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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In 2020, a novel coronavirus epidemic broke out, which was highly infectious and the whole country rose up to fight against it. The simplest and most effective way to resist infectious diseases is through isolation. By isolating each other, we can avoid mutual transmission. So during the epidemic, it is necessary to reduce personnel gatherings and travel. In this way, long-distance travel must be avoided as much as possible. I couldn't travel and couldn't quit my gaming addiction, so I applied for an annual pass to the Forbidden City and focused on it. This has a very good effect. The Palace Museum annual ticket belongs to wholesale price, and you can enter the Palace Museum ten times a year at half price each time. During the epidemic, the Forbidden City restricted passenger flow, unlike usual crowds, and did not always apologize to people for stepping on their heels; You don't need to squat down frequently to lift your shoes, because someone has stepped on the heel of the shoe. Another point is that you don't need to make an appointment to visit the Forbidden City with an annual ticket. You can enter at any time, but it's not possible on Mondays. There will be no guests during the Palace Museum inventory on Mondays. Traveling for a year and entering ten times, of course, you can take a full look at the open area of the Forbidden City and even take a closer look. In closed areas, you can look around the wall for gaps in the door and peek into the world between them. After a year, be sure to write a series of posts to record your impressions and share what you see and think with the viewers when you come back.

I saw the ancient city walls of Beijing earlier and said that they are nested. The outermost part is Yuan Dadu Tucheng, the inner walls of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the outer walls of the southern city, the imperial city, and the palace city, also known as the imperial palace. A hundred years ago, the emperors in the palace went to Changping to the north, Zunhua to the east, and Yixian to the west in batches. Now, they have all settled in those places.

In Chinese history, the houses where emperors lived were called palaces, while the houses of the founding emperor Ying Zheng were called Xianyang Palace. Xianyang Palace was a mansion built by Ying Zheng before the unification of China. In fact, it was built by Ying Quliang, the grandfather of his grandfather, Qin Xiaogong. After the construction, Qin Xiaogong moved the capital from Liyang (Nianyueyang) to Xianyang. After Ying Si, the son of Duke Xiaogong of Qin, succeeded him and proclaimed himself king, becoming the first Qin king named Qin Huiwen. His concubine Mi Yue said that the Zhanghua Palace in his hometown of Chu was good, and she pestered King Huiwen of Qin to build a high imitation Zhanghua Palace. King Huiwen of Qin built another Zhangtai Palace in Xianyang and moved in with Mi Yue. In the future, various Qin kings also expanded the Xianyang Palace. When Ying Zheng became the King of Qin, he won the world and began to build a real imperial palace in the 35th year of Qin Shi Huang (212 BC), which was the Afang Palace. So, the first real imperial palace in China was the Afang Palace, but it was not completed before the Qin Dynasty passed away. After Liu Bang gained control of the Qin Dynasty, he built his own imperial palace on the basis of the Qin Zhangtai Palace, and it was actually built, which was the Weiyang Palace. This is the first imperial palace built in Chinese history, and the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty have lived here for generations. "Weiyang" in the Western Han Dynasty means "long live", but it is more poetic. In the Book of Songs, it is said "How is the night? Weiyang at night, the light of the courtyard is burning.". The Weiyang Palace was built in the ninth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han in Liu Bang (198 BC). There was a usurpation of power by Wang Mang between the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, who treated the Weiyang Palace as his own imperial palace. The revolutionary army of the Red Eyebrow and Green Forest heroes overthrew Wang Mang and burned down the largest imperial palace in the world at that time, the Weiyang Palace. After Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu recaptured Jiangshan, he established the capital of Luoyang and turned the original southern palace of Luoyang into an imperial palace, while also building the northern palace. When Emperor Yang of Sui moved the capital to Luoyang, the Northern and Southern palaces were destroyed. He built a new imperial palace called Ziwei City, which was the largest imperial palace in Chinese history. Not to mention the world's largest, the smallest imperial palaces in China are all the largest in the world. Ziwei City covers an area of 4.2 million square meters, with the current Forbidden City costing 720000 yuan and the Palace of Versailles in France having a construction area of 110000 yuan.

After the Han Dynasty, the Daming Palace in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty was also very famous, with an area of 3.2 million square meters. The imperial palace in Bianliang during the Song Dynasty was not very famous, but its gardens were the most famous, which was "Genyue (Nian and Yue)". This garden was built by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty in the seventh year of Zhenghe (1117 AD). The earliest ancient palace relics in the world today all come from this garden, which is the Genyue Stone. Many of the rockeries in Beijing's royal gardens are Genyue stones from Bianliang.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the capitals of various dynasties in China have been located in Beijing. If half of the capital relocation is also included, then we need to start counting from Jinzhong City. The imperial palace in Beijing is the only preserved ancient imperial mansion, very complete. Although its scale was not significant in history, it is still the world's largest imperial palace today.

Beijing first became the capital of Yan during the Western Zhou Dynasty, which cannot be compared to the capital of Zhou, Haojing. It was not until the fifth year of the Tiande reign of the Jin Dynasty (1153 AD) that Prince Hailing, Wanyan Liang, moved his capital to Beijing as the capital of Jinzhong, that Beijing became the true capital. The Jinzhongdu city is located outside the southeast corner of the Second Ring Road in Beijing, with almost no trace left, and the palace of King Hailing has no trace left. The few imprints left by Jinzhongdu in Beijing include a place name called "Huicheng Gate", which is a gate on the north wall of Jinzhongdu. Follow the Beifengwo Road on the east side of the former Ministry of Railways and the current Railway Corporation to the south at the second station, and that place is called Huichengmen.

In the tenth year of Emperor Taizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1215 AD), when General Mu Huali under the command of Tie Muzhen attacked Jinzhongdu, he not only occupied Jinzhongdu but also burned down the city. This year was also the third year of Jin Zhenyou and the eighth year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty, in which Kublai Khan was born. Forty five years later, in the first year of the Zhongtong era (1260 AD), Kublai Khan proclaimed himself the Great Khan of Mongolia. Four years later, in the first year of the Zhiyuan era (1264 AD), it was decided to establish Beijing as the capital and establish Dayuan. Because the city walls of Jinzhongdu had been destroyed, most of the Yuan Dynasty built by Kublai Khan had to start anew. In addition to leaving behind the Tucheng ruins, Yuan Dadu also has a monument for building the city in Beijing, which is equivalent to laying the foundation stone. This is the "Dushan and Yuhai (Du Nian Reading)" that I saw last time I went to the Beihai Tuancheng.

