My 2021 edition of the Forbidden City stickers, the 17th volume of the serial "Looking at the Red Walls and Gold Tiles, Appreciating the Ming and Qing Palaces", has been generously read by many readers. Among them, some readers put forward some opinions and suggestions, and pointed out some fallacies. This revised edition is republished on the second quarter, adopting the opinions and suggestions of previous readers, enriching some content, correcting clerical errors, and updating and supplementing some pictures. Although I dare not say that all the fallacies have been corrected, most of them should have been corrected. Remember in detail the architectural art of ancient Chinese top palaces seen in the Ming and Qing palaces, some royal cultural relics exhibited in the Forbidden City, and the traces of royal life in the Qing palace, and also think of some stories and legends that happened in the Ming and Qing palaces. Readers", just want to share with readers. thanks.
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After watching Tai Chi Hall, you have to come out from Tai Chi Gate. Go north to West Erheng Alley, the west section of the alley gate is Fuhuamen. The west section of Erheng Lane is not open, because the inside is merged by Tai Chi Hall and Changchun Palace.
And there is a courtyard in the east section, which is Yikun Palace. There is a wooden screen door inside the palace gate, which can be opened and closed.
Yikun Palace corresponds to Chengqian Palace in the East Sixth Palace. Cheng Qian over there, Cheng is Shun Cheng, Qian is Heaven. Yikun here, Yi means respect, and Kun means land. The correspondence between the two sides means "obeying the sky and respecting the earth", which is similar to the meanings of Qianqing and Kunning in the Housangong of the middle road. The Qianqing and Kunning Second Palaces are located on the south and north middle roads of the Harem, which existed in the early Ming Dynasty. The two palaces of Chengqian and Yikun are on the east-west road of the harem, and they were renamed during the Jiajing and Chongzhen years of the Ming Dynasty. The ancient Chinese emperors’ seemingly respectful attitude towards heaven and earth was actually very hypocritical. They said that the power of the king was granted by heaven, and everyone else had to listen, and no one dared to disrespect God. And the earth is the plate on which he governs for the sky, and it is also the plate on which he harvests silver. The second palace of Yikun and Chengqian was called Wan'an Palace and Yongning Palace in the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, the names of the East Six Palaces were self-contained, and the names of the West Six Palaces were another. Inside the gate of Chengqian Palace is a wooden screen wall, and here in Yikun Palace is a wooden screen door, which is not completely symmetrical.
The main hall in the front yard of Yikun Palace is also five rooms wide, with bucket arches and beams, yellow glazed tiles on the top of the mountain with single eaves, five ridge beasts, and eaves corridors at the front and back. There are also traces of double phoenixes and seals on the horizontal square, which must be the original Qing Dynasty. There is a two-foot-high platform in front of the main hall. On the front of the platform is a vertical belt and a Danbi stone in the middle. In the front yard, there is also an east-west side hall with a width of three rooms, and a side room on the north side of the side hall wall. These are the standard layouts of the six east-west palaces.
Take a look at the West Side Hall of Yikun Palace.
Take a look at the backyard of Yikun Palace.
The layout of the backyard is also the same as other palaces. The top of the back hall is also a hard hilltop with yellow glazed tiles, and there are eaves and corridors. The well platform and well cover in the southeast corner can be seen, but the well pavilion is gone.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the back wall of the apse of Yikun Palace was opened up to make a hallway. Take a look at the apse of Yikun Palace, now called Tihe Hall. On the forehead hangs a plaque inscribed by Cixi "Xiangfeng is a forest", saying that this is a "forest" and there will be phoenixes flying here.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Concubine Zheng lived here, who was the famous female pig's foot who was involved in the stile attack case in the Ming Dynasty. The Zheng family was first concubine Shu when she was granted the ninth concubine in the tenth year of Wanli (1582 A.D.). In the 14th year of Wanli, she was promoted to the imperial concubine again, and she was favored in the harem. During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen at the end of Ming Dynasty, it was the tragic concubine Yuan Gui who lived here. Before Chongzhen went to Jingshan, he ordered all the concubines in the palace to commit suicide, including this concubine Yuan Gui. Concubine Yuan Gui went back to Yikun Palace after taking the order, and found the sweat towel that had not been used for many years from the bottom of the box. She hung the ancient scarf on the beam of the house, and stood on the bench to hang it up herself. She kicked off the bench, never thinking that the sweat towel would collapse because of being so ancient. Concubine Yuan Gui was prostrate on the ground and passed out. Chongzhen came to check her homework and saw Concubine Yuan Gui fell on the ground. Fearing that she would be humiliated when the city was broken, she went forward with a knife and chopped it a few times. When Chuang Wang's soldiers entered the palace and set fire to it, they ignored Concubine Yuan Gui, who was unconscious on the ground and dressed in sackcloth and red. In fact, she was not fatally injured, and then escaped from the palace to hide, and her future is unknown.
