Today I am very happy to accompany you to visit the Summer Palace, the best-preserved royal garden in China, and the world cultural heritage with beautiful mountains and beautiful waters.
The Summer Palace has caused a lot of discussion, such as what is the relationship between Qianlong Xia Jiangnan and this garden? What kind of magnificent garden is a royal building built in 15 years and hundreds of thousands of people? Now let's walk into the Summer Palace with this series of questions.
Hundreds of years before the summer palace was born, it was a wetland. Wanshou Mountain was called Mengshan Slope at that time, and the small pot in front of it was called Mengshan Slope. The slope of Houmeng Mountain was renamed West Lake and was half-moon-shaped.
In November of the fourteenth year of the Qianlong Dynasty, thousands of migrant workers gathered here. They tangled up the silt that had accumulated at the bottom of the lake and transported the excavated mud to Wangshan East Road.
The person in charge of the project is The Interior Minister Sanwa. According to the will of the Qianlong Emperor, the West Lake at the foot of Monsanto will be completely dredged and expanded.
Why did Qianlong dredge the West Lake? Because since the Yuan Dynasty, the spring water of Yuquan Mountain in the western suburbs has been the main source of water for Beijing. The drinking water of the Qing Dynasty's inner court and the water from the Forbidden City moat of the Xiyuan Tailiu Pond both came from Yuquan Mountain. In addition, since the Kangxi Dynasty, several royal gardens have been built in the western suburbs of Beijing.
Due to the large water consumption of the garden, the upstream water source is blocked in large quantities, and the water source in Beijing is insufficient, and even affects the water supply from Beijing to the Grand Canal. canal. Therefore, repairing the water conservancy in western Beijing and opening up new water sources has become a top priority.
Qianlong found that there were dozens of springs available in the Xishan area, so he collected the spring water from Xishan and YuquanShan to the West Lake. After the excavation and dredging of the West Lake, the entire pot body has doubled, and the depth of the lake bottom is much greater than before.
On March 14, the fifteenth year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor changed the West Lake to Kunming Lake, and Mengshan was also renamed Wanshou Mountain.
The water conservancy project provides Jinshi with sufficient water sources and channels for transportation. Just when everyone thought it was done, Qianlong's holy will came.
Qianlong did not announce the end of the project, but ordered Sanhe to build dabao'en Temple and Yanshou Temple on a similar site on the southern slope of Wanshou Mountain.
Why build a big reward here that has nothing to do with water conservancy? What about temples?
Sanhe and others did not know that a huge construction project in the mind of the Qianlong Emperor had just begun.
Later, Qianlong wrote in the "Wanshou Mountain Kunming Lake Chronicle" that the Wanshou Mountain West Lake Project has three purposes. The first is to rectify water conservancy.
The second is to train the navy.
On the third day, the sixtieth birthday of the Empress dowager is approaching. Therefore, it is necessary to take advantage of the opportunity of dredging the West Lake to build a temple to celebrate the mother's birthday.
Only then did it suddenly dawn on Qianlong that in order to celebrate his mother's sixtieth birthday, Qianlong renamed Wangshan Mountain Wanshou Mountain.
The construction of the Dabao'en Longevity Temple for the Buddhist empress dowager was also in Qianlong's plan.
But filial piety to mothers is also a good thing. Why is Qianlong's construction of Tsing Yi Garden controversial?
Because Qianlong had commanded the world after the Yuanmingyuan, because the construction of the Yuanmingyuan consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, they would no longer build the royal garden in the future.
But only six years later, the large-scale construction of Tsing Yi Garden began again, and the people naturally talked about it. Later, after eleven years of projects in Tsing Yi Garden, Qianlong made such an explanation in the "Chronicle of Tsing Yi Garden on Banzai Mountain".
Due to water conservancy construction, Kunming Lake was built, and there is Wanshou Mountain by the lake. Since there are landscapes and rivers, how can there be no embellishments of pavilions? Qianlong also knew that this explanation was a bit reluctant, so what he said later was more like self-deprecation. Isn't Tsing Yi Garden renovating the garden again today? Isn't it salt? Although it is said that it is because of the construction of water conservancy, so it is done by the way, but who will believe it?
So, why did Qianlong build the Tsing Yi Garden with his own words? This issue has always aroused the curiosity and concern of the world. Unfortunately, when the Anglo-French invasion of China, Tsing Yi Garden was set on fire. Later, during the Guangxu period, Cixi was rebuilt according to its original appearance and renamed the Summer Palace. This is the past and present life of the Summer Palace.
Now we see the left side of the East Palace Gate of the Summer Palace, and we can see a pair of hands holding a bronze medal of the World Heritage Site based on the earth. It also tells us that the protection of nature and the beauty we see in front of us must start with each of us. Do not smoke and litter during the tour. On the right side of the East Palace Gate, you can see a map of the Imperial Garden. Do you think the water area marked above is very large? But the must-see scenery of the Summer Palace is built on land. Like the place where the elders work in the garden, the prince of the Renshou Hall, the residence of the least beloved empress of the Qing Dynasty, the Yiyun Pavilion, the Cixi Living Room, the Leshou Hall, the pavilion where Buddha incense is valued by the boss, and so on.
Do you have a feeling you want to see and understand now? Then you can take me there at any time, I will explain it to you one by one, then let's go.