The imperial palace of Ming Dynasty Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was located in Nanjing. After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di moved his capital to Beijing, he built a new palace that was basically the same as the Ming Palace in Nanjing. In fact, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had long wanted to move the capital north. Crown Prince Zhu Biao was infected with the virus while visiting Luoyang to investigate the feasibility of the new capital. Shortly after returning to Nanjing, he passed away in the ICU. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that this was the wrath of heaven, so he sadly gave up the plan to relocate the capital. In the third year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1370 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang conferred the title of King of Yan on his ten year old fourth son, Zhu Di; In the ninth year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Di married the eldest daughter of the great general Xu Da; In the thirteenth year of the Hongwu reign, at the age of twenty, Zhu Di moved into Beijing as a vassal state. Of course, he can't live in the Yuan Palace. Isn't that a way to compete with his father? So, Zhu Di immediately eradicated the Yuan Palace and only used its land and some building components to build the Yan Prince's Mansion. When he made up his mind to move the capital to Shuntian Prefecture in Beijing, he had to build a new imperial palace. This is the origin of the Forbidden City now. Before Zhu Di, the emperors of all dynasties in China were centered around the emperor, with the feudal lords guarding the border. Zhu Di's relocation to Beijing marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's era of "the emperor guarding the border". Zhu Yuanzhang led the army to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and defeat the Mongolian army; When Zhu Di established the new imperial palace in Beijing, the Americas, Australia, and Africa were still primitive societies, and Europe experienced a non combat reduction of one-third of its population due to the outbreak of the Black Death, which was in the "dark Middle Ages". This is the world pattern at the time of the establishment of the Ming Palace, and the Ming Dynasty is the largest and most developed dynasty in the world, without one.

Zhu Di also pondered over the young man from planning to move the capital to actually taking action. In the first year of Yongle (1403 AD), he instructed Yao Guangxiao to order the Ministry of Rites, Li Shangshu, to report the establishment of Beiping as the capital, and later initiated a motion to move the capital. After quelling the opposition to moving the capital, it took ten years to prepare materials, wood, and stone throughout the country. The construction of the new imperial palace began in the fifteenth year of Yongle, and the completion of the Beijing imperial palace was in the eighteenth year of Yongle (1420 AD). The project manager for the construction of the new imperial palace, which was conferred by Zhu Diqin at that time, was the Marquis of Taining, named Chen Gui. The construction of the imperial palace within four years indicates that Chinese people have been obsessed with infrastructure since ancient times. Zhu Di not only built the capital of Beijing, but also brought a large number of people from the south to Beijing as northerners, with hundreds of thousands of them. In ancient times, emperors claimed to be the emperor descending to the mortal world, and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace, so purple represents the Emperor Laozi. The palace where the emperor resides must not allow the people to enter, it is the Forbidden City, so the emperor's house is called the Forbidden City. The construction of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty formed a fixed format of official architecture, as well as the eight major works of Chinese architecture. The construction group during this period was the Xiangshan Gang in Suzhou, led by Kuai Xiang's "Kuai Lu Ban", who had previously served as a minister in the Ministry of Works. In the Qing Dynasty, it was the Lei family from Jiangxi who presided over the construction of royal architecture, known as the Style Lei. The eight major works include earth, stone, building materials, wood, tile, oil, painting, and pasting. On the New Year's Day of the 19th year of the Yongle reign, Zhu Di held a grand opening ceremony for the new imperial palace and issued the "Beijing Palace Completion Decree". A total of 100000 people from the Manchu civil and military, foreign missions, and representatives from various sectors of the capital came to the palace to congratulate Zhu Di, and to visit the three courtyards in front of the imperial palace, which was 600 years earlier than my visit to the Forbidden City.

The change of the character "Gong" from oracle bone script to modern Chinese characters is not very significant. At the beginning, it was a circle of walls outside and two courtyards inside. The wall must be designed to prevent outsiders from entering and to prevent palace maids from getting lost. The two courtyards are like sleeping in front of each other. Usually, ordinary people only have one courtyard in their homes. In Beijing, a formal quadrangle house is called "Eight Room Courtyard". The three northern rooms are the main room, the two eastern rooms, the two western rooms, and the one sitting upside down in the south room, totaling eight rooms. There are five north rooms, three east and west wing rooms, and two south rooms in a high-end family, totaling thirteen rooms. There are several large households entering the yard, so there are more houses. According to the observation records of the ancient Qintian Observatory, the Purple Micro Palace of the Heavenly Emperor had ten thousand rooms. Legend has it that when Zhu Di built the imperial palace, he had half a room less than the Ziwei Palace, which means there were 999 and a half rooms. There is no archaeological evidence for this number, and it is not recorded in the Ming Records, only limited to legends. The room we are referring to is a room with four pillars and a roof. After several hundred years of continuous renovation and demolition, the Forbidden City had 980 houses and 8704 rooms by the time of the census in the 1970s. Even if there are more than a thousand rooms missing, who can match them?

Zhu Di's Forbidden City referred to the imperial city, and it was not until the Ming Dynasty, after Emperor Zhu Qiyu, that the Forbidden City specifically referred to the palace city, which is now the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City has been built for six hundred years and has suffered several fires during this period. Although it was almost rebuilt in the early Qing Dynasty, it is still quite unbearable now. In October 2002, the Forbidden City launched a hundred year renovation project, with a plan of nineteen years, to be completed when the Forbidden City was completed six hundred years ago.

Look at the gate of the imperial city.

Yes, the main gate of the imperial city is Tiananmen Square! In the Ming Dynasty, it was called Chengtian Gate, which is basically the same as Chengtian Gate in Nanjing Ming Imperial City. "Chengtian" originates from the Book of Changes, which states that "the ultimate essence of the universe is the birth of all things, which is in accordance with Chengtian.". When Qing Shunzhi went to Beijing to rebuild the imperial palace, it was renamed Tiananmen Square and has been in use ever since. "Tian'an" means "to be entrusted by heaven and govern the country in peace.". Tiananmen Square is the largest existing ancient city gate in the world. The city platform is over sixty meters long, and above it is the city tower. The city tower has a width of nine rooms and a depth of five rooms, symbolizing the supreme authority of the emperor. On the top of the tower is the yellow glazed tile with double eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and the arch of wooden architecture lifting beam structure. There are nine roof figures on the ridge, and eaves galleries are in front and behind. Stand under the eaves porch and take a look. On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China to the world at the railing under the eaves of this city building.