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Concubine Yi lived in Yikun Palace and gave birth to the fifth son Yinqi and the ninth son Yinzhen. Yinqi is Yinzhen's party, and Yinzhen is Yinzhen's opponent. When Yinzhen became Emperor Yongzheng, he imprisoned Yinzhen and died in prison. Concubine Yi was not made a concubine by Yongzheng because of Yinzhen. According to Kangxi's last wish, Concubine Yi left Yikun Palace, where she had lived for forty-seven years, and moved into Prince Heng's Mansion, where her son Yinqi lived, in the north of Chaoyangmennei Road. In the tenth year of Yongzheng (1732 A.D.), Yinqi died of illness, and Concubine Yi also died the next year. After Concubine Yi moved away, Yongzheng gave the Yikun Palace to his concubine Nian, who was Nian Gengyao's younger sister. At the beginning of the Nian family, it was Kangxi's designated side Fujin for Yinzhen, and after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was named a noble concubine. Concubine Nian was very favored. During her time with Yongzheng, she cooperated with Yongzheng and gave birth to several children, but none of them were raised. Concubine Nian gave birth to the emperor's ninth son, Fupei, in Yikun Palace, who died immediately after birth. In the end, Concubine Nian died in the third year of Yongzheng, and was promoted to the title of Imperial Concubine before her death. Because Yongzheng loved Concubine Nian very much, after Nian Gengyao's case broke out, Yongzheng finally did not implicate Nian's family and nine clans, and Nian Gengyao's father and brother died well. Concubine Nian was jokingly referred to as Concubine Hua in a certain TV series.
During the Qianlong period, the one who lived in Yikun Palace was the Fujin Nala family before his ascension to the throne, who was his concubine Xian after he became the throne. In the tenth year of Qianlong (AD 1745), Concubine Xian was granted the title of Concubine Xian. In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, Empress Fucha passed away. This hit Lao Gan very hard, and his temperament has changed drastically since then. Prior to this, Qianlong seldom killed the guilty ministers; after the death of Empress Fucha, Qianlong began to send criminal ministers to Caishikou to heaven and earth in batches. In the fourteenth year of Qianlong's reign, Concubine Concubine Xian was granted the title of Imperial Concubine and took pictures of events in the Six Palaces. Qianlong paid for the construction of the Bright and Prosperous Screen Gate above the Yikun Gate. This is why the Yikun Palace is not a wooden screen wall. In the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign, she was canonized as the successor queen. In the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, the emperor made his fourth southern tour, and the empress dowager, empress and concubines gathered together. After arriving in Hangzhou, Qianlong argued with the empress for some reason, and the empress cut her hair privately and threatened to become a monk. Because of this, Qianlong had a grudge against her, and wanted to abolish her, but failed, so he only took back the Jin seal and treasure. After returning to the palace, the queen was ordered by Qianlong to live in the back hall of Yikun Palace and not allowed to go out. In the thirty-first year, Empress Nala passed away, and was buried in the imperial concubine garden of the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty according to the imperial concubine system, but was not buried in Yuling of Qianlong. The story of the successor queen is also joked in some TV dramas. After the death of Empress Nala, Concubine Qing, who was newly promoted in the thirty-third year of Qianlong's reign, lived in Yikun Palace. She had a hard life and died of illness in thirty-nine years. Later, Concubine Dun (Nian Kuo Concubine) lived in Yikun Palace, where she gave birth to Qianlong's favorite daughter and Princess Xiao. Princess Hexiao married Heshen's son. When Emperor Jiaqing sanctioned Heshen, he didn't get rid of his son because he wanted to keep this son as the husband of Jiaqing's younger sister. Jiaqing also left half of the Heshen house to Princess Hexiao and her husband, and the other half to her younger brother, Prince Qing Yonglin, who was also born to the imperial concubine Wei Jia. It was not until the death of Princess Hexiao that the whole house was given to Yonglin. Yonglin's son Mianxing inherited Yonglin's title and continued to live in Heshen's house until Xianfeng redeemed it from Yonglin's grandson Yikuang and gave it to Prince Gong Yixin to become Prince Gong's mansion. Yikuang rebuilt a Qingwang Mansion two alleys to the west of Gongwang Mansion, which no longer exists.
