Thoughts after seeing the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters, with a building area of 6.5438+0.5 million square meters. There are more than 980 buildings and more than 8,700 houses. Around the Forbidden City, there are 10-meter-high walls and a moat more than 50 meters wide. The Forbidden City in Ming and Qing Dynasties was built in the center of Beijing, with the north-south axis and the north-south axis, which fully embodied the feudal ruling thought of imperial power first. Outside the Forbidden City, there is an imperial city, surrounded by Beijing and the city, showing a strict hierarchy. Historically, the Forbidden City has been rebuilt many times due to fires and other reasons, but the basic pattern has not changed. The whole palace building is divided into two parts: the south front yard and the north back yard. There were three halls in the previous dynasty: Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe. These three halls are the tallest buildings in the Forbidden City, where the emperor held major ceremonies and were symbols of feudal imperial power. Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Palace and Kunning Palace were the centers of the later dynasties, where emperors, queens, concubines and concubines lived. The former dynasty followed the later dynasty, with clear boundaries, which could not be crossed casually, reflecting the distinct hierarchy of China's ancient tradition and other ethical concepts inside and outside. Architects in China have planned such a large-scale building in an orderly way, and combined the Forbidden City into a magnificent building complex with thick walls, doors and courtyards. The planning and architecture of the Forbidden City in Ming and Qing Dynasties not only inherited the tradition of ancient architecture in China, but also developed and innovated, which embodied the achievements of ancient culture in China and ancient architecture in China. The combination of indoor and outdoor building space, the collocation of building volume, the use of materials, the display of sketches, the production of decorations and the choice of colors have all reached a high level, which has produced exciting artistic effects.

The Forbidden City is also the best and richest cultural relic museum in China. The Palace Museum was built in 1925, and the collection of cultural relics mainly comes from the old collection of the Qing Palace. During the Anti-Japanese War, in order to ensure the safety of national treasures, five batches of selected cultural relics of the Forbidden City were transferred to the south. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, some of them were shipped back to the Forbidden City and some to Taiwan Province Province. After the founding of New China, the state made every effort to collect lost cultural relics, making the old and new collections of the Forbidden City reach millions, including bronzes, jade articles, gold and silver wares, ceramics, ivory bamboo carving, silk embroidery, Four Treasures of the Study, calligraphy and painting, furniture and so on. , representing the highest level of history, culture and art in China.

The Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters, including a building area of163,000 square meters, a length of 96 1 meter from north to south and a width of 753 meters from east to west. Surrounded by a 10-meter-high city wall and a moat with a width of 52 meters. There are exquisite turrets in the four corners. According to the statistics of 1973, the Forbidden City has more than 90 courtyards and 980 houses, with a total of 8704 rooms. Shortly after the Ming Dynasty Yongle Emperor Judy ascended the throne, in the fourth year of Yongle, that is, 1406, a letter was written to build the Forbidden City in Beijing. The construction is divided into two stages. The first stage is to prepare materials from the fourth year of Yongle, and the second stage is to start construction in June of the fifteenth year of Yongle, 14 17, which lasted 14 and was completed in the eighteenth year of Yongle, 1420. During the construction process, 65,438+skilled craftsmen and 1 10,000 civilian workers were gathered. The building materials came from all over the country, including white marble from Fangshan, Beijing, golden bricks from Suzhou, lime from Yizhou, Hebei, five-color tiger skin stone from Panshan, Jixian, Hebei, fine masonry for temple foundation from Linqing, Shandong, pine wood from the northeast and nanmu from Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. The Forbidden City was basically built according to the blueprint of the imperial palace in the Ming Dynasty, and the layout planning followed the "Zhou Li? A study of the etiquette system in the design of Gong Ji's capital: the former dynasty is in front, the latter dynasty is in the back, and the left ancestor is in the right society. It is roughly divided into two parts: the southern part faces forward and the northern part faces backward. In the former dynasty, the three halls of Ethereum, Zhonghe and Baohe were the center, and Wenhua Hall and Wuying Hall were the east and west wings, which were the places where the emperor held the court meeting. The back bedroom is centered on the three halls of Gan Qing, Jiaotai and Kunning, as well as the six palaces of things and the imperial garden. The buildings on Waidong Road and Waixi Road are the main places for the emperor to deal with daily government affairs and the life and sacrifice of imperial concubines in the harem. The layout of Zuo Zu You She is as follows: Outside the noon gate, the ancestral hall of the emperor is on the east side, and the altar of ancestor worship is on the west side. According to this layout, the Forbidden City was the palace of 24 emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties, including Ming Dynasty 14 and Qing Dynasty 10, which ruled for five centuries. Because of its special position in the history of China and exquisite architectural groups, it was listed on the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO in 1987, making it the largest and most well-preserved palace complex in the world. Now there is a central axis running through the north and south in Beijing, which is called the Great Central Axis by Mr. Liang Sicheng, with a total length of 8.5 kilometers, starting from Yongdingmen in the south and reaching the Bell Tower in the north, of which the imperial city, including the Forbidden City, accounts for one third. This central axis is also called Long Mai. Jingshan on this line is the center of the inner city and the town mountain of the Forbidden City.