Take a look inside the city tower. There are forty columns inside, and a total of sixty columns, including the front and rear rows of eaves columns. Above is the ceiling of the Liang Fang frame, which is decorated with golden dragon and seal decorations. It is top-notch and prestigious. In the center of each square enclosed by Liang Fang hangs a palace lamp, which is a replica of recent years.

This city tower was rebuilt on the basis of the Shunzhi version in 1969. During reconstruction, the building height was increased by one meter due to the size of the components. During the reconstruction period, several shells were excavated from the city platform, which were remnants of the 1900 Eight Nation Alliance's attack on the palace.

Standing on the top of Tiananmen Gate Tower, one can see several buildings behind to the north. From front to back, there are shops in the Tiananmen Gate City Tower, followed by the Duanmen City Tower, and then the Wumen City Tower and the Wumen Yanyi Tower.

Now, Tiananmen Square is the heart of our great motherland, a symbol of the People's Republic of China, and a part of the national emblem design. There are two slogans on the Tiananmen Gate, the first of which is "Long live the People's Republic of China".

The national emblem is hung on the plaque between the double eaves on the top of Tiananmen Gate Tower, and a portrait of Chairman Mao is hung in the center of the city platform. There is the Jinshui River in front of Tiananmen Square, and there is the Jinshui Bridge over the Jinshui River. The water of Jinshui River does not come from heaven, but from Yuquan Mountain in the west of Beijing. The most attractive thing on the south bank of the Jinshui River is the ornamental column watch on the east and west sides, which is known to Chinese people.

Ornamental column in front of Tiananmen Square is the highest ranking ornamental column in China. Ornamental column comes from totem poles of ancient primitive tribes, and the dragon totem is also a symbol of the Chinese nation. This totem later evolved into a Chinese watch, often standing at the intersection to indicate direction. There are four ornamental column in front of and behind Tian'anmen Gate, symbolizing the emperor's power. Tiananmen ornamental column is made of White Marble. Below it is a square Xumizuo with railings. There are stone lions on the pillars at the four corners of the railings. Ornamental column is an octahedral stone pillar, and the relief on it is a flying dragon soaring 90 thousand li in the clouds. There is a cloud plate at the top of the stone pillar, indicating the direction of Chang'an Street. On top of the stone pillar is the exposed plate, on which sits a beast called Shixi.

The most convenient way to visit the Forbidden City is through Tiananmen Square. Crossing the Jinshui Bridge outside Tian'an Gate, passing through the doorway, you can enter the past imperial city. Tiananmen Square has five arched door openings, the largest in the middle, which used to be where the emperor walked. Now, every morning at sunrise, the national flag comes out under the guard and rises on the square. At sunset at night, after the national flag is lowered, it is escorted back from there by a guard. Raising the national flag is a solemn ceremony that Chinese people love to watch the most. Every night, people from all over the country spontaneously gather on the square to wait for the flag raising ceremony at sunrise. Whenever the national anthem is played and the national flag is raised, tens of thousands of people around watch the flag, their hearts surging and tears filling their eyes.

After entering Tiananmen Square, don't forget to look back. You can see the Monument to the People's Heroes in the distance from the middle doorway, which is the central axis of Beijing.

Look at the outline of the tower. The small animal in the lower left corner is the stone on the ornamental column inside the door.

The Zhou Gong Dan system of "Zhou Li" formed the foundation of ancient ritual and music systems, and was also a major Confucian ceremony. During the Spring and Autumn period, the rites and music collapsed, and Confucius, the descendant of Shang Tang, shouted "restrain oneself and restore rites". What he wanted to restore was this Zhou ritual. The Zhou ritual standardized the hierarchy of rulers and marquises, as well as the corresponding ritual and music standards, such as the emperor's nine tripods and eight Gui, the feudal lords' seven tripods and six Gui, and the officials' five tripods and four Gui. According to the Book of Rites of Zhou, there are five gates for the emperor in the imperial palace and three gates for the feudal lords. The five gates are Gaomen, Kumen, Zhimen, Yingmen, and Lumen. Tiananmen is the distant gate of the imperial city, known as the Gao Gate (Nian Gao Men) according to the Zhou system.

Entering Tiananmen Square is not yet the palace, there is also a Duanmen between Tiananmen Square and the palace.

Although the Duanmen Gate is located outside the imperial palace, it now belongs to the industry of the Palace Museum, with a sign hanging on the city tower that reads "Palace Museum".

That brand didn't exist in the past, was it added after the COVID-19 epidemic? In the past, there was no plaque on the front door of the Forbidden City, also known as the Meridian Gate, except for the plaque "Palace Museum" on the Shenwu Gate on the north gate. The reason for not adding a plaque on the Meridian Gate is to not destroy the ancient scenery, but the problem is that the Chinese people do not even know where the Palace Museum is when they arrive at the Meridian Gate. Foreigners refer to the Forbidden City as the Forbidden City, not the Late King's Palace. In fact, the official foreign language name of the Forbidden City is The Palace Museum.

The shape of Duanmen is the same as Tiananmen Square, but it is one size smaller. This is the most well preserved building in the imperial city, and it is said that the "Record of the Duanmen Project", which was renovated during the Kangxi period, is still in use. The style is a copy of Lei. Duanmen used to be the emperor's business supplies warehouse, which was the storage room for the household chores of the honor guard. It was not just weapons, swords, and halberds, but also flags and flags, as well as gongs, drums, and musical instruments. When Zhu Di left the palace, he placed these household items on both sides of the imperial road, from Taihe Gate to Tiananmen Gate, which was called "Bright Fire Fighting". These guards of honor have a formal name, which is generally called "bittern book", and unknown people think that it is the same as Soy egg. Before being transferred to the Forbidden City in 1999, Duanmen was a warehouse of the National Museum of History (now the National Museum). After taking over, the Palace Museum underwent some repairs. In 2015, it opened as a digital exhibition hall for the Palace Museum, playing animated films and making free reservations. Between Tiananmen Square and Duanmen Square is the Duanmen Square, with doors to the north and south of the square, and duty rooms to the east and west.