Like Taiji Hall and Changchun Palace, Yikun Palace connects with Chuxiu Palace behind to form a courtyard. Go to Chuxiu Palace, first look at the main hall in the front yard.
The layout of the front yard of Yikun Palace is the same as that of the previous Yikun Palace. The front eaves corridors of the main hall and the east and west side halls are connected by corner corridors to form a circle of verandas. Check out the backyard again.
It is also the same layout as the backyard of Yikun Palace.
Chuxiu Palace was called Shouchang Palace in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was renamed Chuxiu Palace in the 14th year of Jiajing (AD 1533).
There must be records of which concubine lived in Chuxiu Palace in the Ming Dynasty, but it was not made public, and generally no one knew. In the Qing Dynasty, Concubine Ping of Emperor Kangxi lived here. In the fourth year of Kangxi (1665 A.D.), she married Hesheli, the granddaughter of Sony among the four ministers appointed by Emperor Shunzhi, and became the queen of Kunning Palace. This is Kangxi's first queen. In the eighth year of Kangxi, the queen gave birth to the eldest son, who had no life and died at the age of four. In the thirteenth year of Kangxi, the queen gave birth to her second son, Yinreng, with difficulty in childbirth. The royal childbirth is to keep the child, but the queen did not keep it and died at the age of 21. When Kangxi chatted with the queen's Ama and Sony's eldest son Gabra, he heard that he had a daughter, so Kangxi took this daughter into the palace. It seems that Kangxi still misses the first queen very much. This was the nineteenth year of Kangxi, and Kabula's daughter was only ten years old. She lived, ate, lived and played in the Chuxiu Palace as a princess, waiting to grow up, called waiting for the year. In the twenty-three years of Kangxi, this little girl grew up to fourteen years old, and was specially named the concubine of Chuxiu, that is, Hesheli II. She is one of Kang Zao's five concubines, the youngest. In the 30th year of Kangxi, Princess Chuxiu gave birth to a prince who only lived for five weeks. In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi, Princess Chuxiu died of illness, and Kangxi named her Concubine Ping after her.
The most famous person who lived in Chuxiu Palace in the Qianlong Dynasty was Lingfei Wei Jia. Wei Jiashi may have entered the palace before the ninth year of Qianlong (AD 1744), but there is no record of whether it was embroidery or weaving. Later, Empress Fucha favored her and pushed her to the emperor for some reason. In the tenth year of Qianlong's reign, she was first made a nobleman, and in November she became the first concubine of all concubines. In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, she became a concubine again, second only to those old friends before Hongli ascended the throne. In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, she continued to be promoted to the imperial concubine Ling and gave birth to Yongyan, the fifteenth son of the emperor. During the 30 years of Qianlong's tour to the south with the emperor, the Empress Nala's family broke up privately on the way. After the southern tour to Beijing, the noble concubine was promoted to the imperial concubine, and moved from Chengqian Palace to Chuxiu Palace. After the death of Empress Nala, Qianlong never conferred the title of empress again, and Lingfei was the de facto empress. In the snowy winter of the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, the concubine Ling went north with the emperor to Rehe to search for plums, and she fell ill when she came back. Qianlong moved her into the east ear room of the apse of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This room should have been the residence of the queen, and the concubine should have lived in the west ear room. At the beginning of the 40th year of Qianlong, the concubine Ling finally passed away in this east ear room.