We sometimes call the Forbidden City the Forbidden City, but how did it get its name? Astronomers in ancient China divided the main star in the sky into three walls, four images and twenty-eight stars. Three yuan is Taiwei yuan, Ziwei yuan and Tianshi yuan. Among them, Ziweiyuan is in the middle, which is the place where the emperor in heaven lives, and it is called Purple Palace. The feudal emperor claimed to be the son of the Emperor of Heaven, so he also symbolized the palace where he lived as the Purple Palace in the sky. Moreover, the place where the emperor lived was heavily guarded, and ordinary people were not allowed to get close. This is an absolute forbidden area, also known as the Forbidden City, so it is also known as the Forbidden City. There are four gates here, namely the Wumen Gate, the Shenwu Gate, the Donghuamen Gate and the Xihuamen Gate. The main entrance of the Forbidden City is the meridian gate, because on the compass, the morning represents the south, so the meridian gate means the south gate. Its plane is concave, which evolved from the shape of the door in Han Dynasty. There is a pier with a height of 12 meters at the lower end, a gatehouse in the middle of the pier and bell and drum pavilions on both sides. The protruding parts on the east and west sides are called Guan, with 13 cloisters on the upper part and square pavilions with double eaves and sharp corners at both ends. The central square is called que. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this was the place where the imperial court held the ceremony of awarding new moons and offering prisoners. There are three doors in the middle and doors on both sides. This practice is called "Sanming and Five Darkness". The five doorways have their own uses: the middle gate is dedicated to the emperor, or when the emperor gets married, the queen can enter the palace from here, and the first three students can also enter the palace from here; At ordinary times, the civil and military officials take the left door, and the imperial clan princes take the right door; Open the door only in large-scale activities, officials below the third class pass through the east and west doors respectively according to Wen Wudong Xi, and foreign envoys can only enter the palace if they close the door from the west; In the court examination, candidates are divided into odd and even numbers, and pass through the east and west gates.

When you enter the meridian gate, the first thing you see is the Neijinshui River, which winds through Taihemen Square from west to east. There are five white marble bridges on it, which is the Neijinshui Bridge. Neijinshui River is not only the main drainage channel of the Forbidden City, but also the main water source for building and fire fighting. At the same time, it also played a role in decorating the landscape, making Taihe Gate Square beautiful and magnificent.

There are also two doors on both sides of Taihe Gate, namely Dezhao Gate and Zhendu Gate. Every time the emperor leaves the palace, he has to change trains at Taihe Gate. When the emperor gets married, the queen has to enter the palace from Taihe Gate. In the fourth year of Guangxu, something happened: On the eve of Emperor Guangxu's wedding, the Taihe Gate was suddenly burned down by fire, but the queen had to pass through here on the wedding day, so the court found a skilled craftsman in Beijing and built a fake Taihe Gate with colored silk and wood overnight, which made the wedding go on as scheduled. The next year, the Taihe Gate was rebuilt.

After crossing the Taihe Gate, you enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, covering an area of more than 30,000 square meters. Every year, on New Year's Day, the winter solstice, the emperor's birthday and some major events, grand ceremonies will be held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square.