To enter the end gate, you can walk through the arch gate in the middle. Don't underestimate this gate, thinking it's just an ordinary entrance hole. Take a look at the Bai Shi Xu Mizuo on the pedestal of its doorway, with auspicious clouds and fan grass reliefs, it's very advanced!

Duanmen is the gate of the imperial treasury in the Zhou system. After passing the Duanmen, we are almost at the main entrance of the palace.

The Beijing Imperial Palace basically follows the design of the Nanjing Ming Palace, and the length and width of the palace are almost the same. Before the Beijing Imperial Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang also established a central capital in his hometown of Fengyang, Anhui, and built a palace centered around the foundation of his former residence. Fengyang Ming Palace also uses the blueprint of Nanjing Ming Palace, which is slightly larger and has a similar layout. However, Fengyang Ming Palace is a abandoned building that was dismantled before it was fully formed. If this project is not completed, its area will be 100000 square meters larger than the Beijing Imperial Palace.

After the Ming Dynasty, Dorgon led the Qing army to occupy Beijing and then brought Emperor Shunzhi Fulin into Beijing. The Manchus once built an imperial palace in Shengjing, which was actually similar to the Zhongyi Hall of Song Jiang in Liangshanpo, not much stronger. The Shenyang Forbidden City that we see now is renovated over the years, many times more advanced than the one that Qianlong rebuilt for his ancestors, and it is not at all the same as before. Dorgon knew that the first Manchu was not an infrastructure maniac; Secondly, there is no artistic element; If the Ming Palace is demolished, he can only build a mountain fortress. Therefore, Dorgon happily set up the Qing Palace in the original Ming Palace, settled Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's mother and son inside, and arranged for Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's six-year-old son, Shunzhi, to ascend to the throne again. For the convenience of paying respects to the emperor and visiting the Empress Dowager, Dorgon moved into the South Palace of Dongyuan, which was separated from the imperial palace by a street, as his residence for the Prince of Rui. At this point, under the leadership of Dorgon, the Qing Dynasty took over the Ming Palace. So, we now say that the Forbidden City is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

After passing through the Duan Gate, you can see the main gate of the Imperial Palace, which is the "Meridian Gate" of the Forbidden City.

Starting from the Meridian Gate, the Palace Museum is now located inside the palace, and tickets must be purchased to enter. Take a closer look at the Meridian Gate. The emperor's ceremonial position is facing north and south, and this gate is the south gate of the palace. The noon sun is in the south direction, so this gate is called the Meridian Gate, which has the attribute of yang.

The Meridian Gate is definitely the highest standard city gate in the country and also the largest gate in shape. Below is the city platform, and above is the city tower. This is the rule. There is a five foot high White Marble Xumizuo under the city platform. The city tower is nine rooms wide and five rooms deep. Above it is the roof of the double eaved veranda with yellow glazed tiles. The Tian'anmen Gate and the Duanmen Gate in front are both double eaved peaks. There are nine roof figures in each ridge. From the beginning to the end, they are dragon, phoenix, lion, Tianma, seahorse, blind fish, Lion Dragon, Xiezhi, and bullfight. On the main ridge is the kiss of the glazed eagle (reciting to eat). You should pay attention and you will find that starting from Tiananmen Square, all the main ridge eagles in the palace have Xu Xun's sword inserted on their backs. The sword on the folk bird's beak in the Ming Dynasty was tilted outward, while in the Qing Dynasty it was upright, which is the difference in the style of bird's beak between the Ming and Qing dynasties. In addition, the Xu Xun Baojian, which was held directly by the imperial palace in the Ming Dynasty, was different from that of the Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was short and chubby, while the Qing Dynasty was thin and tall. The vast majority of the roofs in the Forbidden City have been renovated during the Qing Dynasty and adorned with Qing Dynasty bird kisses. Only a few places still retain the Ming Dynasty's bird kisses, such as the four corner towers. Xu Xun was a famous Taoist in the Jin Dynasty, known as the Heavenly Master and one of the Four Great Heavenly Masters of that year. In the miracle of Xu Xun, there is a story of wielding a sword to eliminate demons and dragons. The phoenix's kiss is inserted behind Xu Xun's back to ward off evil spirits and suppress demons. There are eaves and corridors in front and behind the Wumen City Tower, and the lattice flowers on the doors and windows are all three intersecting six lotus flowers, exclusively used by the royal family. The painted patterns on the horizontal beam are double dragons and seals, which are also exclusive to the royal family. White Marble railings are in front of the eaves gallery.

Take a look at the eaves corridor. The beams under its eaves are not straight, but curved arches, which is very special.

The city terraces on both sides of the Meridian Gate facing north and south extend southward, which is called Yanyi. As usual, there should be a tower on the city platform with thirteen rooms on each side, called the Yan Wing Tower. The superstition of Chinese people is different from that of Westerners, and they do not shy away from "13".

At the front end of the Yan Wing Building, there are also square pavilions with eaves corridors, three rooms wide, and four corners with double eaves. They made textual research and said that the first thing Zhu Di built was the double eaved roof, which was later changed to the Cuanjian roof in the Qing Dynasty.

There are two identical square pavilions on the east and west sides of the Wumen City Tower, which are located at the northernmost end of the Yan Wing Tower on both sides. They are called the Dongxi Que (Nianque) Tower. The bell and drum are installed inside the Que Tower, not for the purpose of watchkeeping, but for other purposes. There are rules for when to ring the bell and drum specifically. I estimate that when the enemy attacks the city, they can beat the drum to attack and sound the golden bell to withdraw their troops. However, that "gold" is not a bell, is it? There are these five buildings on the Meridian Gate, hence it is also called the "Five Phoenix Tower".

The front part of the city gate is called the "que", and the concave shaped structure of the Meridian Gate is called the "double que gate". The system of the Que Gate originated from the Book of Rites of Zhou. The south gate of the Ziwei Palace in Luoyang during the Sui and Tang dynasties is a Que Gate. The Meridian Gate is a pheasant gate in the Zhou system, the gate of the Twin Towers. The pheasant is a Vermilion Bird, a legendary bird, resembling a phoenix, but not real.

