynasties in the Forbidden City. The five gates corresponding to the Zhou system are Gaomen Tiananmen, Kumen Duanmen, Zhimen Wumen, Yingmen Taihe Gate, and Lumen Qianqing Gate. The three dynasties corresponding to the Zhou system are the Outer Court Taihe Gate (renamed Qianqing Gate in the Qing Dynasty), the Imperial Court Taihe Hall, and the Yan Dynasty Qianqing Palace.

(To be continued)