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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Go north from the Wenhua Hall, that is, go back. As I walked, a building appeared on the east side of my right hand. This building looks like an office in the Forbidden City, but it must be a palace building. This is the third building in the south. Nan San Suo is a large courtyard, with the main entrance to the south.

There is a large screen wall inside the door that blocks the view of outsiders like me. Behind the screen wall, there are three courtyards, so it is called Nan San Suo. Each courtyard has three entrances, just like the Qian Dong Wu Suo behind the East Six Palaces, which is now also known as the North Five Suo. In the Ming Dynasty, this was not the case here, but there were also several courtyards, such as the Duanjing Hall, Duanben Hall, and Xiefang Hall. It's called a palace, but it's actually a courtyard. In the eleventh year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1746 AD), the present-day Nan San Suo was built here, officially named Jie (Nian Xie) Fang Dian. The area around Nansansuo was the residence of the imperial prince during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Qing Crown Prince Yinren lived in Yuqing Palace, while the other princes lived in the harem with Erniang when they were young. They grew up here and moved out of the palace after getting married. Because it is on East Road, the Ming Crown Prince who lives here is sometimes called the "East Palace Crown Prince", and the Yuqing Palace in the Qing Dynasty was also located to the east of the imperial palace. The Crown Prince of Donggong is the prince who has a play to take over.

Since it is the Xiefang Hall, there will be evil events happening. In the 43rd year of the Wanli reign (1615 AD), when the famous "Sting Strike Case" occurred, Crown Prince Zhu Changluo lived in the Ciqing Palace here, and the Jiefang Hall was the front hall of the Ciqing Palace. Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun, Wang Gongfei, gave birth to her eldest son Zhu Changluo, and Empress Zheng Guifei gave birth to her third son Zhu Changxun. Emperor Wanli wanted to appoint his son as the crown prince because he was pleased with Empress Zheng, but the courtiers opposed it. After the national capital struggle, Zhu Changluo had to be appointed as the crown prince in the 29th year of the Wanli reign. On the day of the May Fourth Festival in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign, when the sun was setting in the western mountains, a young man came to the palace. The young man held a Wusong whistle called a staff, and somehow walked to the Ciqing Palace where the crown prince lived. A staff knocked down the security eunuch who was guarding the door. The security guard screamed "There's an assassin!" before falling down! Eunuchs have thin throats called "castration sounds", you know. The young man crossed over the living body of the security guard and strode towards the inner courtyard, waving his whistle loudly. At the critical moment when the horse tail was wearing tofu, the Crown Prince's personal guards on duty in the front hall of the Picking Fragrance Hall stepped forward and slapped the young man down like a chest, caught him, and tied him up. The young man said that eunuch A and eunuch B from Zheng Guifei's palace took him to the front of the imperial palace and ordered him to go in and beat Zhu Changluo to death. Emperor Wanli refused to investigate further and suspected that Crown Prince Zhu Changluo was the mastermind behind the framing of Empress Zheng. Finally, the young man was beheaded at the entrance of the vegetable market, and the eunuchs A and B in the Palace of Empress Zheng were strangled to death in a hidden corner of the palace. This case was abandoned. Zheng Guifei originally intended to persuade Emperor Wanli to depose Zhu Changluo and appoint her son Zhu Changxun as the crown prince. However, after this case, she had no choice but to abandon it. This is a suspected case in the Ming Dynasty, known as the "Sting Strike Case". In the end, Zhu Changluo successfully ascended to the throne of Taichang Emperor. One month later, Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo died mysteriously in the "Red Maru Case", which was another mystery. Zhu Changluo's eldest son, Zhu Youxiao, lost his mother when he was young and was raised by Zhu Changluo's favored concubine, Li Xuanshi. When Zhu Changluo ascended to Emperor Taichang, he moved into the Qianqing Palace with Zhu Youxiao. Li Xuan was honing Zhu Changluo's title of Empress, but ended up with only a noble consort, unwilling to accept it. Zhu Changluo's father ascended to heaven and appointed Zhu Youxiao, the son of Zhu Changluo, as the Crown Prince. However, after Zhu Changluo's death, this Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao became Emperor Tianqi. After consulting with Wei Zhongxian, Li Xuanshi stayed at the Qianqing Palace and said he wanted to continue raising Zhu Youxiao, who was already sixteen years old, fearing that his weaning would not go smoothly. Later, he was forced by Wei Zhongxian's opponents to move to the Helan (Nianyue Luan) Palace, which was rebuilt as the Ningshou Palace in the Qing Dynasty. This is the "Palace Relocation Case" of the Ming Dynasty, and this case is not a mystery. Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao reigned for seven years, but he still ate the unlucky elixir like his father and drifted away.

Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty ascended the throne from a young age and never lived with the sons of princes in this area. Yongzheng lived here before leaving the palace after his marriage; When Qianlong was a child, he lived in his father's Yongwang Mansion. When his father was Yongzheng, he lived in Yuqing Palace and moved to Qianxi Wusuo after getting married. Later emperors of the Qing Dynasty all lived in the Southern Three Mansions when they were young, becoming the de facto Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

Nan San Suo is now also the office space of the Palace Museum and also serves as a parking lot. In the picture above, you can see the parked Audi and Mercedes Benz, both of which are official vehicles. You can also see a garage and a fire garage inside the west road, indicating that the Forbidden City Fire Brigade is on standby here to launch an attack.

Continuing north along the forest road, you will see a large hall ahead.

This is Arrow Pavilion. The area is five bays wide and two bays deep, with a raised beam structure and eaves corridors around it. On the top is a yellow glazed tile with a single eave resting on the top of the mountain. There are seven roof figures, and the specifications are quite high. The front five rooms are fully open, each with four doors and six partition doors, with three intersecting six lotus lattice flowers. The back is the open door of the Ming room and the secondary room, and the solid wall of the top room. Things are also physical walls without windows. On the horizontal beam under the eaves are painted double dragons and seals. Standing under the eaves corridor and looking up, there is a special feature in the structure of the Arrow Pavilion.

There is a arch of wooden architecture on the eaves column of the outer circle, but there is no arch of wooden architecture on the wall column of the inner circle, which is directly poked to the top, and the ceiling is on the top. Its roof is a beam lifting structure that directly sets beams and braces on the column top, without arch of wooden architecture. It is rare to see a formal hall with yellow glazed tiles in the Forbidden City, and the Arrow Pavilion may be the only one with columns and beams directly erected on the top. This type of structure is commonly used in folk architecture. The Yiyu Pavilion in Yangzhou, which was just seen in March, and the Xichun Hall in Heyuan are both elevated beam structures with columns directly supported by beams.

The stomping in front of the Arrow Pavilion is also different from elsewhere, very spacious, and there is also a Dan Emperor Stone in the middle. There are five bronze cows in front of the Arrow Pavilion Gate, symbolizing "Five Blessings Facing the Gate". The images of these five cows come from Han Huang's "Five Ox Painting" from the Tang Dynasty, which is the earliest surviving paper painting in China. A replica of the "Five Ox Painting" is displayed at the Palace Museum themed stamp exhibition in Zhai Palace. The paper in "The Five Bulls" is not rice paper, but hemp paper, so it has been passed down for a long time. There are many ancient celebrity inscriptions on it, including Zhao Mengfu. In the eleventh year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1746 AD), this painting entered the Qing Palace, and Brother Hongli also wrote a poem on it. When the Eight Nation Alliance invaded, the "Five Bulls" painting was lost overseas. In the 1950s, the country spent 60000 Hong Kong dollars to recover it from Hong Kong. After restoration in the 1970s, the existing Forbidden City was restored. In 2017, the Palace Museum invited copper sculptor Zhu Bingren from Hangzhou to make five bronze statues according to the "Five Bulls Painting" and place them in front of the Arrow Pavilion. These five cows can be held or ridden, but cannot be taken away from farmland. On the 2021 CCTV Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Ox, the "Five Bulls" and Tianlong Mountain Buddha's Head were displayed together as "National Treasures Returning Home".

