2011 Chengdu to Beijing-Jilin-Harbin-Changchun-Beijing back to Chengdu 16-day self-guided tour (4)

2011 Chengdu to Beijing-Jilin-Harbin-Changchun-Beijing back to Chengdu 16-day self-guided tour (4)

August 20-September 4, 2011

August 24 morning noon afternoon overcast

The Famous Royal Gardens of the Qing Dynasty in China——Old Summer Palace

The Old Summer Palace, also known as the Three Old Summer Palaces, is composed of the Yichun Garden (Wanchun Garden), the Changchun Garden and the Old Summer Palace. It is commonly known as the Old Summer Palace, and the three gardens are closely connected.

The Old Summer Palace is a large royal palace in the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the northwest suburb of Beijing, adjacent to the Summer Palace. known as.

The Old Summer Palace was first built in 1709 (the forty-eighth year of Kangxi). It was originally a garden given by Emperor Kangxi to the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen. After Yongzheng ascended the throne in 1722, the original gift garden was expanded, and Zhengda Guangming Hall and Qinzheng Hall were added to the south of the garden, as well as many value houses for the cabinet, six ministries, and military aircraft offices. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, in addition to partial additions and reconstructions to the Old Summer Palace, he also built a new Changchun Garden in the east, and merged into the Wanchun Garden in the southeast. The pattern of the three gardens of the Yuanming Dynasty was basically formed. The Old Summer Palace has more than 140 palaces and pavilions, and hundreds of novel and beautiful scenic spots. There were originally more than 30 good scenery, but it was not confirmed until the ninth year of Qianlong that the number was 40, and the "Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" was drawn by the court painter. Forty Scenery Yongtu will be introduced separately in the next chapter.

The Qing emperor came here to escape the summer heat, listen to the government, and deal with military and political affairs in midsummer, so it is also called "Summer Palace". Today we are fortunate to visit Yuanmingyuan and witness that period of history and the rise and fall of Yuanmingyuan.

The Old Summer Palace is a large royal palace built and operated by the feudal emperors of the Qing Dynasty for more than 150 years. The emperors of Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng all lived in Yuanmingyuan for many years to enjoy themselves and enjoy themselves. They held court meetings and dealt with political affairs here. It was the national political center at that time, along with the Forbidden City (Forbidden City), and was specially designated by the Qing emperors. It is called "Royal Garden".

In the middle of the 17th century, the Manchus seized power in the Central Plains and established the Qing Dynasty. Before the rulers of the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, they lived a nomadic life in the Northeast, and the climate was cool. After entering the customs, they were not used to Beijing's dry and hot climate, especially in the early years of Kangxi, after a fire broke out in the Forbidden City, high palace walls were built for fire prevention. The courtyards of the imperial palace are set together, and the water flow in the ditch is too gentle, almost becoming stagnant water. This makes the emperors a little tired of the palace life with deep walls and high walls. Therefore, from the early years of Kangxi, they began to build gardens. This kind of construction The project lasted for more than two hundred years.

In the western suburbs of Beijing, there are endless beautiful peaks in the west mountains: Yuquan Mountain, Longevity Mountain, Wanquanzhuang, Beihai and other terrains. Artesian springs are everywhere, converging into large and small lakes and ponds in low-lying places. The Yuquan landscape flows into Kunming Lake from west to east along the mountain, becoming the largest water surface in the western suburbs. A large area of ​​rice fields has been reclaimed here, forming a natural scenic spot. As early as the Liao Dynasty, the emperors built the Yuquan Mountain Palace here. In the Ming Dynasty, the natural scenery here attracted more tourists, so some dignitaries and dignitaries occupied the countryside to build villas, and large tracts of land were occupied piece by piece. In the Wanli period, Li Wei, the emperor's relative Wuqinghou, built a large-scale construction project here, and first built the grand Tsinghua Garden (the former site is outside the west wall of Peking University), known as "the first garden in Beijing". Afterwards, Mi Wanzhong guided the lake water outside the east wall of Tsinghua Garden to build the elegant and beautiful "Spoon Garden", which means "a spoonful of Haidian". In the open countryside, there are pavilions, terraces and buildings, which complement each other with the scenery of lakes and mountains, and it has become a famous garden gathering place in the suburbs of Beijing. In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor also took a fancy to the excellent land of gardening in the western suburbs. Started to build gardens on a large scale.