Now the magnificent building in front of us is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which, together with Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall, is built on an earthen three-storey platform, with a length of 230m from north to south and a height of 8.13m. There are also some pavilions around, which are actually warehouses under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Qing Dynasty. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the tallest and largest building in the Forbidden City, with an area of 2,377 square meters, a height of 35.05 meters, a width of1/and a depth of 5 rooms. In fact, in the Fengtian Temple in the Ming Dynasty, there were 9 halls, 9 wide and 5 deep. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that it was changed to its present size. In fact, the secret rooms on both sides are closed and cannot be used as the main hall, so it is actually 9 rooms, 9 rooms wide and 5 rooms deep. At the same time, it was renamed the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The word "Taihe" comes from the Book of Changes: "keeping harmony and harmony". The concept of Taihe is an extension of the ancient concept of harmony between man and nature, emphasizing the harmony between monarch and minister, between man and nature and between a nation. There is also a big kiss with a height of 3.36 meters on the main ridge of the hall of supreme harmony, and the animals of 1 1 are hung under the ridge. In ancient China, the more animals there were, the higher the level of the temple was. There are 72 large movable branches in the temple, six of which are golden pillars with golden dragon patterns, which support algae wells, where dragons are carved and Xuanyuan mirrors are located in Longkou. The word Xuanyuan comes from Xuanyuan star in ancient astronomy in China, which means the star of Xuanyuan Huangdi, the star in charge of thunderstorm. There is an algae well at the top of the hall. First, the emperor representing the current dynasty is the orthodox heir of the Chinese nation. Second, it plays a role in extinguishing fires.

There are also many furnishings in the temple. The Golden Throne is a relic of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperors of the Qing Dynasty continue to use it. In the process of Yuan's restoration, it was replaced by a nondescript sofa that combines Chinese and western styles. After liberation, experts found the original throne in the furniture vault, and after more than a year of renovation, it finally recovered its original appearance.

The horizontal bed in the temple is more than 6 feet high, with screens and thrones. There are fragrant pavilions, cranes and so on on the table. When the emperor goes to court, he will light sandalwood to set off the mysterious atmosphere. There is an elephant in the temple, and there is an Aquarius on its back, which contains whole grains, meaning that the world is peaceful and auspicious. Elephants stand on all fours, as steady as Mount Tai, symbolizing social and political stability. It's called Taiping The corner is a legendary god beast, symbolizing that the emperor today is a holy king. Crane was regarded as a kind of longevity bird by the ancients, symbolizing the immortality of the country. Xiangting evolved from incense burner and was placed in the temple, symbolizing national stability.

There are many furnishings outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Day: It's an ancient timer in China. The standard Beijing time is here.

Jialiang was the national standardized rice in Qianlong period, which existed before Qianlong Palace. Copper turtles and cranes are long-lived animals, and putting them here also means longevity. There are 308 large and small water tanks in the Forbidden City, which are used for fire prevention and are called Taiping tanks. The two gold-plated vats outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony weighed 2 tons, but the gold on them was scraped away by Eight-Nation Alliance with a saber. Around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there are some stories. 1908,65438+In February, four-year-old Puyi ascended the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. His father knelt under the throne and supported him, but Puyi cried and said, "I'm gone, I'm going home, I'm gone, I'm going home." His father had to say, "Don't cry, don't cry, it's almost over." After the ceremony, civil and military officials privately said that this was not a good sign. Sure enough, three years later, the Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty and ended the feudal monarchy in China. However, in 19 15, Yuan stole the fruits of the victory of the Revolution of 1911 and called himself "Emperor Hongxian" in an attempt to restore feudal society. He also held an enthronement ceremony in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and removed all Manchu characters from the plaques of the three halls. The coal shop in the capital was also ordered to remove the "yuan coal" from the wall and replace the Yuanxiao with glutinous rice balls. However, he only served as emperor for 83 days, and he died in the sound of falling Yuan in the whole country.

Zhonghe Hall was once called Gaihua Hall and Relay Hall in Ming Dynasty, but it was changed to Zhonghe Hall in Shunzhi period, which was taken from Book of Rites? The Doctrine of the Mean ""The winner is the foundation of the world; He who is in harmony is also in the world. "The name of the temple embodies the Confucian doctrine of the mean. When the spring tide ceremony was held in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the emperor had to take a short rest in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to receive congratulations from officials before rushing to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In the event of a major festival, you should read the congratulatory message or check the seed farm tools the day before. The Qing dynasty stipulated that the genealogy of the royal family, namely Yushu, should be compiled every ten years. After the revision, the emperor will read it in Zhonghe Hall and hold a warehousing ceremony.