The Meridian Gate has three holes, with square arches on the outside and round arches on the inside, symbolizing the roundness of the sky and the place. It is said that "there is no royal soil under the sky.". The middle door is exclusive to the emperor, and potential empresses can take a sedan chair into the palace to get married; The top three candidates in the palace examination can come out and enter society from here on. Other ministers go through the doors on both sides, while relatives and nobles go through the west entrance, and other officials go through the east entrance. There are also hidden doors called "armpit doors" on both sides of the armpits, and during major events, the little ones go through these hidden doors. Now it's good, the people, employees of enterprises and institutions, and government officials are all going through the middle gate. The armpit door is not allowed to leave, as it is the office space for the staff of the Forbidden City.

After entering, first look at the Meridian Gate from behind.

There are two zigzag horse paths on both sides behind the Meridian Gate.

Although it is called a horse path, people can only walk here, of course, it is not meant to be a cow or a horse. After going up, besides seeing the arched beams under the eaves corridor just now, you can also stand in the middle of the city tower. That position used to belong to the emperor, but now no dragon chairs are placed and no one is allowed to act recklessly there. You can look down at the Meridian Gate Square from here, which is completely different from what the emperor saw back then. At that time, you couldn't see these happy people now.

The one directly ahead is not Tiananmen Square, but the end gate between Tiananmen Square and the Meridian Gate. There is Tiananmen Square in front of Tiananmen Square, Duanmen Square in front of Duanmen Square, and Wumen Square in front of Wumen Square, as it has been since ancient times. In addition to the gate, there are also two side doors on the east and west sides of the gate square, namely the left gate and the right gate.

The left gate of the Que faces the west gate of the Labor People's Cultural Palace, and the right gate faces the east gate of Zhongshan Park. During the epidemic, Tiananmen Square was not open. The official suggestion of the Forbidden City is for tourists to visit the Forbidden City by walking outside the Donghua Gate and entering the left gate along the city wall.

There are two dismounting tombstones outside the left and right gates of the Que, each with a Manchu, Han, and Mongolian inscription that reads "Officials wait here to dismount." These were objects from the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty.

In the past, emperors generally did not climb the Meridian Gate Tower. Even if the enemy really hits the Meridian Gate, the emperor cannot ascend to the city to supervise the battle, as he has long run away without a trace. Sometimes, eunuchs hold imperial edicts to the upper floors of this city and recite: "To carry on the emperor's destiny, the edict says..." This is considered a proclamation to the world, but in fact, there are no people below, not even representatives from all walks of life in the capital. The emperor had another opportunity to ascend to the Meridian Gate, which was to return to court with a large army after winning the battle. At this moment, the general brought hundreds or even thousands of prisoners of war to kneel in front of the Meridian Gate, and the emperor sat in the Meridian Gate tower to receive the victorious surrender of the general on the expedition. If the emperor is happy on the city tower and shouts "pardon", the prisoners of war outside the door will jump up and run away without a trace. In the 25th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1760 AD), the rebellion of the Junggar and Hui tribes was quelled, and after their victory, there was a prisoner offering ceremony at the Meridian Gate. After the suppression of the rebellion, Emperor Qianlong adopted the women of the Hui tribe and the Zhuo family as concubines, also known as Rong Fei, the legendary Xiang Fei.

If a minister angers the emperor in the palace, the emperor will give him twenty large boards, called Zhang Xing. At this moment, a eunuch led the minister out of the noon gate, followed by eunuchs holding large boards. There is a folk pig killing case on the east side of the imperial road outside the Meridian Gate. The minister was pinned down on it, took off his pants, and lay down. The eunuchs began to hold up large boards and chop at his buttocks. Sometimes, elderly and frail ministers would be beheaded and killed, and the people outside the palace would hear someone shouting outside the Meridian Gate. They would also say that someone had been pulled out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded when they saw a cart covered with a mat coming out. In fact, even if there is a beheading, it is not at the Meridian Gate. They are all imprisoned first and executed at the entrance of the vegetable market after autumn.

The layout of the palace architecture in the Book of Rites of Zhou has the saying of "five gates and three dynasties". Zhu Di also followed this system when he built the palace, which was also copied and pasted from the Ming Palace in Nanjing. The Five Gates are Chengtian Gate, Duan Gate, Wu Gate, Fengtian Gate, and Qianqing Gate. In front of the Chengtian Gate, there used to be the Daming Gate, which was renamed the Daqing Gate during the Qing Dynasty. It was located between the Monument to the People's Heroes and the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and was demolished in 1954. According to the layout of the central axis of the imperial palace in the style of Lei, there was a wide road between the Qing Dynasty's Daqing Gate and Tiananmen Square. In the middle of the road was the imperial road, and on both sides of the road were the gatehouses from south to north, which is Tiananmen Square.

In the past, the Wumen City Tower was not open. After Mister Dan Jixiang became the director of the Forbidden City, the Wumen City Tower became an exhibition hall for the Forbidden City, holding occasional themed exhibitions. In 2020, the exhibition "Danchen Yonggu" was held to commemorate the 600 year anniversary of the construction of the Forbidden City.

This exhibition includes cultural relics from the Nanjing Ming Palace and the abandoned Fengyang Ming Zhongdu Palace, which can be considered as a prelude to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Take a look at the golden Buddha bricks in the Nanjing Palace Museum.

Look at the glazed immortal on the ridge of the Mingzhongdu Imperial Palace in Fengyang.

The fairyland painting of his mansion that Zhu Di invited someone to paint back then.

The Heart Nourishing Hall is currently undergoing major repairs and is closed to guests. The main hall of the Heart Nourishing Hall is displayed here for exhibition, and it was previously exhibited in the first exhibition.

Take a closer look at the gilded enamel mythical beast Lu Duan in front of the throne. Lu means that this beast only has one horn, pronounced "deer". This divine beast has been hidden in the world since Emperor Qin Shi Huang, but it only appeared on the side of the emperor when the emperor was in power. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties believed that they were the Holy Lord of the Ming Dynasty, but they did not see any divine beasts around them for years. Therefore, they placed this statue in front of their throne and pretended to have a divine presence.

The paper plaque inscribed with "Three Wishes Hall" by Qianlong on the south kang head of the West Warm Pavilion in the Heart Nourishing Hall is also hung here.

The Jade Seal of the Hall of Nourishing Heart Treasure.

The seal of the emperor's imperial brush, below is the "Treasure of the Xianfeng Imperial Brush" of Emperor Wenzong of the Qing Dynasty.