After the Qianlong Dynasty, the side Fujin before Emperor Jiaqing ascended the throne, and Niu Gulu, the second queen after ascending the throne, finally lived in Chuxiu Palace. After that, Emperor Daoguang's empress Tong Jia lived in Chuxiu Palace all the time. In the draft in the second year of Xianfeng (AD 1852), a daughter named Yehenara was selected, and she was given the title Languiren. Two years later, he was blessed by Xianfeng, and was granted the title of concubine Yi, and lived in the dormitory in the apse of Chuxiu Palace. At that time, there may have been noble people living in Chuxiu Palace. In the sixth year of Xianfeng, concubine Yi gave birth to the prince Zaichun in Chuxiu Palace. In the early years of Tongzhi (1862 A.D.), when the Empress Dowagers of the two palaces were in charge of politics behind a curtain, Cixi lived in Changchun Palace. For the convenience of listening to the government, the two of them later lived in the backyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Ci'an lived in the east wing of the bedroom, and Cixi lived in the west wing. In the 11th year of Tongzhi, the emperor got married, and the empress Alut lived in the Chuxiu Palace until she died in the Chuxiu Palace in the first year of Guangxu (1875 A.D.) at the age of 22. In the first month of the first year of Guangxu, five-year-old Zai Tian ascended the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. After the ceremony, he went to Qianqing Palace to salute the portrait of Emperor Tongzhi. Then go to the Zhongcui Palace to salute the Empress Dowager Ci'an, then go to the Changchun Palace to salute the Empress Dowager Cixi, and finally go to the Chuxiu Palace to salute the Tongzhi Emperor Jiashun Empress Arut. This paragraph is very strange. There is a saying that when Emperor Tongzhi was young, Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics behind a curtain. In the 11th year of Tongzhi, he got married, and in the 12th year, the two empress dowagers returned to the government. When he passed away at the end of the 13th year, the Tongzhi Emperor had been in charge for a full year. However, it is already wrong to choose the heir emperor without the Tongzhi emperor and empress. If Emperor Guangxu had to have an empress dowager behind the curtain to listen to politics, then it should also be Emperor Tongzhi's empress Alut who listened to politics? How can it not be the turn of the two empress dowagers, besides, this empress Arut was chosen by the empress dowagers of the two palaces. The empress dowagers of the two palaces acted so mischievously, the empress of Emperor Tongzhi was probably pissed to death by them. I figured that because Emperor Guangxu was the cousin of Emperor Tongzhi, there was no way for Arut's sister-in-law to listen to politics behind the curtain. Emperor Guangxu Zaitan took over the position of Emperor Tongzhi Zaichun, this is the position of younger brother and elder brother. Zhu Houcong, Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty succeeded Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Zhengde, and was also a younger brother.
In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Cixi held her 40th birthday in Changchun Palace. In the tenth year of Guangxu, Cixi's fiftieth birthday. In order to get rid of the queen mother, Emperor Guangxu said that he would hold a birthday ceremony in Chuxiu Palace. Cixi was very happy, so she opened up and merged Yikun Palace and Chuxiu Palace according to the merger of Qixiang Palace and Changchun Palace. For hundreds of years, Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty remodeled Qixiang Palace and Changchun Palace, his nephew Emperor Guangxu remodeled Yikun Palace and Chuxiu Palace, and his grandnephew Xuantong Emperor remodeled Yanxi Palace after he was degraded.
Now Yikun Palace and Chuxiu Palace look very different from other palaces, which is the result of Cixi's fiftieth birthday renovation. At that time, the Empress Dowager Ci'an had passed away, and Cixi was in charge of the power alone, so the layout, decoration and furnishings were the highest values that women in the Qing Dynasty could achieve. According to the rules, Cixi can only listen to politics behind a curtain in the inner court, and she cannot go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, so she can only make crazy things in the inner court. The main hall of Yikun Palace is the court where Cixi received her birthday celebration, and her throne is set there. There are mahogany door covers between the east and west sides and the Ming room, and there are Baibao Pavilion and bill case in the side room, on which various things are placed. These are all birthday gifts. According to the test, they are basically fakes. They were not worth much in those days, and the ministers were afraid of revealing their wealth. The furnishings in front of the hall should also imitate the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In front of the platform, there are a pair of copper tripod furnaces, a pair of copper phoenixes, a pair of copper cranes and a pair of copper vats. There are cranes and tortoises on the platforms of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Qianqing in the Forbidden City, and they should all be male. Cixi placed a bronze phoenix in front of her birthday hall. Although the phoenix is also male, it has the meaning of a queen when the dragon and phoenix appear at the same time. The main hall of Yikun Palace is the pseudo-Taihe Hall of Cixi, the hall of ritual and music. After the reconstruction of the apse of Yikun Palace, it became Cixi's tea restaurant, which is the Hall of Tihe, with a bronze phoenix placed in front of the hall. The middle Ming room is a hallway, the east room is a restaurant, and the west room is a teahouse. Guangxu once had a blind date here in the Hall of Tihe. He sat on the throne and five candidates stood in the court. Emperor Guangxu can observe their front faces and backs, and take two steps to see if they are faltering. The east and west side rooms of Tihe Hall were changed into aisles, which can connect the front and rear eaves of Tihe Hall and the front yard of Chuxiu Palace. If you open the right door of Dacheng in Sanheng Lane, Xiyi Chang Street, you can directly enter this aisle.
