This is a group of old photographs reflecting the city of Beijing in 1948, when the city was also known as Beiping, on the eve of peaceful liberation. Although the government changed the architecture of Beijing City during the Republic of China, the City of Beijing at this time was also the most charming moment, and the shadow of Beijing City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties could be faintly seen.
【Aerial photography of the three halls of the Forbidden City】The three halls of the Forbidden City in Beijing refer to the Hall of Taihe, the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Bohol, and the three halls are the highest symbols of imperial power. The Taihe Hall is the highest rank, it was built in the eighteenth year of Ming Yongle (1420), initially named Fengtian Hall, Jiajing Forty-first Year (1562) renamed Imperial Pole Hall, Qing Shunzhi SECOND Year (1645) changed its name to the present name. The Taihe Hall is the largest and highest-grade building in the Forbidden City, and one of the largest existing wooden frame buildings in China, with a load-bearing eaves on the top of the hall, 3 floors of White Jade steps, using golden dragons and seal paintings, as many as 11 pieces of immortals on the roof, and 11 open rooms, all of which adopt the highest shape system.
On October 10, 1925, the Palace Museum was officially established, and since then the Forbidden City in Beijing has been widely known. So, how did the name Forbidden City come about? The Forbidden City takes the meaning that the purple micro star resides in the center of heaven and earth, implying that this is the center of China. "Purple" refers to the purple micro star that dwells in the middle of the sky, which was a symbol of heaven and earth in ancient times. In addition, the imperial palace is heavily guarded and is a forbidden place, so it is called the Forbidden City.
【Daming Gate】Daming Gate, known as the Great Qing Gate in the Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China called the Zhonghua Gate. Daming Gate is located on the central axis of Beijing, which is the outer gate of Tiananmen Square and the south gate of the Imperial City. The ancients respected the south, so the Daming Gate enjoyed the treatment of the national gate in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and its regulation was very high, also known as the "first gate of the imperial city". Daming Gate was demolished in 1954.
This old photo recreates the scene in front of Tiananmen Square in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is important to note that the "Thousand Steps Corridor" on both sides of Tiananmen Square has been demolished, and the others have not changed. Tiananmen Square in the Ming and Qing dynasties was a small area, a "T" shaped square, where grand ceremonies and announcements were held.
[The Last Eunuch] Eunuchs are a group of tragedies, most of them are desperate people, and they enter the palace in order to have a mouthful of food. However, due to his insatiable health, the eunuch could not be buried back in his hometown after his death. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, when eunuchs were on errands in the Forbidden City, they would donate part of their salaries to the temples around Beijing, and the temples also became the final foothold of the eunuchs after they left the palace.
Tiananmen Gate is the main gate of the Forbidden City, it was built in the fifteenth year of Ming Yongle (1417 AD, originally named Chengtianmen, meaning "inheriting the fortune of heaven" and "being ordained by heaven". At first, Tiananmen Square was a five-hole archway with yellow tile cornices, three floors, and vermilion lacquer and gold nails, but it was later rebuilt many times, and finally formed the layout it is today. Tiananmen Square is composed of two parts, the city platform and the city tower, with the White Jade Sumire Seat, with a total height of 34.7 meters. The Tiananmen Tower is 66 meters long and 37 meters wide, and there are five gates under the platform.
【City Towers and City Walls】The ancient city wall of Beijing is extremely spectacular, which has become a consensus. Liang Sicheng once imagined: "Above the city wall, the average width is about 10 meters or more, you can build flower ponds, plant shrubs such as cloves and roses, or lay some grass, plant grass flowers, and then install some garden chairs." At dusk in summer, it can provide a cool retreat for hundreds of thousands of people. In the autumn season, ascending to the far horizon, overlooking the whole city, the western mountains in the northwest, the endless plains in the southeast, the people living in the city can be so close to nature, with a magnificent mind. ”
On March 18, 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the Coal Mountain and immediately hanged himself on an old crooked neck locust tree, truly staged the tragic and magnificent scene of "the death of the king". The old crooked neck tree in the photo was later replanted, and the stone stele was erected in March of the nineteenth year of the Republic of China (1930).
【Corner Tower on the Wall of the Forbidden City】 The polyangular building of the four-sided convex plane combination of the corner tower of the Forbidden City has three floors, the upper floor is a vertical and horizontal intersection of the top of the mountain, the middle floor adopts the practice of hooking up, it is the central roof of the ring arch of the hilltop of the four-sided building, and the lower eaves are the waist eaves of a ring and a half-slope roof, so that the five roofs of the upper two floors form a composite whole.