I didn't notice the imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong. I saw the inscription "Qinzheng Hall" on the imperial brush of Emperor Qianlong in Xiangshan, and the seal on it was "Treasure of Emperor Qianlong's Imperial Brush". That is a very luxurious gilded five dragon battle plaque, engraved with five golden coiled dragons, more luxurious than ordinary plaques in the palace. There is a Qing Dynasty "Purple Qi Comes from the East" Nine Dragons Gold Plaque in the Shenyang Palace Museum, which is a horizontal plaque, not such a fighting plaque.

The Empress's Clothes, bright yellow, are exclusively used by the royal family, and others who use them are considered unauthorized.

There are also some treasure exhibitions, take a look at the "Jinou Yonggu Cup" below. A three legged wine glass designed by Emperor Qianlong, featuring elephant teeth and a nose. He successively made three pure gold and one copper gilded one; Now the Palace Museum in Beijing has one gold medal, the Palace Museum in Taipei has one gold medal, and the Wallace Collection in London has one gold medal and one copper medal. I didn't see him exhibited at the Wallace Collection last time. The front of the cup edge is engraved with the words "Jin Ou Yonggu", and the back is engraved with the words "Made in the year of Qianlong". Ou is a wine cup, and Jin Ou refers to the country. Chairman Mao once said, "It's really busy to tidy up Jin Ou and divide the land.".

Before the epidemic, it was possible to climb up the city wall from the Meridian Gate Tower, but now it's not possible. Standing here, you can see the parapet and battlements. The parapet is the height and chest wall, and the battlements are the serrations on the wall.

Look at the wall tiles of the Forbidden City.

The walls of Zhu Di's imperial palace were made of such plain walls, and the red walls were painted red by later generations after they were plastered with dust. This type of brick is called "Linqing tribute brick". Linqing is located in Shandong, just on the bank of the Grand Canal. In the Qing Dynasty, there were two famous items, one was the Shandong Kuaishu; Another is "tribute bricks". The soil of Linqing is unique, and the bricks fired are dense and hard. They are specially transported to the capital to build houses and walls for the emperor's family, so they are called tribute bricks. Look at the city bricks above, with clear edges and corners, and the texture looks like bluestone. The hardness of modern bricks can reach up to 70. Some people have measured the hardness of the bricks in the Forbidden City, all of which are above 100, and some can reach up to 150. It is said that the maximum hardness tested on the ancient bricks on the local relics tower in Linqing exceeds 200. Our current household ordinary cement grade is 200, indicating that these "Linqing tribute bricks" are quite impressive! The adhesive between the city bricks is a mixture of white mortar and rice soup, and the wall built with this soup and a moat is called "as solid as gold soup". Jin, Jincheng, is the city within this wall; Tang, bathing pool, is a moat under the wall.

To the south of the Forbidden City is the Meridian Gate of the Front Gate, and to the north is the Xuanwu Gate of the Back Gate. Emperor Xuanwu guarded the north and renamed it the Shenwu Gate after the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty.

On October 10, 1925, during the Republic of China era, the newly established Palace Museum opened to the public and held an opening ceremony at the Qianqingmen Square. The plaque hanging here at the Shenwu Gate that day was written by Mr. Li Yuying (Nian Yuying), a calligraphy student of late Qing calligrapher Wang Faliang. He was the chairman of the "Qing Dynasty Aftermath Committee" and was the predecessor of the Palace Museum. When it was first opened, the gate of the Palace Museum was the Shenwu Gate. The current plaque was inscribed by Mr. Guo Moruo in 1971. Take a look at the gate of the Palace Museum in 1925.

In the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924 AD), Emperor Sun Puyi was expelled from the palace, and subsequently, a Qing Dynasty Aftermath Committee was established to conduct a comprehensive inventory of cultural relics in the Forbidden City. In fact, this inventory is only aimed at the inner palace north of the Qianqing Gate, which is the place where Puyi just left. At that time, the Outer Court was already under the jurisdiction of the Antiquities Exhibition Center established in the third year of the Republic of China. This time, more than 1.15 million pieces of various cultural relics were counted, which belong to the Inner Palace. Throughout Chinese history, emperors of various dynasties searched for treasures from all over the world and entered palaces, which were then burned and destroyed during the dynastic changes. Although there are still treasures produced in various dynasties and dynasties, the amount passed down from ancient times is definitely decreasing. Not to mention anything else, the imperial jade seal passed down by Emperor Qin Shi Huang is gone, Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection is gone, and Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's Lu Shen Fu Tu is also gone. Countless cultural relics were lost and destroyed during the Qing Dynasty. The first large-scale destruction and theft occurred in the Yuanmingyuan in the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign (1860 AD). The British and French forces looted the Chinese artifacts in the garden, and even the kitchen staff carried a precious Chinese treasure back to the Gui Sun Tzu family. The last large-scale destruction and theft in the late Qing Dynasty was during the Great Fire at Jianfu Palace in the 12th year of the Republic of China. After the fire, many antique shops owned by former eunuchs appeared on the Yanbagxie Street. When Pu Yixun was in the harem, he also poured a lot of cultural relics and treasures into Pu Jie's house, and was sold off by Pu Jie to finance the restoration. However, compared to previous times, this was not on a large scale anymore. So, when the post disaster committee counted, only 1.15 million pieces were counted, and the number of cultural relics and treasures that were destroyed and stolen from the Qing Dynasty royal family must be several times that number. Even these cultural relics were quite difficult to preserve during the chaos of warlord warfare and the war of resistance against Japan during the Republic of China period. In the history of protecting the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and the Palace Museum, we should remember these people: Li Yuying, Chairman of the Aftermath Committee, Chen Yuan (Nian Yuan), Executive Member of the Aftermath Committee, Zhuang Yun (Nian Yun), Prosecutor of the Aftermath Committee, Cai Yuanpei, President of Peking University, Ma Heng, Director of the Archaeological Research Office of Peking University, Yi Peiji, First Dean of the Palace Museum, and Wu Ying, Cultural Relics Appraiser. Thanks to their efforts, the Forbidden City, the world's largest imperial palace, was able to be fully preserved and become the pride of the Chinese people.

