The Forbidden City's 600-year exhibition of the Forbidden City in the Ming and Qing dynasties ended in 1909.
Lingnuma Xuan, also known as the "Crystal Palace", is located in the Yanxi Palace, built in the first year of Xuantong (1909), and was forced to stop work due to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution. It is the only remaining Western-style building with masonry and metal as the main structure in the Forbidden City.
At present, it is known that the structural steel beams of this building come from Britain, the inner wall tiles come from Germany, the stone should be local materials, and where other metal components and glass materials come from, and even who its designers are, it is still unknown, so Lingnuma Xuan has been covered with a mysterious color. The collision of Chinese and Western structures and decorations can be seen everywhere in the building, making it form an architectural style of "Combining East and West".
Historical image: a young Puyi dressed in a gun suit.
In terms of dress and appearance, the shooting time should be before and after his abdication.
Yanxi Palace hot sample.
Yanxi Palace is one of the six eastern palaces of the Forbidden City, which was founded in the Yongle Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty as the palace for concubines. Daoguang suffered two fires in the 25th year and the 5th year of Xianfeng. In the eleventh year of Tongzhi, it was proposed to be rebuilt, but for unknown reasons, it was never completed. During the Xuantong period, it was rebuilt as a place of rest, and Empress Longyu ordered the construction of a pond here, and built a crystal palace in the pool, with the inscription "Lingnuma Xuan", and the building was mainly structured with metal and glass, but it was forced to stop construction due to the Xinhai Uprising. The skeleton of the abandoned building remains today. This hot sample is a five-point sample, which accurately reflects the pattern before the destruction of the Yanxi Palace in the late Qing Dynasty.
Historical Image Lingnuma Xuan, 1930s.
In 1908, Empress Longyu ordered that in the middle of the courtyard, "dig the ground for the pond" and "store water and raise fish", use water to suppress the fire, and personally inscribed the plaque "Lingnuma Xuan" for the use of the Empress Shangyu for viewing the scenery. Taken in the 1930s, this photograph shows the unfinished architecture and the vicissitudes of war.
Lingnuma Xuan Central Iron Pavilion.
Lingnuma Xuan has a clever "water circulation" system, the white zinc roof hides the steel water tank, the column and beam frame hide the pipe, the pool water is pumped to the tank through the pipe, and then through the roof design of the drainage ditch, rotating and slowly dripping back to the pool, forming living water, clear to the bottom.
Central iron pavilion.
Historical image: Duankang Emperor Guifei watching fish at Lingnuma Xuan. Early 20th century.
Duankang Emperor Gui's concubine, that is, Guangxu Jinfei. After the suspension of work, the Empress could only use round wooden pots or large vats to raise flowers in its garden.
Central iron pavilion cornice statue.
The roof features drainage trenches, and the accumulated rainwater erupts through the beaks of white birds, forming cascading fountains.
Steel plate on the outer wall of the central octagonal pavilion.
This steel plate is located on the outer wall of the second floor of the central iron pavilion, a total of eight pieces, enclosed into an enclosed space, and there is a water tank in the space. The surface of the steel plate is decorated with cast iron and fixed with rivets, which is typical of the Western decorative style.
Central octagonal pavilion railing.
Lingnuma Xuan cast iron pillar.
The Lingnuma building is a hybrid structure of steel frame and masonry. It has been determined that the steel beam is mined from The United Kingdom, and the use of flange structures and mechanism bolts are the earliest cases in the history of modern science and technology.
Lingnuma Xuan Viper.
The viper, one of the legendary nine sons of the dragon, good water, also known as the water avoidant beast, is used to calm the water. The viper here plays the role of prompting the water level, in order to prevent the pool from being poured back, entering the air window, and there is no water outlet in the mouth, which shows that there is no role in spitting water.
Lingnuma Xuan tiles. The tiles are from Germany.
Interior tiled case.
Lingnuma Xuan glass.
The basement floor of the building is designed to resemble an aquarium, with metal window frames originally meant to be fitted with glass up to 3.5 centimeters thick, through which the Empress could see the underwater scene through the glass windows.
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