History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
Forbidden City old city "Forbidden City", is the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is also the world's largest palace, construction area of 150,000 square meters, the Forbidden City is exquisite, is the treasure of ancient Chinese architecture, because China's ancient buildings mostly use wooden structures, so it is very easy to burn, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the palace mostly use corridor design, that is, all palaces are connected together through corridors, even if it rains between the palaces will not be rainy, but such a practice is to burn all once the fire, Therefore, this practice was abandoned in the Ming and Qing dynasties in order to avoid the palace from being burned down.
Due to the thunderous weather in late autumn in Beijing, and the Forbidden City was the tallest building at that time, coupled with wooden structures, it was very easy to be struck by lightning or fire, according to statistics, the Forbidden City was burned a total of 5 times, namely:
In 1421 (the nineteenth year of Yongle), a fire broke out in the Forbidden City, and the first three halls were burned down.
In 1557 (the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing), the Forbidden City was on fire, and the first three halls, Fengtian Gate, Wenwu Tower, and Noon Gate were all burned down.
In 1597 (the twenty-fifth year of the Wanli Calendar), the Forbidden City was burned, burning the first three halls (Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall, And Baohe Hall) and the latter three palaces (Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, Kunning Palace).
In 1644 (the seventeenth year of Chongzhen), Li Zicheng's army captured Beijing and the Ming Dynasty collapsed. Before Li Zicheng retreated, the Forbidden City was burned, and only the Wuying Hall, the Jianji Hall, the Yinghua Hall, the South Smoke Hall, the Surrounding Corner Tower and the Imperial Pole Gate were not burned, and the rest of the buildings were all destroyed.
The fourth time was on the third day of the first month of December in the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1679), when the Taihe Temple was burned. (Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, vol. 81) This fire was caused by the fire in the imperial dining room, and the fire rode on the wind, and the Golden Ruan Hall turned into scorched earth. Four of the palace guards were sentenced to death by hanging. This year, Wu Sangui rebelled, the Beijing earthquake, and the Great Fire of the Taihe Temple.
The Forbidden City suffered five fires, but none of them were completely damaged, after continuous repairs, there is our Forbidden City today, especially the fire during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, which was caused by lightning strikes, and it just happened that Zhu Di had just moved the capital to Beijing, because of this matter, Zhu Di was also Alexander, fortunately, Zhu Di finally persisted, and there is now the Forbidden City.
It is no coincidence that the Forbidden City was struck by lightning and caught fire, according to the "Five Elements of the History of the Ming Dynasty", during the Ming Dynasty alone, there were 13 lightning strikes in the Forbidden City, the vast majority of which are recorded as, "In may of the sixth year, Lei Zhen was kissed in the temple." In June of the 28th year, Ding Youshuo, Lei Zhenfeng left kiss of the ancestral hall and the door mallet of the East Chamber. Thirty-three years in April, Yi Hai, the first thunder. In June 38, the lightning struck the south and west walls outside the gate of the Fengxian Temple. "In June of the third year of the Wanli Calendar, he died, and the lightning struck the Jianji Temple. Nongchen, lightning strikes the end of the door partridge tail. "And so on, so why have you suffered so many lightning strikes, and why haven't they caused major damage?"
The reason is that the iris kiss on the roof of the Forbidden City, there are 13 recorded lightning strikes, there are 6 hits of the iris kiss, the kiss was damaged by lightning but the Forbidden City is safe, this kiss can be said to have played a protective role.
So does the partridge really have the effect of warding off evil spirits? What is a partridge kiss? Partridge kiss, also known as cockroach kiss, partridge tail, is the son of the dragon, the so-called dragon gave birth to nine sons, nine sons are different, the partridge kiss is the ninth son of the dragon, the partridge kiss is wide and thick, easy to swallow, the curly tail dragon head at both ends of the temple ridge is its relic. Shaped like a four-legged snake cutting off its tail, this dragon boy is good at looking around at dangerous points and likes to swallow fire.
Placed on the building, it is an ornament at both ends of the roof ridge, symbolizing the removal of fire. Later, the style changed, folded upwards like an open mouth swallowing the ridge, because of the name of the partridge kiss, also known as "dragon kiss". Two opposing snouts are placed on the ridge to protect against fire.
So is the snout on the top of the palace really have the power to help the Forbidden City escape the lightning strike and fire? Helping the Forbidden City to dodge lightning strikes is true, but the divine power is false, we all know that now high buildings have lightning rods, lightning rods are often higher than the buildings, and these kisses are the same, the roof ridge is the highest point, and the bird's kiss is higher than the roof ridge, so it is easier to be struck by lightning, equivalent to the role of the lightning rod.
In many other buildings, the kissing beast and the iron chain are connected to the ground, thus becoming a real lightning rod, it can be said that in the weather of Beijing's thunder and lightning, the Forbidden City can survive the lightning strike without being burned, the kiss has played a huge role, and it is this design that preserves the cultural treasure of the Forbidden City for us.
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