After the Zhonghe Hall, we came to Baohe Hall, which was once called Shenshen Hall and Jianji Hall in the Ming Dynasty, but it was changed to Zhonghe Hall in the Shunzhi period, with the same name as Taihe Hall, meaning to protect harmony and harmony. Baohe Hall has different uses in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, when the ceremony was held, the emperor had to change clothes in the Baohe Hall. At the end of the year, there will be a banquet for the officials. In the Qing dynasty, banquets were held here on the fifteenth day of the first month and New Year's Eve. Moreover, this is also the place where the imperial examinations were held in the Qing Dynasty. There is a huge Yunlong stone carving behind Baohe Hall, which is carved with Ai Yeqing. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the original patterns carved in the Ming Dynasty were removed and re-carved. The stone carving is16.57m high, 3.07m wide and1.7m thick, and weighs more than 200 tons. The stone carving is surrounded by grass patterns, with sea water river teeth patterns at the lower end and nine dragons surrounded by flying clouds in the center. Exquisitely made, it is a rare stone carving treasure. This stone belongs to Fangshan, Beijing, and it took a lot of manpower and material resources to move it. However, why this stone was behind the Baohe Hall is not recorded in historical materials. According to experts' speculation, it may be because this stone was put here after it was shipped, and it is very difficult to move it again, so it was put here.

After visiting the first three halls, I came to the main entrance of the back bedroom area. There is a 15 palace in the back bedroom area. Experts believe that this has a symbolic relationship with Ziweiyuan and Bagua in astronomy.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Ganqingmen was the place where the imperial gate was held to listen to politics. On the west side, there was a row of houses, namely the military department, which was established during the reign of Yongzheng and was not abolished until the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911. The military department is a very important institution, above the cabinet. But at that time, in order to prevent leaks, the Inspectorate sent inspectors to the office of the Ministry of the Interior next to the military every day to monitor the activities here.

What we see now is the dry Qing palace. The word "Gan Qing" is taken from the poem "Liuhe Shengde" written by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty: "Gan Qing Kunyi" means peace in the world and peace everywhere. In the Ming and early Qing dynasties, the emperor's bedroom was always here. When he arrived in Yong Zhengdi, he moved to hall of mental cultivation. From then on, Gan Qing Palace became the place where the emperor listened to politics. Every New Year's Day, the emperor held a celebration in Gan Qing Palace, and during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, a "Thousand Banquets" were held in the palace. The story of "Ao Bai captured by Kangxi" also happened here. Moreover, after the death of the emperor, it is necessary to stop here to pay homage 15 days, indicating that he died, and then he can move to other places. There is a golden lacquer throne in the center of Gan Qing Palace, with a screen behind it, engraved with the sermon of the first emperor. Above the throne, there is also a "aboveboard" plaque. After Yong Zhengdi acceded to the throne, he secretly stored imperial edicts on various chronic diseases in the battle for the throne, thus changing the feudal system of public book ceremony for the prince. Since then, the emperor personally wrote two imperial edicts of Chu Jun, one of which was placed behind this aboveboard plaque, and the other was hidden by himself. After the death of the emperor, two letters were taken out and checked to be effective.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were three mysteries surrounding Gan Qing Palace. That is, the change of Renyin Palace, Marubeni case and the case of moving the palace. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor slept in the Qing Palace, and 16 people, including maid-in-waiting Yang, tried to kill the emperor. In desperation, they tied the rope into a fast knot and failed. As a result, all these people were executed, which happened to be the year of Renyin, so it was called Renyin Palace Change. From then on, the emperor didn't dare to live in Gan Qing Palace until the day before his death, but he died that day. Marubeni happened after the death of Zhu Yijun, the Wanli emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his son Zhu Changluo succeeded to the throne. However, he soon became ill. He took a red pill from the tribute, and felt very good after taking one, so he took the second one. As a result, he died in Gan Qing Palace, and he was only emperor for 29 days, so he was called the son of heaven in January. The move to the palace happened after Zhu Changluo died in January. His beloved princess Li Fei is ambitious, so she insists on living in Gan Qing Palace with the soon-to-be-enthroned Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao to intimidate her ministers. But these ministers cheated the prince away from her, but he still stayed in the Qing palace. It was not until the night before the Prince ascended the throne that ministers came to scold him. In this way, he was forced to leave the palace.

Behind Gan Qing Palace is the Jiaotai Hall, which is taken from the Jiaotai Hall between heaven and earth in the Book of Changes and symbolizes the harmony of life after the emperor. There are 25 precious seals in the center of the temple, on which the "inaction" plaque of Emperor Kangxi's imperial book and Qianlong's manuscript is hung. On the east side, there is a timer invented by the ancients in China-Tonghu Drip, and on the west side, there is a dzmz. Here, every year, the queen's birthday will be celebrated in Jiaotai Hall, and even the empress dowager and the emperor will come here to celebrate. Every year, the day before the ceremony is held in the silkworm altar, the queen will review the mulberry picking tools here.

