Anyone who has been to Beijing should have been to Chang'an Avenue, which crosses Tiananmen Square. Facing the Xinhua Gate on Chang'an Avenue, it is the gate of Zhongnanhai. Except for the limited opening of the early 1980s, most people have not entered Zhongnanhai. There are many scenic spots and monuments in Beijing, such as the Summer Palace, Beihai, Jingshan, Temple of Heaven, etc., so what are the scenic spots in Zhongnanhai?
Zhongnanhai's welcome port: Xinhuamen
The main gate of Zhongnanhai that people see is the Xinhua Gate facing Chang'an Avenue. This gorgeous court-style porch, built in the 23rd year of the Qianlong Dynasty (1758), is said to have been built by the Qianlong Emperor for his favored concubine, and was named Baoyue Lou at that time, also known as Wangxiang Lou. The so-called "Wangxiang" refers to The nostalgia of Xiangfei for her hometown in Xinjiang.
In 1912, Yuan Shikai stole the presidency and used Zhongnanhai as his presidential palace, and Baoyuelou became the gate of the presidential palace, which was renamed "XinhuaMen".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, except for the renovation of the two-story gatehouse, there were no major changes in the structure. Only on the shadow wall inside the door, the five large characters of Mao Zedong's handwriting "Serving the People" were added, reflecting the purpose of the new owner of this courtyard.
Scenic view in the park: Penglai Wonderland Yingtai
Not far from the Xinhua Gate, you can see Yingtai. It was a small island in Zhongnanhai, where the imperial concubines of the Ming and Qing dynasties feasted. Walking into here, you can be immersed in the lake and mountains, and the ancient buildings around you are very distinctive, as if you are in the Penglai wonderland.
Yingtai, known as Nantai in the Ming Dynasty, was only renamed Yingtai after the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, Nantai only occupied a small area at the southernmost end of Yingtai, and the island was deeply forested and simple in architecture, which had some taste of water and countryside. The emperor and his concubines played around as if they were tired of eating a palace feast and wanted to taste folk snacks.
During the reign of Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, he built a new palace on this island as a place for the empress to escape the summer. The Shunzhi Emperor also wrote the inscription and changed the original name of Nantai to "Yingtai". After entering the Kangxi Period, the area around Yingtai was continuously expanded and repaired, and all the palace rooms were changed to yellow tile roofs. This beautiful scenery is enjoyed by the emperor alone, and every year after the emperor's altar ceremony, he must go to Yingtai to change clothes, and then go to Changchun Garden to ask the empress dowager to be safe.
Since Yingtai is not far from Fortress Garden, Mao Zedong often went to walk here after living in Fortress Garden. In the 1980s, Zhongnanhai's Fortress Garden and Yingtai were open to domestic tourists, making it difficult to receive high-level foreign guests. Later, Zhongnanhai was no longer open to the outside world, and the Yingtai area became one of the places where Chinese leaders entertained visiting state guests.
Quiet Villa: "Garden of The Garden" Jinggu
In the south of Zhongnanhai, the Shizuku, which has a unique and peculiar style and has the style of Buddha Yu Fange, is an independent and complete courtyard. It is located not far west of Fortress Garden, and Mao Zedong often went to Jinggu for a walk.
Chun Coupling Zhai is the main building in The Jing Valley, and its ground is paved with purple green stone, much like an ancient well. Qianlong's "Records of Chun Coupling Zhai" said that the construction of Fengze Garden was the meaning of "people eating heaven" and "knowing the hardships of the crops", so "there is a fast in the garden, and it is hereby named after the spring coupling". In ancient China, the country was founded on agriculture, and no matter how much the emperors enjoyed themselves, they often had to pay attention to the way of heavy agriculture.
After the founding of New China, the central leading comrades, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and the Central Military Commission also held meetings here. Since Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and others lived in the area of Fengzeyuan in the early days of liberation, it was necessary to find a leisure place nearby, so the Spring Coupling Zhai in the Jing Valley northwest of Fengzeyuan and the empty place in front of the Qinzheng Hall in the east and the north of Yingtai Bridge became the earliest dance venue in Zhongnanhai.
The Land of Glory: Purple Light Pavilion
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhongnanhai as a whole was a forbidden garden for royal leisure, but there were also individual places used to handle government affairs, the most important of which was the Purple Light Pavilion. Interestingly, after the liberation of the whole country, the State Council also worked here for a long time, and it can still be called the place where official affairs have always been handled in Zhongnanhai.