After renovation, the main hall of Chuxiu Palace was used for Cixi’s daily life. There is no floor in the Ming Dynasty, but a carpet. There is a throne on the carpet. Behind the throne is a mirror, called a mirror screen, with the word "longevity" embedded. There is a plaque of "Dayuan Baojing" on the top of the screen.
The east room is a small living room, the west room is a north kang for taking a nap and a wooden couch with a south window for eating melon seeds. Cixi can usually listen to ministers' reports in the main hall of Chuxiu Palace, or meet with friends or something. Basically, she can hang out here during the day. A pair of bronze dragons and a pair of bronze deer are placed on both sides under the front platform. This main hall of Chuxiu Palace is Cixi's pseudo Qianqing Palace, the living place of emperors. Because the east and west six palaces are the residences of concubines, they do not have official palace functions, so there are no bronze beasts in front of the palace. Empresses in the Qing Dynasty had their own halls, and they went to Kunning Palace and Jiaotai Hall when they encountered Dianyi, so the queen's residence in the harem did not need Dianyi bronze beasts. Cixi is not the queen of the middle palace, so she cannot receive gifts in Kunning Palace and Jiaotai Palace according to the system. Therefore, she only displayed these ceremonial bronze beasts in the harem on her fiftieth birthday, and at this time there was no Empress Dowager Ci'an blocking her. In fact, Cixi respected Ci'an in public, after all, she was the queen of the palace, and she herself was just a noble concubine. When the empress dowagers of their two palaces listened to the government behind the curtain, it was also Ci'an who sat in the front room and lived in the east room.
Take a look at the Eight Immortals Table and Taishi Chair under the south window of the East Room of Chuxiu Palace, they are all made of nanmu.
The paper plaque on it is "Luozhang Xiabu" written by Cixi, which means that the carved and painted paintings in the palace are like the sky full of colorful clouds. Ring Satellite Chen". Because Cixi can write, Xianfeng hired her as a secretary to give her a chance to debut. But to be honest, the big characters on the stele are quite good, and it is said that someone wrote it for him. Look at the West room again.
The west tip room is the bedroom, and several layers of curtains were dropped heavily in front of the kang. Some tourists said, "How boring is Cixi sleeping in so many layers of tents?"
In the Ming Dynasty of Chuxiu Palace, there is a plaque written by Cixi "Ren Qi Dao Feng", which comes from Zhang Heng's "Tokyo Fu" "Ji Guang Jue Wu, Ren Qi Dao Feng". Benevolence is the benevolence of benevolence and righteousness, and Tao is the way to get more help. On the plaque is also a set of three seals of "The Treasure of Empress Dowager Cixi's Royal Brush". Look at that door, it's made of golden nanmu.
Looking at another picture of Cixi's characters, the paper plaque of "Xi Tian Yao Ri" hanging under the architrave of the Dongpei Hall, Xi Tian Yao Ri means a clear sky, which is a metaphor for smooth luck. From the "Seven Enlightenments" written by Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms, "Green leaves are vermilion, and the sun is shining brightly".
The apse of Chuxiu Palace was renamed Lijingxuan by Empress Dowager Cixi, because she lived in Chunchun in this life, so it is beautiful here. After the renovation, this is Cixi's bedroom, with a throne in the Ming Dynasty. Sleeping on the north kang on the west side, eating melon seeds on the wooden couch by the south window, this is Cixi's bedroom. On the east side is Cixi's small stage.
Cixi’s renovation changed all the painted paintings under the corridor. In the past, they should be painted with Hexi seals, but now they are all painted with Su-style spinners.
The paintings on the corridors of the Zhongcui Palace in the East Sixth Palace are also similar to the Su-style scroll paintings, which were remodeled by the Empress Dowager Ci'an. The same is true of the colorful paintings in the Changchun Palace. The previous renovations and repairs in other parts of the palace were still Hexi painted paintings. The changes in these painted paintings are the result of the transformation of two women, Cixi and Ci'an. When women are in charge, they should be more comfortable and less courtly.
