3 days in Beijing- 10/28/2023-10/30/2023

Forbidden City continuation-10/28/2023

Continuing our visit...

Entering more gate...

Immense square before reaching the Hall of Central Harmony

North of the Gate of Supreme Harmony lies the Outer Court, heart of the Forbidden City, where the three main administration halls stand atop a three-tiered marble terrace overlooking an immense plaza. 

Immense marble terrace.

The Hall of Central Harmony is located between the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Preserved Harmony. These three, known as the Three Great Halls of the Outer Court, are on the central axis of the Forbidden City.

Hall of Middle Harmony

The Hall of Preserving Harmony is a square building where the emperor would do his preparations before presiding over ceremonies in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This hall is the smallest of the three main halls in the outer court of the Forbidden City.

Our tour guide David was really good.  He knows so much about the history of the Forbidden City and he made the stories about the Forbidden City really interesting.

David explaining how this area was used back in the day..

Intricate Roof top

Everything in the Forbidden City is gigantic.

The inner court is so vast.

Panoramic view of the inner court.

Large Stone carving in front of the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

The stone carving behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony is divide into upper, middle and lower sections. It is the larges of its kind in the Forbidden city, hence the colloquial name Large stone carving.

The patterns we see today re-carved in 1760, the 25th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign during the Qing Dynasty.  The carving is dominated by 9 coiled dragons among billowing clouds, with a waves and mountains pattern at the bottom and curling grass pattern around the edges.

The Gate of Heavenly Purity

Also named Gate of Celestial Purity or Qianqingmen, the Gate of Heavenly Purity is on the central axis divides the Forbidden City into two parts, the Outer Court and the Inner Court, therefore, serving as the main entrance to the imperial household. 

Stone lions can be seen beside the entrances of many Forbidden City halls.  Stone and bronze lions are popular as symbolic guardians, and can be seen beside the gates of many Forbidden City palace compounds.

The lions are always in pairs, with the female lion on the left and the male on the right.

Palace of Heavenly Purity, originally built in 1420 in the early Ming Dynasty and was destroyed by fire and rebuild several times, with the final construction finished in the Qing Dynasty in 1798.

Palace of Heavenly Purity  served as the Emperor's residence.  This role was maintained during the early Qing Dynasty until the Yonzheng Emperor (1722-1735) moved his sleeping quarters to the rear chamber of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.   From then on the Hall of Heavenly Purity continued to function as an important venue for the emperors to meet courtiers, review memorials, handle daily government affairs, receive envoys, accept congratulations and hold banquets.

Entering another hall...

Hall of Union also named the Hall of Union and Peace is located in the Inner Court of the Forbidden City is  a single-roof structure with a gilded bronze spherical pinnacle. Square in shape, it is three bays wide and three bays deep.

It was established in the reign of Jiajing (1522-1566) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was restored twice in 1655 and in 1669. In 1797, it was damaged by a fire and thus rebuilt the next year.

The name was adopted from the Book of Changes, meaning the union of heaven and earth, and peace and harmony of the whole nation in Chinese. In view of the authoritarian role of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661) ordered to place an iron sign forbidding the eunuchs’ interference into government affairs here.

Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunning gong) is the northernmost of the three main halls of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City. The color red is prominently displayed in the palace as it is the color of love, sex, and reproduction in China.

The palace is where emperors traditionally had sex with their new wives soon after their wedding.

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The Palace of Earthly Tranquility was where the empress lived in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). However, after reconstruction in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it served as the nuptial chamber of the emperor and empress and the altar for worshipping the deities of Shamanism.

Roof top with mystical animals.

The Imperial garden is at the northernmost point of the Forbidden City  which is situated behind the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. It was built for emperors and their wives to relax themselves and enjoy beautiful scenery, but was also used for sacrificial rites, keeping fit, book collections, reading, and other purposes.

This garden was originally built in the 18th year of the Ming Dynasty's Yongle period (1420 AD). In later years, it was extended. Today, it still remains in the pattern designed when it was originally constructed.

It is 262 ft. long from south to north and 460 ft. long from east to west, covering an area of 129,166 square ft. and accounting for 1.5% of the Forbidden City.

  Cypresses and Chinese wisteria in the garden are all hundreds of years old. There are more than 160 ancient trees, which are distributed around the garden. In addition, this garden is also interspersed with various hill stones and mini-scapes.

Ancient trees.

The garden

The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Spring Seasons (Wan Chun Ting) stands in the eastern half of the Imperial Garden reminding us that east symbolizes spring. Built in the Ming Dynasty, the building consists of a round upper section and a square lower section that has verandas on all four sides.

We are now exiting the garden and so many people are taking picture of the rock hill behind the gate.

Behind the gate is the Piled Elegance Hill is located in the north-east of the garden.

This hill is made entirely from a pile of peculiar-looking stones. There is one stone-carved dragon's head on each of the two stone lion pedestals in front of the hill.

We are now done with are exiting the Tiananmen Gate of Heavenly Peace.  It is widely used as a national symbol.

On top of the hill is the Spiritual Valor Gate.

Halls on top of the hill

View of Gate of Heavenly Peace.  First built during the Ming dynasty in 1420, Tiananmen was the entrance to the Emperor's residence, of which all visitors to the palace walked through. In 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China from the balcony, of which now features a large portrait of him. Tiananmen is located to the north of Tiananmen Square, and is separated from the plaza by Chang'an Avenue.

Next...Dinner at Dadong