In the Ming Dynasty, it seemed that there was no record of any buildings in the Arrow Pavilion. Anyway, the earliest arrow pavilion was built during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It was a royal sports field for horseback riding and archery, mainly for playing archery. The imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty's martial arts examination was also held here, comparing the bow and horse techniques of each person. The top scorer could be appointed as a first-class imperial guard. The current building was rebuilt during the Yongzheng period and must have been repainted later.

The Qing Emperor often organized his princes to practice archery here, with all the doors open and a row of princes standing inside shooting arrows at the targets outside. Later, the princes also practiced their firearms here, and then led their firearms team to resist the Tianli Sect militia at the Longzong Gate. Do you see a row of stone pillars on the ground behind the Arrow Pavilion? Take a closer look.

There are holes in the middle of this row of stone piers, and the target for archery is inserted here. Take a look, cough! Isn't it far?

To the north of Arrow Pavilion is called Arrow Pavilion Square, and to the west of the square is Jingyun Gate. Entering Jingyun Gate is Qianqing Gate Square, and the other end of the square is Longzong Gate. In the 18th year of the Jiaqing reign (1813 AD), the Tianli sect militia attacked the Longzong Gate. At that time, Prince Minning, who lived in Nansansuo, carried a gun and left Nansansuo. He walked through Jingyun Gate and arrived at the Longzong Gate, shooting, and the two militia members were killed. Min Ning is extremely aggressive. When he was ten years old, he followed his grandfather Emperor Qianlong into the mountains to hunt and once killed a deer. Minning later became the Emperor of Daoguang, and he never wielded a gun in battle again. His weapons and knives were released into the mountains of Nanshan. In the 20th year of the Daoguang reign (1840 AD), the First Opium War broke out and the Qing Dynasty was defeated.

To the north of Jianting Square is the Fengci Hall of the Ming Dynasty, now known as the Yuqing Palace. To the east of Yuqing Palace is the Fengxian Hall, which is one of the two single fee boutique exhibition halls in the Forbidden City, the Clock and Watch Hall.

Upon entering, it was discovered that the original location of the Clock and Watch Museum, Fengxian Hall, was closed. The Clock and Watch Museum has been moved to the South Group Room opposite Fengxian Hall. The closure of Fengxian Temple should not be the reason for the COVID-19, but may be due to the repair construction. I asked and said that it will be displayed in its original state in the future.

Go into the southern group room and take a look at the palace clocks. The earliest self ringing bell in the imperial palace was brought by Roman missionary Matteo Ricci to Beijing in the 28th year of the Ming Wanli era (1600 AD) and presented to Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun. Take a look at this below, 18th century British goods, copper plated gold finger time minute.

There are three dials on the second floor, indicating the hour, quarter, and minute. The following is a copper plated gold inlaid enamel bird auspicious bell, also made in 18th century England. Produced by the renowned British craftsman Williamson during Queen Anne's reign.

The following clock is called a copper plated handwriting clock, with a Williamson dial from England and a base specially made by Switzerland for Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It is Qianlong's favorite clock.

The most magical thing is that the Western gentleman in the pavilion below can write Chinese characters, see what words he writes.

Before starting, you need to wind it up, then lay white paper on a small table, and dip the foreigner's right hand brush in ink. After the start of the journey, the foreigner shook his head and tail while writing on paper, "Eight Directions, Nine Earths Come to King.".