The Old Summer Palace is located in the north of Guajiatun, about one mile away from Changchun Garden, which is now north of Peking University and west of Tsinghua University. The Old Summer Palace in the Kangxi period contained front lake, back lake, etc., and built-in landscapes such as "Peony Terrace" and "Natural Pictures". At that time, Yuanmingyuan was still a vassal garden, and its scale could not exceed the Changchun Garden of the emperor, so there were not many buildings and reputation. But later, with the enthronement of the owner and the arrival of the prosperous Qing Dynasty, after years of continuous expansion, it finally became the most magnificent royal garden in Chinese history.

Lei Jinyu, the chief designer of Yuanmingyuan, was favored by Kangxi when he was building the Forbidden City, but most of the actual construction was still the emperor's opinion. Whether it was Kangxi, Yongzheng or Qianlong, he personally guided the construction of Yuanmingyuan.

Compared with the scale of Yuanmingyuan today, Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden (Wanchun Garden) were built on the original basis in Yongzheng and Qianlong periods.

1. Yichun Garden

In the early days, Qichun Garden was the garden given by Prince Yunxiang of Qingyi and the imperial gift. It was built around the end of Kangxi, and it was named "Jiaohui Garden". In the mid-Qianlong period, the garden was given to Fu Heng, a senior scholar, and renamed "Chunhe Garden". In the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong (1769), Chunhe Garden was incorporated into Yuanmingyuan and officially named "Qichun Garden".

The range at that time did not include its northwest. In the 4th and 16th years of Jiaqing, two gift gardens entered the western part of the garden successively. One is the Xishuang Village of Prince Cheng Yongxuan, and the other is the Hanhui Garden of Princess Zhuangjing Heshuo. After large-scale repairs and reconstructions After the expansion, the garden began to have a scale of 1,000 mu and became one of the main gardens where the Qing emperor lived.

Qichun Garden had a poem "Thirty Scenes of Qichun Garden" in Jiaqing, and more than 20 new scenery were added one after another. Siyi Bookstore, Chunzezhai, Fenglinzhou, Weizaotang, Zhonghetang, Bixiang, Zhulinyuan, Xiyushanfang, Yanyulou, Hanhuilou, Chengxintang, Changhetang, Zhanqingxuan, Zhao There are nearly 30 pavilions and Lingxu Pavilions. There are more than 100 garden buildings hanging plaques. The Qichun Garden Palace Gate was built in the 14th year of Jiaqing (1809). Because it was built more than half a century later than the Grand Palace Gate of the Yuanmingyuan and the Second Palace Gate of the Changchun Garden, it is also known as the "New Palace Gate" and has been used until now. Since the early years of Daoguang, the area around the Fuchun Hall on the East Garden Road has been rebuilt and used as a place to support the Empress Dowager; however, the scenery on the West Garden Road has always been the garden residence of Emperor Daoguang and Emperor Xianfeng. Qichun Garden was burned down by the British and French allied forces in the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860). When it was rebuilt during the Tongzhi period, it was renamed Wanchun Garden.

From the perspective of usage, after the early years of Daoguang, Qichun Garden mainly became the residence of the empress dowagers and concubines of the Qing Dynasty.

Qichun Garden is located to the south of Yuanmingyuan and Changchun Garden, and the plane of the three gardens is in the shape of an inverted "pin". Qichun Garden covers an area of ​​about 800 mu, slightly smaller than Changchun Garden, and consists of Bamboo Garden, Hanhui Garden, Xishuang Village, and the northern half of Chunhe Garden. The composition of Yichun Garden is quite special. It is composed of several small gardens, which were built in different periods. Therefore, the whole garden does not have a unified overall layout like Changchun Garden. Generally speaking, Yichun Garden is a small A collection of waterscape gardens.