In the eleventh year of the Republic of China (AD 1922), Emperor Xun Puyi got married and married his eldest wife Wanrong, who lived in Chuxiu Palace. Wanrong is a member of the Daur tribe. According to textual research, her ancestor was Yelu Yanxi, Emperor Tianzuo at the end of the Liao Dynasty. Wanrong is a woman of the new school. She changed the Xici Room of Lijingxuan in Chuxiu Palace into a western restaurant. The eldest wife Wanrong lives in Chuxiu Palace, the second wife Wenxiu lives in Changchun Palace, and Mr. Puyi's two wives live in the big house.
Side by side with Chuxiu Palace, west of West Erchang Street is Xianfu Palace. Xianfu Palace is not open now, so we can only stand on Xierchang Street and watch it from a distance. Xianfu Palace was called Shou'an Palace in the early Ming Dynasty, where the queens and concubines of the former emperor lived. In the 14th year of Jiajing, it was renamed Xianfu Palace. The layout of the Xianfu Palace is the same as that of the Jingyang Palace corresponding to the East Sixth Palace. The main hall is three rooms wide, with yellow glazed tiles and a single eaves roof. The specifications are higher than the other five palaces in the West Sixth Palace.
Concubine Li, the respected concubine of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty, lived in this Xianfu Palace. Concubine Li Jing was Zhu Yijun's favorite concubine second only to Concubine Zheng Gui. In the 22nd year of Wanli (AD 1594), after the birth of the emperor's sixth son, she was canonized as a respectful concubine, and in the 25th year, after the birth of the emperor's seventh son, she was granted the title of imperial concubine. Concubine Li Jing died ten days after giving birth to the seventh son of the emperor, which is really surprising. People from all walks of life secretly rumored that she was under the influence of Concubine Zheng under the influence of illness. According to the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, her postpartum illness was very similar to the current postpartum depression. The imperial doctors of the Ming Dynasty knew nothing about this disease, and even if it was treated, it would not be cured.
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was Xuanfei Jiligulu who lived in Xianfu Palace. She is the cousin of Emperor Kangxi, probably because of the marriage of close relatives, there is no concubine Xuan. In the 26th year of Kangxi's reign (1687 A.D.), the Chiligulu clan was conferred the concubine, but it was not conferred until the 58th year of Kangxi's reign. She was one of the six concubines of the Kangxi dynasty. After Kangxi died, Concubine Xuan lived in the Ningshou Palace built by Kangxi instead of the Cining Palace. In the first year of Qianlong (AD 1736), he walked westward from Ningshou Palace. Later generations only know that he was in his seventies when he died. When Qianlong was the emperor, he liked to go out of the palace for private visits, to visit Changdian or Aiqing's residence, such as Heshen Ji Xiaolan and his like. When he came back late, he occasionally made do with a night in Xianfu Palace, because it was the most remote corner of the Sixth West Palace. Therefore, Qianlong regarded this place as a foreign house and did not assign it to a certain concubine. Qianlong played the piano and chanted scriptures here in his spare time, practicing Fengya and Zen mind. After Qianlong's death, Emperor Jiaqing also lived in Tongdaotang, the apse of Xianfu Palace, during his filial piety. In order to express his sorrow, Emperor Jiaqing pretended that he could not even climb up the bed, so he spread a wool felt and straw mat on the ground to sleep on it, which is called Tomci. After Emperor Jiaqing, Emperor Daoguang's concubine Lin Wuya lived here. When she was a concubine Lin, she gave birth to the seventh son Yizhen in the 20th year of Daoguang (AD 1840), and was named Concubine Lin by Jin Dynasty. Emperor Xianfeng named Yijuchun County King, and Emperor Tongzhi named him Prince Chun. In the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871 AD), he cooperated with the Empress Dowager Cixi's sister and gave birth to his second son, Zaiyun, who later became Emperor Guangxu. Concubine Lin is the grandmother of Emperor Guangxu.