Westerners entered China from those missionaries. In the early days, missionaries had to win the emperor's favor in order to obtain the emperor's permission to work in China. The easiest tribute to win the emperor's favor was the Western bells on them. Emperor Qianlong once obtained many such Western clocks, all of which bear the imprint of the times. During the Qianlong period in France, the Rococo art style was prevalent, and during this period, clocks from European countries all carried the Bling Bling Rococo style. If there are pictures of Western ladies on the clock, they are all in Boucher's fragrant Rococo style. This Boucher was a person from the same era as Emperor Qianlong, about ten years older than him.

Take a look at the products produced by the Qing Palace Office, the black painted pavilions and immortal birthday bells.

Look at the group of immortals above, they look like three social aunties.

There are also some decorations in the clock museum. Take a look at this set of European style tables and chairs below, as well as the coffee set on the table.

It is estimated that this is a coffee shop set up by Wanrong in the Chuxiu Palace to support a Western restaurant.

Suddenly, I saw a painting hanging on the wall next to the coffee table.

This is Monet's "Sunrise Impressions"! Surprisingly, there is Monet's signature in the bottom left corner. I haven't heard that Monet painted multiple copies of "Sunrise Impressions" like he did in "Pond Water Lilies". It goes without saying that this is a replica. Who copied it? Lang Shining? It's impossible, he and Monet are not from the same dynasty. The clock museum only decorated such a European style scene, without explaining the origin of this painting. In addition, a Chinese style scene was also set up.

This scene looks much more pleasing in the Forbidden City. The painting on the wall is a part of the "Ciyun Pu Hu" painting, which was created by imperial painters during the Qianlong period to depict the forty scenic spots of the Old Summer Palace. The painting depicts the "Jian Ge" in the Nine Provinces built by Kangxi. Forty original paintings with poems were looted by the Anglo French coalition in 1860 and are now housed in the National Library of Paris, France. In 1928, a Chinese person took a set of black and white photos and brought them back to their country. In 1983, a Frenchman gave China a set of color photo base plates. In 2003, a company in Beijing made a huge investment to purchase the original color background and domestic distribution rights. In 2004, they produced 2004 sets of silk printed color painting rolls for limited distribution. The first set of this collection of printed scrolls was held at the National Museum, and there is also a collection of national paintings. It was held at the Old Summer Palace Society in 1860, Hong Kong in 1997, and Macau in 1999. There are also many wealthy individuals, including Li Ka shing and Zeng Xianzi. I estimate the Forbidden City also has a set. I have seen a flower photographer in the park before. He took the most beautiful one and pinched it off before taking it away. I think he learned this trick from the Anglo French coalition. They destroyed the Old Summer Palace, stole this set of "Forty Scenes", and then sold this set of pictures at a high price to the Chinese people. Thieves are shameless!

To the east of the Fengxian Hall is the Inner Court and Outer East Road, where there is another boutique exhibition hall, the Treasure Hall, in the Forbidden City. Between the Clock Hall of Fengxian Palace and the Treasure Hall of Ningshou Palace is Dongtongzi Long Street, which does not have various doors or supporting thresholds. It leads north to Shenwumen Square Tianjie.

The Treasure Hall is located in the Ningshou Palace, which was a place for the retired concubines of the late emperors during the Ming Dynasty. After the former emperor leaves, the new emperor ascends to the throne, and the rear three palaces and the east and west six palaces will be vacated for the new emperor and his concubines to live in. There are also some palaces and halls behind the Ningshou Palace, which were once inhabited by concubines during the Ming Dynasty. The Anxi Palace and Zhaode Palace, where Empress Wan Guifei of Emperor Chenghua lived, should be located. The female protagonist of the Ming Dynasty "Palace Relocation Case" mentioned earlier, Li Xuanshi, was finally transferred from the Qianqing Palace to the Helan Palace here. There is also a Jiefeng Palace here, which is said to have once lived with the consort of Zhu Yuanzhang (Nian Gong). They said that the consort was Zhu Di's birth mother. There is no official record of this matter, so it is questionable. According to historical records, all the concubines of Zhu Yuanzhang were buried. How did any concubines live in the Beijing Imperial Palace?