2. Changchun Garden

Changchun Garden is located on the east side of Yuanmingyuan. It was built around the tenth year of Qianlong (1745). In the 16th year of Qianlong (1751), the general manager of the garden was officially established, and the main scenic spots on Yuanzhong Road and West Road have been basically completed, such as Danhuai Hall, Hanjing Hall, Yulinglong Hall, Siyongzhai, Haiyue Kaijin, Dequan Pavilion, Liuxiangzhu, Fahui Temple, Baoxiang Temple, Aishan Tower, Zhuanxiangfan, Congfang Pavilion, etc. Later, Qian Garden and Xiaoyoutian Garden were successively built. The eastern part of the garden (Yingqingzhai, Ruyuan, Jianyuan, and Lion Forest) was built on a large scale between the 31st and 37th years of Qianlong (1766-1772), covering an area of ​​70 There are more than 20 hectares of gardens and architectural landscapes in the garden, including the Lion Forest imitating Suzhou, the Ru Garden of Zhan Garden in Nanjing, and the Xiaoyoutian Garden of West Lake in Hangzhou. Including the Western Building Scenic Area, Changchun Garden covers an area of ​​1,000 mu. There are about 200 garden buildings hanging plaques.

The Changchun Garden was built in 1745 and basically took shape in 1751. It took about six years. After that, there were repeated works, and finally it became a perfect garden combining Chinese and Western styles. Compared with Yuanmingyuan itself, Changchun Garden is a veritable waterscape garden. The water surface area accounts for two-thirds of the whole garden area, and the width of the water area is between one and two hundred meters, which is suitable for viewing the surrounding scenery far and near. . In terms of the overall layout, Changchun Garden is also more reasonable. The islands, bridges, islands, and embankments used to divide the water surface are well arranged and evenly arranged. To use a modern catchphrase: "everywhere shows the 'people-oriented'" design idea and feelings.

The Changchun Garden is not a simple expansion and internal addition to the Old Summer Palace, but a new garden with an area of ​​about 1,000 mu on the east side of the Old Summer Palace. Different from the Yuanmingyuan itself, the Changchun Garden was carefully planned and designed in advance, and it was a masterpiece of gardens made by Emperor Qianlong. After the completion of "Ode to Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace", Emperor Qianlong's enthusiasm for architecture temporarily subsided. However, less than a year later, his enthusiasm for gardening flourished again. This time, according to Emperor Qianlong's own statement, he wanted to build a banquet residence for himself after he abdicated, even though he was only a 34-year-old young man at this time. For this reason, recuperation and leisure have become the biggest theme of Changchun Garden. It may be said that Changchun Garden is an activity center for the elderly built by Emperor Qianlong himself.

The former garden landscape of Changchun Garden was only painted a large panorama by court painters during the Qianlong period. In 1860, the Anglo-French allied forces burned the garden and its whereabouts are unknown.

Since December 1992, the Changchun Garden Yamagata Water System has been fully renovated, and the water was released until May 1994.

3. Old Summer Palace

The Old Summer Palace is located in the western suburbs of Beijing. It was mainly built in the forty-eighth year of Kangxi (1709) and the Yongzheng Dynasty. It was originally a garden given to the fourth son Yinzhen by Emperor Kangxi. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he began to expand the original gift garden, and built the Zhengda Guangming Hall and Qinzheng Hall in the south of the garden, as well as the cabinet, six ministries, and military aircraft offices. The prelude to the emperor's "garden residence and governance".

"Old Summer Palace", this name was named by Emperor Kangxi. The three-character plaque of Emperor Kangxi's imperial script is hung above the gate of Yuanming Hall. Emperor Yongzheng had an explanation for this "Yuanming", saying that the meaning of the word "Yuanming" is: round and engrossed, the gentleman's time is also in the middle; bright and universal, the wisdom of the man. "Round" refers to the perfection of personal morality, surpassing ordinary people; "Ming" refers to political achievements that shine brightly and are perfect and wise. This can be said to be the ideal standard for the ruling class in the feudal era to flaunt a wise king.

In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), the expansion project of Yuanmingyuan officially started. In the first month of this year, Emperor Yongzheng allowed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send personnel to cut trees in the Rehe paddock. Since then, most of the wood used in the construction of Fandanei, Xiyuan, Sanshan and Wuyuan came from the paddock. In July of the third year of Yongzheng (1725), the Ministry of Internal Affairs appointed a businessman from Changsheng to purchase the stones needed for the Old Summer Palace. Emperor Yongzheng had Zhu commented: "If there is a slight delay in preparing stones in Changsheng, he will be punished." It can be seen that he is eager to build a garden.