Located near Zhonghai, the Purple Light Pavilion was a four-square platform during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, and later changed to a cabinet, named "Purple Light Pavilion". Every May, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty watches the dragon boat here and watches the royal horse guards running horses and shooting arrows. The Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, and the imperial family occupied Zhongnanhai, and the old name of "Purple Light Pavilion" was still used here. During the Kangxi Dynasty, on August 15, the Two Banner Guards were summoned here to compete in archery.
When the Purple Light Pavilion was rebuilt during the Qianlong period, the Wucheng Hall was built in the back, and the Qianlong Emperor inscribed it "Suibang Huaiyuan", which can be seen as an annex to the Purple Light Pavilion. In the Wucheng Hall, there are pairings hanging on the left and right, the upper link "Two-Order Dry Feather Qin Yu Dian" and the lower link "Six Laws Rich Merchant Playing Cai Wei". On the left and right wall doors, Zhang hangs "The Theory of Enlightenment" and "Western Master's Poems". From this point of view, the main intention of building this temple is to encourage the disciples of the Manchu Eight Banners not to forget martial arts.
In addition to military inspections, in the summer, the empress dowager sometimes went to the Purple Light Pavilion to spend the summer. However, it seems too solemn and poetic, and the concubines do not like to come here. Another major event that the Purple Light Pavilion often held was to entertain meritorious ministers and ministers of ethnic minority princes. The banquet for meritorious people is usually held on the nineteenth day of the first month of each year. After the emperor invited the heroes into the palace, he first set up a banquet to entertain, and then opened the Purple Light Pavilion, where the monarchs and courtiers read poems and paintings and jiwen together to show off their martial arts and encourage them.
Place of official duties: The former site of the Regency Palace
In the northwest of Zhongnanhai, on the west bank of the Zhonghai Sea, not far west of the Ziguang Pavilion, a regent's palace was built at the end of the Qing Dynasty. In 1908, the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi died one day apart, and Puyi, the 3-year-old younger son of the Guangxu Emperor's brother and Prince Zaifeng of Alcohol, succeeded to the emperor's throne because he nominally succeeded to the Tongzhi and Guangxu Emperors. The young emperor was naturally unable to manage the government at a young age, and Zaifeng became the regent who actually presided. As soon as Puyi succeeded to the throne, he built the regent's palace in the first year of Xuantong.
The middle road of the Regency Palace is its central area, and the building is gorgeous and magnificent, with a tall palace gate and a pair of mighty stone lions in front of the door. The middle road palace gate and the main hall are all paved with green glazed tiles, and the beams are all painted in Su style. The interior decoration is also very exquisite, there are rosewood flower covers, hardwood partitions, etc., and they are equipped with electric lights, with a little modern atmosphere. The east road is the residence of the dining room, the garment room and the miscellaneous servants, and further east is the horse number of the royal palace, and the stone manger is preserved in the courtyard. It is said that both Zaifeng and his younger brother Zaitao were willing to ride horses and raise horses. After the liberation of the whole country, Mao Zedong also personally appointed Zaitao as "Ma Zheng Advisor of the People's Liberation Army".
Past scenic spots: Banana Garden, Water Cloud Pavilion
On the east side of the Zhonghai Sea, the Banana Garden, opposite the lake across the Ziguang Pavilion, is also an important landscape in the Zhongnanhai Scenic Area, which was originally the place where the emperors of the Ming Dynasty completed their revisions and came here to burn herbs. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial family went to the "Banana Garden" to do rituals and put river lanterns.
"Banana Garden", also known as "Banana Garden", was named after the cultivation of plantains on the site of the Chongzhi Hall in the Ming Dynasty. During the reign of Qing Shunzhi, the banana garden was changed to the Hall of Ten Thousand Virtues, which contained the statue of the Third Buddha, and some old and loyal eunuchs were specially selected to cut their hair as monks and burn incense. The Shunzhi Emperor was obsessed with Buddhism, as can be seen. After the renovation of the Qing Dynasty, the main buildings of the banana garden are the Wanshan Hall, the Thousand Sacred Temple, the Yingxiang Building, the Langxin Building, the Great Compassion Temple, the Yue Sex Building and other buildings.
Shuiyun Pavilion, that is, the meaning of the pavilion in the water, the Qianlong handwriting "Tailiu Autumn Wind" 4 characters, carved on the stone stele, placed in the pavilion. This pavilion built in the middle of the sea, the environment is wonderful, the clouds reflect the water surface, the small pavilion is like a cloud water, like a water hibiscus. After the reform and opening up, Zhongnanhai was open to domestic tourists for a period of time, but it was only the Yingtai area of the South China Sea, and it was said that the scenery of the Zhonghai Sea was better than that of the South China Sea, which refers to the area around Shuiyun xie. (Xu Yan Shujun/Text)