The emperor is the most honorable person, so is there a most honorable house? The Forbidden City is. If you must refine it to which house, it is naturally the Hall of Taihe. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, all state-level ceremonies were held in the Taihe Hall.
China has been a state of etiquette since ancient times, and this ceremony is a variety of ceremonies at the national level, the emperor's ascension to the throne, the big wedding, the canonization of the empress, and the appointment of great generals to go on the expedition, all have a set of solemn and complicated etiquette, even the emperor can only honestly follow the process.
The whole ceremony took several hours, and the young emperor had to hold back no matter how impatient he was. Otherwise, the hat of the Dark Lord will be buttoned up. So in China, etiquette is sometimes more important than imperial power.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were sometimes some objections to the emperor's succession, but as long as the entire process was completed in the Taihe Hall and the enthronement ceremony was completed, no one would question the legitimacy of the emperor.
Even in modern times, the importance of etiquette to Chinese is reflected in many ways. The most typical thing is that even after completing the legal marriage registration procedures, the couple will still hold a grand marriage ceremony, otherwise the marriage will not seem to be counted.
The emperor wanted to hold these ceremonies with a common feature, that is, the large number of people. The palace personnel and civil and military officials add up to hundreds of thousands, so as to highlight the grandeur and grandeur of the ceremony. The Taihe Hall is a very large palace built for these ceremonies, a hall of the highest etiquette in China.
The Temple of Taihe is 46 meters long and 37 meters wide, which is larger than a swimming pool. With a height of 26.92 meters, it is the largest single building in the Forbidden City and has a history of more than 500 years. In terms of rank, the Taihe Hall is the highest level in the imperial palace, and there are ten tile beasts on the roof, which is unique in all of China, and only the Taihe Hall can enjoy this honor.
In addition to being the tallest and largest, the interior decoration of the Taihe Hall is also the most high-grade, and even the floor is covered with gold bricks. Don't get me wrong, the gold bricks here do not refer to bricks made of gold, but a kind of high-grade floor tiles produced in Suzhou Lumu. From the selection of materials to the firing of the type, it takes a full two years, the slightest flaw is eliminated, the yield is very low, and the price is not lower than the real gold brick.
This royal gold brick can only be used for the floor of the three main halls. In addition to that, it is illegal to use it anywhere. It is said that there were toastmasters in remote areas who wanted to rebel and sent people to buy some gold bricks at a high price and spread them on the ground of their own homes, first passing the emperor's addiction.
The Taihe Hall was supported by 72 large columns, which were first made of gold silk nan wood from the southwest region. Each tree must grow for more than a thousand years before it can be used. Later, this kind of nan wood became less and less, and the Taihe Hall was rebuilt many times, and it was almost extinct in the Qing Dynasty.
Therefore, the Qing Dynasty used pine wood from the northeast to make large pillars. The existing Taihe Hall is actually a little smaller than when it was first built, because there is no good wood to support it.
The Forbidden City and the Taihe Hall in Beijing were built by Zhu Di in 1420 and resemble the Forbidden City in Nanjing. At first, it was called the Fengtian Hall, which was changed to the Imperial Pole Hall during the Jiajing Period, and the Taihe Hall during the Shunzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty.
Because it is a wooden building, the fire prevention work in ancient times is not very in place. This palace was repeatedly burned, and in the Ming Dynasty alone, it was burned down four times, which can be described as many disasters and disasters, and also suffered heavy losses.
We often hear in the commentaries, film and television dramas, etc. that the emperor received the ministers at the Golden Ruan Hall, which is actually the Taihe Hall. However, the emperor did not receive ministers here, and it was only used for major ceremonies.
The early dynasties of ancient times were not an easy and pleasant thing for emperors and ministers. The ministers were going out at three or four o'clock, and waiting outside the palace gate at five o'clock. When it comes to wind and rain or something, for some elderly ministers, it is really a crime.
And hundreds of officials gathered together, it is difficult for you to come to a conclusion without a word. Therefore, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the system of listening to the government of the upper dynasty was weakening more and more, and the emperors liked to hold small meetings with some important ministers to discuss state affairs. Even in the upper dynasty, it was generally in the Taihe Gate or the Qianqing Gate. The Ming emperors also had a precedent of not going to the dynasty for decades.
The Hall of Taihe also has the function of accepting the worship of foreign envoys. The envoys of those vassal states paid tribute to the emperor in the Taihe Hall every year in exchange for a generous reward and, more importantly, china's security guarantee.
When the country is strong, envoys from all over the world crowd the Hall of Peace, so as to reflect the prosperity of China and the prestige of all nations. Some feudal states that often came to the Taihe Hall to pay their respects, after prostrating themselves, felt envious, and even in their own country, they also painted cats according to the tiger and built some cottage versions of the Taihe Hall.
North Korea's Gyeongbokgung Palace, Vietnam's Forbidden City, and Ryukyu's Shuri Palace were all built in the style of the Forbidden City in Beijing, of course, on a much smaller scale. There is a Taihe Hall directly in the Vietnamese royal palace, and even the name has not changed.
The Taihe Hall is the core place of Chinese etiquette, and it is the soul of the Forbidden City. When visiting the Forbidden City, be sure to pay a good visit to this first palace in China.
[References: History of the Forbidden City, History of the Ming Dynasty]