Before Puyi left the palace, he transferred a large number of cultural relics. After leaving the palace, this batch of cultural relics followed him to Changchun. During the victory of the Anti Japanese War, he fled with some cultural relics and was captured in Shenyang. The confiscated cultural relics entered the Liaoning Museum. A portion of the cultural relics left in Changchun are scattered among the people and eventually go to the Beijing Liulichang Antique Shop. During the Anti Japanese War, a large number of cultural relics from the Forbidden City were relocated to the south, and many eventually settled in the Taipei Forbidden City. New China has collected scattered cultural relics from the people of the Forbidden City, and many collectors have donated them to the Forbidden City, including Li Yuying, Ma Heng, and Mr. Zhang Boju. By the time Mr. Shan Jixiang served as the director of the Palace Museum in the 21st century, the Palace Museum had a collection of 1.8 million items. In addition, a portion of the Qing Dynasty palace relics are also collected in the Liaoning Museum, and countless have been scattered abroad.

In 2002, a major renovation of the Forbidden City with an investment of 2 billion yuan began, which was the largest renovation project of the Forbidden City after the great fire in the 14th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1888). The project has not been fully completed yet, and only a few palaces are still ongoing. After major repairs, the Forbidden City has been completely renovated, with traces of history still preserved in every detail. When visiting the Forbidden City, you can see the vicissitudes of hundreds of years, as well as the effects of the new era.

Although the Shenwu Gate is also a double eaved yellow glazed tile roof, its scale is much smaller than the Meridian Gate, with a width of only five rooms and a depth of only three rooms. There are only seven birds and beasts on the ridge. The horizontal beam is not painted with Hexi, but with Xuanzi. It is said that the beam frame on the roof is still the original from the early Ming Dynasty. The three ticket gates of the Shenwu Gate are also round inside and square outside.

From the doorway, you can see the Wanchun Pavilion facing Jingshan from behind.

Standing in front of the Wanchun Pavilion, you can see the full view of the Forbidden City, but it is generally not clear.

We all know that the central axis of Beijing from Yongdingmen to Gulou passes through the center of the Forbidden City. Do you know where the center of Beijing is? Just at the Wanchun Pavilion in Jingshan, there is a sign of "Beijing City Center".

As mentioned earlier, the Shenwu Gate is equivalent to the back door of the Forbidden City. It is usually used for daily entry and exit, delivering millet and meat. The water wheel of Yuquan Mountain and the coal wheel of Mentougou also come here. Palace maids can also meet their families here and hold their heads in tears. When selecting women, the candidate women also leave from here. The most important figures walking from here are the empress and the concubines. Every spring, the royal family has two important sacrificial activities. One is when the emperor leads a team to the Xiannong Altar to worship the Shennong. People say that "one acre of land divided by three" is the land that the emperor personally cultivates at the Xiannong Altar. Another sacrificial activity is for the queen to lead a team from the Shenwu Gate to the Beihai Silkworm Altar to perform a silkworm worship ceremony. These two activities represent the "men plow and women weave" of Chinese culture, with male and female leaders personally leading the way, reminding the people not to forget that the royal family relies entirely on farming and weaving taxes for income.

In history, there was only one emperor who walked through the Shenwu Gate, and that was the last emperor Puyi. On November 5, 1924, Feng Yuxiang launched the Beijing coup and sent his subordinates to enter the palace through the Meridian Gate to facilitate Pu Yixing. On that day, Emperor Sun Puyi was expelled from the palace and walked through this gate, but by then he was no longer the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty did not walk through Xuanwu Gate, but through Donghua Gate, when he finally went to the Great Huai Tree in Jingshan.

There is also a bell and drum tower on the Shenwu Gate, which rings the bell at dusk every day and then beats the drum to start the night shift. Ring the bell again in the morning until it is even more exhausted, this is the morning bell and evening drum. Every night is divided into five shifts, and drums are played five times. The accurate time for ringing the bell and beating the drum is determined by experts sent by the Imperial Observatory officials.

There should also be gates to the east and west of the Forbidden City, with Donghua Gate to the east.

The architectural forms of Donghua Gate and Shenwu Gate are the same, but the size seems to be slightly smaller. In the past, the high-ranking official walked through this door into the palace. Not all high-ranking officials, but cabinet members and elderly first and second rank officials. Of course, there should also be a dismounting monument outside the door. The Donghua Gate is directly facing the Dong'an Gate of the imperial city. Officials living outside the imperial city must first enter the Dong'an Gate and then enter the palace through the Donghua Gate, which is not far away. Walking from Dong'anmen Street to the east entrance, there is a large shopping mall called Dong'an Market, which is only called Dong'an Market because it is adjacent to Dong'anmen. The Dong'an Market opened in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign (1903 AD), and it is unknown if there were any royal shares.

Donghua Gate not only serves as the Minister of Personnel, but also as the Emperor of Liang. It cannot be said that he was Emperor Liang. After the death of the current emperor, he became Emperor Daxing. After a few days of rest in the Qianqing Palace, he had to lie in the Zigong Palace before his bones were cold and leave through this Donghua Gate. After going out, you usually go to the Shouhuang Hall or Guande Hall in Jingshan to stay for a period of time before going where you should go. Therefore, the common people refer to Donghua Gate as "Ghost Gate", without any disrespect towards the emperor. Some people say that because Emperor Liang left the palace through this gate, the door studs of the Donghua Gate were one row less than those of other gates. The other gates have nine rows and nine columns, while the Donghua Gate has eight rows and nine columns. I estimate that having fewer door studs means the door is spacious, making it more convenient for Emperor Liang to lie down and go out. The living emperor sometimes goes out of the palace to make private visits in micro attire, not wearing a suit or tie, but wearing casual clothes such as a charge jacket and a large secret mirror. At this time, the emperor may also go through the Donghua Gate. Some people also say that the establishment of eight rows and nine columns of door studs at Donghua Gate is a theory of Kanyu, which is Feng Shui. According to the Eight Trigrams, Donghua Gate is located in the imperial palace and belongs to wood. What is the relationship between the lack of door nails in Donghua Gate and "wood"? I estimate that the lack of door studs at Donghua Gate was a mistake made by the designer. When Zhu Di discovered it, there was no time to make the necessary modifications, so he had to throw the designer into the tube river and put an end to it. From then on, he was not allowed to mention this matter again. This reason was passed down to later generations and was lost, resulting in people thinking that the few door studs of Donghua Gate were instigated by gods and ghosts. The direction of the Bagua diagram is different from ours, it is from the emperor's perspective. The emperor sits facing north and south, so his perspective is up south, down north, left east, right west, which is exactly the opposite of ours.