The expansion project of Yuanmingyuan during the Yongzheng period generally consisted of three parts: the first part extended the central axis to the south, and built the palace area on the south side of the garden, strictly imitating the central axis symmetry of the Forbidden City, including the newly built Grand Palace Gate, and the left and right sides. The outer court house and the value houses of the various government offices of the cabinet will become the main building complex where the emperor governs in the Yuanmingyuan in the future. In the second part, the original gift garden was expanded to the north, east and west, and Qushui Island was built, and pavilions and pavilions were added. This part constituted the main body of the "Forty Scenery" inscribed by Emperor Qianlong (at least thirty The three sceneries were completed during Yongzheng's reign). The third part is to build Fuhai and its surrounding buildings.

After the expansion, the Old Summer Palace covers an area of ​​about 3000 mu. In each scenic spot, there are not only majestic and magnificent palaces, but also pavilions, pavilions, corridors and curved bridges that make people feel relaxed and dexterous. Rockery, lakes and meandering rivers are dotted among them. During the Yongzheng period, the layout of the Old Summer Palace was basically completed.

After Emperor Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he adjusted the garden landscape in Yuanmingyuan, added architectural groups, and built Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden (renamed Wanchun Garden during Tongzhi) on the east and southeast neighbors of Yuanmingyuan. These three gardens are all under the management of the minister who manages the Old Summer Palace, and they are called the Three Gardens of the Old Summer Palace.

In the mid-Qing Dynasty, there were many additions and reconstructions in the park. The main landscape groups of the garden include the famous "Forty Views of the Old Summer Palace", Zibi Mountain House, Zao Garden, Ruofan Pavilion, Wenyuan Pavilion and so on. At that time, there were about 600 main garden buildings with plaques hanging, which was actually the crown of royal gardens both at home and abroad.

4. Zhengjue Temple - Yuanmingyuan Royal Temple

Zhengjue Temple was first built in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, and was first named Kaiyuan Temple and Miaojue Temple. It was later rebuilt into a typical royal Buddhist temple, which was completed in the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773).

Zhengjue Temple is located to the west of the main palace gate of Qichun Garden in Yuanmingyuan. It is connected to Qichun Garden by a back door, and has a unique pattern, with a separate south gate. Zhengjue Temple is actually a Buddhist temple attached to the Yuanmingyuan, the imperial garden of the Qing emperor, commonly known as the Lama Temple. It covers a total area of ​​14,300 square meters, with a building area of ​​3,649 square meters, including the Shanmen, the Bell and Drum Tower, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Five Buddhas, the Hall of Three Saints, the Manjusri Pavilion, the Hall of the Six King Kong, and the uppermost building. It is a closed rectangular building complex. .

In 1860 and 1900, when the Old Summer Palace was robbed twice, Zhengjue Temple survived because it was alone outside the wall of Qichun Garden. But it is said that the temple was once occupied by the Boxers. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, the German military camp stationed opposite Langrun Garden destroyed some doors, windows and Buddha statues of the temple. Zhengjue Temple has gone through more than a hundred years of vicissitudes. Yan Huiqing, who was the acting prime minister of the Beiyang government, bought it as a private villa, removed the Buddha statues, renovated it, and sent lamas. Later, it was resold by Tsinghua University as a repair house for the teaching staff to live in Zhengjue Temple. After the founding of New China, Zhengjue Temple became the factory site of three enterprises including Beijing Haidian Machinery Manufacturing Factory (now Beijing Great Wall Boiler Factory). After several times of human destruction, the Sansheng Temple and other buildings disappeared, and other buildings were destroyed to varying degrees. Now only the mountain gate, Manjusri Pavilion, four side halls and 26 ancient trees remain.

The three characters "Zhengjue Temple" are engraved on the outer eaves of the gate of Zhengjue Temple, which are written by Emperor Qianlong, and the four languages ​​of Han, Manchu, Tibetan and Mongolian are combined.

Zhengjue Temple is the only surviving ancient building in Yuanmingyuan, which is of great significance for studying the history of Qing Dynasty and the architectural style of Yuanmingyuan.