The main entrance is Wumen Gate, the north entrance is Shenwumen Gate, the east entrance is Donghuamen Gate, and the west entrance is Xihuamen Gate. The architectural atmosphere of the palace is very different from that of the outer court. The Forbidden City, resplendent and luxurious, is the essence of China's ancient architectural art. It also preserves a large number of precious cultural relics, which are important materials of history and historical art and a bright pearl of China's ancient culture. The Forbidden City has been listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

meridian gate

It is the main entrance of the Forbidden City. Because the gatehouse is 8 meters high and the auxiliary building is 4 meters high, it is also commonly known as "Wufeng Building".

In the Ming dynasty, lanterns were hung at noon on the fifteenth day of the first month every year to deliver meals to officials; Every year on the first day of the tenth lunar month, a ceremony will be held here to issue the almanac for the next year. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong in Qing Dynasty, it was renamed "Shuoshuo" because it avoided using the name of Li Hong.

In the Qing dynasty, emperors held ceremonies or big sacrifices, as well as major festivals, such as New Year's Day, winter solstice, longevity and weddings, etc., all of which were decorated here with halogen and ceremonial ceremonies. In addition, when the country triumphs, the emperor accepts the ceremony of offering prisoners at the noon gate, and if the emperor personally signs it, he will drive out.

Gate of Supreme Harmony

Entering the meridian gate and crossing the Jade Belt River is the Taihe Gate. There are two bronze lions in front of the Taihe Gate. The lion is on the right, and there is a copper ball under its paw, which symbolizes power. On the left is a lioness, and a little lion lies under her paws, indicating intimacy and maternal love. The mane roll on the lion's head, 13, is the supreme roll, dedicated to the palace.

Taihe Gate is the main entrance of the first three halls. The ground is covered with gold bricks and the ceiling is painted with dragons. BRIC, a kind of brick fired in Suzhou, is very delicate and complicated. After six processes, it takes 130 days to fire in the kiln, and then it takes 8 months to soak the bricks in tung oil. The bricks made in this way are "knocked loudly and broken without holes", and they are shiny black, and the light can be used as a guide. This kind of brick is expensive, and the manufacturer's name and place of origin are printed under each brick. All the halls in the Forbidden City are paved with this kind of brick. Because of its high price, people call it "BRIC".

Hall of Supreme Harmony

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the Golden Throne Hall, is the largest building in the palace group. The temple is 36 meters high and 63 meters wide, covering an area of 2,380 square meters.

"Taihe" comes from the Book of Changes. Taihe means "Yin and Yang will be in harmony, and qi will be in harmony", which means that everything in the universe is harmonious and complete. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is located on the base of I-shaped Mount Sumi, carved from white marble and divided into three layers, namely, Danyong or Danbi. The name of the carved column is looking at the column, and the stigma is engraved with Yunlong moire. Those protrusions are cicada heads, and the small holes in the mouth are water holes. * * * There is a cicada head 1 142. If it rains, you can see the wonders of a thousand dragons spitting water.

There is a 18 large copper furnace on the platform, which is said to represent the then 18 province. On the platform above the pedestal of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there are a pair of bronze turtles and a pair of bronze cranes, symbolizing "one turtle and one crane for thousands of years" and meaning longevity. There is a sundial in the east and happiness in the west, which symbolizes the fairness and justice of imperial power. This is the place where grand ceremonies are held and Jiu Shao music is played.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the tallest wooden hall in China. The main hall is the top of the double-eaved palace, the highest floor in the main hall and the best classical building in China. There are 72 pillars supporting the weight of the Armed Forces Department in the hall. There are six gold-plated dragon pillars and 42 wooden pillars in the center of the hall, originally nanmu, and later changed to pine. The throne in the middle of the main hall is sumeru-shaped, with a position on the front and a position on the left and right (namely, wooden steps). There is a golden chair carved with dragons on the throne, which is the position of the emperor. There is a golden screen carved with dragons behind the chair. There are symmetrical treasures, horns, cranes, incense and other furnishings on the left and right sides of the throne, all inlaid with copper wire and enamel products. Like a treasure bottle, it contains whole grains, symbolizing peace and abundant crops. Foot end is a kind of god beast in ancient China mythology. Can drive 18000 miles a day, familiar with the four languages. Only a wise monarch can bring books and escort him.