In fact, entering the Donghua Gate is the place where the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace of the Ming Dynasty lived, and it is the door for the Crown Prince to enter and exit the imperial palace. Since it was the Crown Prince who left, of course it was lower than the Meridian Gate where the Emperor left, so there was a row of door studs missing. In the 16th year of Zhengde (1521 AD), Emperor Wu of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, passed away due to illness and had no children. Empress Dowager Zhang Yi ordered Zhu Houzhao's cousin, Prince Xing Zhu Houqian (Nian Cong), to succeed to the throne. When Zhu Houzhi entered the capital from the Xingwang Domain and walked outside the Xuanwu Gate, the Minister of Rites and Rites said that he should enter the palace from the Donghua Gate, ascend to the crown prince's position in the Wuying Hall, and then ascend to the throne as the crown prince. Zhu Hougui stopped working and said that I came to be the emperor, not the crown prince. How could I enter the palace through the Donghua Gate, which is missing a row of door studs? I need to go through the main entrance. Zhu Hougui stood on the street with his hips crossed and refused to move forward. The people on the street gathered to watch, and the ministers dared not push him up. Finally, with Empress Dowager Zhang's approval, Zhu Hougui proudly entered the city through the Zhengyang Gate, then passed through the Daming Gate and walked north through the Meridian Gate to enter the palace. He ascended to the throne in the Fengtian Hall, which is now the predecessor of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the reign title was Jiajing. Later on, there was a problem. His uncle and brother, Emperor Wuzong's legitimate wife, Empress Xia, was the sister-in-law of Zhu Hougui. Zhu Hougui refused to call her Empress Dowager, and in the end, she was given a dignified title as Empress Dowager. In fact, Zhu Hougui should be grateful to Empress Xia. If Empress Xia had a son, where would it be his turn to become emperor? Zhu Hougui returned his father, Prince Xing Zhu Yougui (reciting Zhu and offering sacrifices), to pay homage to Emperor Ruizong Xing as an emperor. He did not have a reign title, but when he placed the plaque in the imperial temple, it actually ranked above the Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao. His father's tomb was upgraded from a royal tomb to an imperial tomb, called Xianling, located in Hubei. Although his father had never been an emperor, Zhu Houxuan's his mother became Empress Dowager Jiang in comfort. The ritual dispute of Emperor Jiajing was not actually about a few titles or which palace gate to go through. He wanted to show that he succeeded the throne in an orthodox way, rather than taking advantage of it and becoming the emperor who paid for his phone bills.

Since there is Donghua Gate to the east, there should be a Xihua Gate to the west, right? There really is, take a look at Xihua Gate.

The shape and size of Xihua Gate are the same as Donghua Gate, but Xihua Gate does not face Xi'an Gate, which is still north. Outside Xihuamen is the Western Garden of the Ming Dynasty, which is now known as Zhongnanhai. The emperor travels through this Xihua Gate to the West Garden for leisure, and sometimes even takes his concubines with him.

The four gates of the palace have different shapes and sizes, as well as different common functions. Of course, there must be a city wall connecting the four palace gates, and there is also a moat outside the city wall, now called the Tongzi River.

The banks of the Guanzi River are places for Beijing people to rest, such as practicing Tai Chi or eating melon seeds.

You can still fish, just catch crabs.

In spring, there will be what Lu You said, "The city is full of spring palace walls and willows.".

In autumn, it is clear water and yellow leaf road.

Since the city wall is square, it will have four corners. There is a corner tower on all four corners of a three zhang high circle of city walls in the Forbidden City. Take a look at the southwest corner tower.

Northwest Corner Tower, many people like to take photos here, and I also took a photo.

Northeast Corner Tower.

There are still many people who like to take photos of sunsets at the Northeast Corner Tower, and I have also been involved in it.

Before sunset.

Sun sits on the building.

Behind the Hitachi building.

Hanging on the corner of the building.

Observing from downstairs, people follow the crowd.

Take a good look at this beautiful corner tower.

According to ancient law, these four corner towers are the positions of the corner constellations in the twenty-eight constellations. The four turrets are the same. The main body is the four corner square pavilion on the White Marble Xumizhou, which is three rooms wide and surrounded by White Marble railings. The square pavilion at the four corners of the arch of wooden architecture beam lifting tower has a large building on all four sides. The building on the inner side of the city wall is long and the one on the outer side is short. The Four Cornered Square Pavilion is a yellow glazed tile cross shaped single eaved gable roof, with a gilded bowl connected to the exposed Baozhu Ridge Cha. Above the building is a double eaved gable roof. There are quite a few ridges on a corner tower, with two on each side of the main ridge, totaling eight. There are a total of 16 vertical ridges on each side of the upper and lower parts, a total of 24 vertical ridges on each side of the upper and lower parts, and a total of 8 vertical ridges on each corner of the lower part; If we add three ridges on each side for a total of twelve, then each corner tower can count seventy-two ridges. Good guy, there are really enough! The Corner Tower, known as the Nine Beams, Eighteen Pillars, and Seventy Two Ridges, is the most complex building in the imperial palace. They said there were no indoor columns inside the corner tower, so they used the column reduction method to frame the beams. Anyway, this corner tower is really magical. I wonder if this style was included in the Song Dynasty's "Creating Fashi"? The Palace Museum used to have an ancient building in the corner tower, and the next time it opens, you need to go and see the height. These four corner towers were also constructed in the early Ming Dynasty. You look hard at the chick kiss on the ridge of the corner tower, and pay attention to the Xu Xun sword on the back of the dragon. Is it short and chubby? This is the original Ming Dynasty bird kiss, not many anymore.

Where do the security guards live on the gates and walls of the ancient Forbidden City? What can still be seen now is a row of bungalows and courtyards on the east side of the Shenwu Gate, called Dongchangfang. Look at one of the courtyard gates.

That row of bungalows is now a cultural and creative experience museum, exhibiting good things created based on the cultural relics of the Forbidden City. If you have enough money, you can also use it to bring these good things home.

The courtyard enclosed by this circle of city walls is the emperor's palace and pavilions, and we will continue to look at them from behind.

(To be continued)