In the 30th year of Daoguang (1850), the emperor died. In the box behind the upright and bright plaque is the decree that the fourth son of the emperor, Yi Chi, will succeed to the throne, and he will be Emperor Xianfeng. Emperor Xianfeng also kept filial piety for his father in Xianfu Palace. After that, Emperor Xianfeng worked in Tongdao Hall in the back hall of Xianfu Palace. In the second year of Xianfeng, the new emperor held a beautiful girl contest, one of the winners of the N prize, Yehenala, entered the Xianfu Palace as a servant, and was given the title of "Lan Guiren". Yehenala was seventeen years old at the time, which was considered old among beautiful girls. She was born in a poor peasant family in Changzhi, Shanxi. Because of her poverty, she was sold to Hui Zheng's family, the prefect of Lu'an Prefecture in Changzhi. Huizheng watered it carefully because he saw his quality and wisdom, and gradually became familiar with pen and ink. Huizheng raised her and presented her as a tribute to the emperor in the name of a daughter of the same family, so as to prevent the daughter of the same family from being conscripted. When nobleman Lan entered Xianfu Palace, he polished the ink and moistened the pen for Emperor Xianfeng. The ink she polished was not as hard to smell as Yidege, so Xianfeng couldn't help but write a few more words, and even took the time to thank Mrs. Lan. Because of her meritorious service in the imperial court, nobleman Lan won the title of concubine Yi two years later and lived in the back hall of Chuxiu Palace. Concubine Yi still went to Xianfu Palace to help her husband and emperor as needed, and two years later, she gave birth to the emperor's only son Zaichun, concubine Jin Yi, in Chuxiu Palace. Concubine Yi conceived in October and gave birth to concubine Jin Yi, the concubine Jin Yi. Ten months later, she was conferred the title of noble concubine. Since then, although Concubine Yi is not the left and right hand of Emperor Xianfeng, she is almost the third hand. Not only did she help with pen and ink, but she also practiced circle annotations on memorials. Xianfeng also asked her to comment on political affairs for fun, which raised Concubine Yi's desire to do politics. Ordinarily, it was Qianlong who planted the seeds of the subjugation of the Qing Dynasty, but Xianfeng used Concubine Yi as farm manure to irrigate the seeds. Before Xianfeng passed away, he left behind two souvenirs, one is the ancestral seal of Emperor Qianlong Huangshi "Yu Shang"; the other is the small seal of Shoushan Stone "Tongdaotang" used by Xianfeng himself. The "Imperial Reward" chapter was kept by the queen, and the "Tongdaotang" chapter was passed on to the son emperor Tongzhi. The meaning of Xianfeng is "whenever the decree is issued, divide the seal from the beginning to the end, so as to eliminate the disadvantages", that is, the decree before Tongzhi's pro-government should be stamped with the seals of "Yu Reward" and "Tongdaotang" at the beginning and end. In the end, because Tongzhi was too young to keep the seal, the little seal of "Tongdaotang" was stolen by his mother, Concubine Yi. According to Xianfeng's will, the decree should be fabricated by the assistant minister, and then sealed by the empress dowager and Xiao Tongzhi after reading it. There is nothing wrong with Cixi. After the Xinyou coup, the empress dowagers of the two palaces listened to the government behind the curtain, and the decrees were sealed by the empress dowagers of the two palaces behind the curtain, but there was nothing wrong with the emperor Tongzhi.
After Emperor Xianfeng went west, Emperor Tongzhi did not sleep in Xianfu Palace to keep his filial piety; after Tongzhi, Emperor Guangxu did not keep filial piety in Xianfu Palace either. In the end, when Puyi ascended the throne, he was too young to sleep there. Tongzhi finished the play early, and there were not many concubines to put around, so the Xianfu Palace was idle for several years. Although Guangxu has been strong for many years, there are not many concubines, and most of them live in the East Sixth Palace; in addition, he is always under house arrest by Cixi, and he has no chance to come to Xianfu Palace. The Xianfu Palace later became a leather warehouse. The mink fur coats of the emperor's family should not exist here, but the dog fur mattresses must exist here in summer.
Don't look at what I said above that Xianfu Palace is so lively, but it is not open now, so I don't have any photos to post. From Xianfu Palace back to West Erchang Street, this is the end, and the end is Baizimen. Go out from the Baizi Gate, turn around and you can go out a gate and enter the Imperial Garden.
After reading the East and West Six Palaces, the front and rear palaces where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worked and lived are considered complete. There are some buildings on the east and west sides outside the imperial palace, and they also have very important functions, so you should go and see them.
(to be continued)
