Renshou Temple

Renshou hall, named qinzheng hall in Qingyi Garden, was first built in 1750, which was burned by the British and French allied forces in 1860, and rebuilt in 1886. It was renamed Renshou hall after the meaning of "Renzhe Shou" in the Analects of Confucius. This is the place where Cixi and Guangxu took charge of government affairs, received congratulations and received foreign envoys during their stay in the summer palace. It is the main building in the hearing area of the summer palace.

Renshou Temple

Renshou hall, named qinzheng hall in Qingyi Garden, was first built in 1750, which was burned by the British and French allied forces in 1860, and rebuilt in 1886. It was renamed Renshou hall after the meaning of "Renzhe Shou" in the Analects of Confucius. This is the place where Cixi and Guangxu took charge of government affairs, received congratulations and received foreign envoys during their stay in the summer palace. It is the main building in the hearing area of the summer palace.

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brief introduction

Renshou hall, located in the east gate of the summer palace, is one of the main buildings in the palace area. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Qingyi Garden, Renshou hall was called "qinzheng hall". It was built in 1750, which means never forgetting to manage government affairs;

In the reign of Emperor Guangxu, it was changed to the present name, which means that those who govern with benevolence live a long life. Renshou hall is located in the west to the East. It is seven rooms wide. On both sides of the hall are the north and South Auxiliary halls. In front of the hall is Renshou gate. Outside the gate are the north and South Jiuqing rooms. It was the place where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu met ministers and foreign envoys when they lived in the summer palace. It was the most important place for political activities in the summer palace. It was also one of the planning places for the reform movement in modern Chinese history. In 1898, Emperor Guangxu summoned the reformist leader Kang Youwei in this hall and appointed him as the premier. Zhang Jing, the Yamen of state affairs, was allowed to perform special music, thus opening the prelude to the reform. Because of the opposition of the feudal conservative forces, the hundred day reform failed.

Architecture

Bronze casting of exotic animals

The attraction of Renshou hall is a bronze beast squatting on a stone Xumi seat. It is a legendary auspicious Unicorn with a dragon head, lion tail, antlers, hooves and scales.

Tonglong Tongfeng

The Bronze Dragon and Phoenix are arranged in front of Renshou hall. They are all empty. They are used to light sandalwood when the emperor and empress hold a court meeting. When sandalwood is ignited in the abdomen, the cigarette curls out of the mouth of the dragon and Phoenix. In ancient China, the dragon symbolizes the emperor and the Phoenix symbolizes the queen. However, when Cixi came to power, she reversed the position of the dragon and Phoenix, "the Phoenix is above, the dragon is below", to show her authority.

Tripod type censer

Tripod style censer, one of the characteristics of royal architecture, embodies imperial power and symbolizes majesty. Every time in Dachao, sandalwood and Tibetan incense are ignited in the furnace, with green smoke and strong aroma.

Gold plaque

In Renshou hall, there is a large gold plaque "Shou Xie Ren Fu". In the hall, there are the seats of Cixi and Guangxu ministers. The seats are made of precious red sandalwood. Nine golden dragons are carved on the back of the chair. There are palm fans, Ding furnaces, crane lamps, Lu (Yinlu) Duan and so on around the seats. Outside Renshou hall, the most attractive one is a bronze monster squatting on the stone Xumi seat. The dragon head, lion tail, antler, ox hoof and scales are all over the body, which is the legendary Unicorn symbolizing wealth and auspiciousness.

Interior decoration

On the interior decoration of Renshou hall, the word "Shou" is highlighted. On the gables of the warm Pavilion in the north and south, there are huge banners. On the banners, there are a hundred bats holding a "Shou", implying "a hundred blessings holding a" Shou ". On the screen behind the throne in the hall, there are more than 200 characters carved with different writing methods. One of them is very interesting. On the dripping tiles of the eaves around Renshou hall, there are also patterns of Shouzi, 78 on each side and 128 on each side, with a total of 412 Shouzi.

Fengxu Wulao

"Fengxu Wulao" is a four meter high Taihu Lake stone placed in front of Renshou hall in the summer palace. There are dark stones around the courtyard, symbolizing the four seasons of the year. The five Lake stones symbolize the five old peaks of Lushan Mountain, which means longevity and is called "five old peaks with empty peaks". The stone is engraved with a summer poem by Qianlong Jiazi. The poem said, "Linse, the water is cold. Stream wind group sound, mountain birds a song. From this point of view, it can be concluded that the stone is the relic of "Shuimu mingse", one of the 40 sceneries in Yuanmingyuan. According to records, this stone (and four others) was pulled from Yuanmingyuan by car in June 1937.

Plaque in the main hall

The content of the plaque on the outer eaves: Renshou hall, which means the hall of benevolence and longevity

The content of the plaque on the inner eaves: the big round mirror means that the wisdom of a politician is like the big round mirror, which can see everything.

Plaque inside the hall: Shou Xie Ren Fu, meaning both benevolence and Shou Junzi

Renshou hall couplet

original text

Qianlong

Star Long Zichen, Ming Hui Teng Beidou;

The sun is near the ecliptic, and the warm scenery is on the south side.

Title Office

Located in Haidian District of Beijing, the summer palace is a famous Royal Garden in China. Most of the pavilions in the garden have couplets, with a total of more than 100 couplets. These couplets either tell the history of the visitors, or comment on the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers. They are poetic and picturesque. Because it is a royal garden, many couplets publicize the feudal superstition or the concept of "divine authority", as well as eulogizing.

Renshou hall is located in Renshou gate. Renshou hall takes the meaning of "Ren zhe Shou" in the Analects of Confucius. It is the main hall where Cixi and Guangxu sit and listen to the government.

notes

① Zichen: Zichen hall in the third Hall of Daming Palace in Tang Dynasty. Later Zichen was compared to the residence of the emperor. ② Ecliptic: the ancient people believed that the path of the sun around the earth in a year was the ecliptic. ③ Nan Rong: the eaves are like wings at both ends. Tang Taizong poem: "three spring evenings in North que, nine in South Rong, early summer.".

analysis

The emperor claimed that he had "divine power", and the place where he lived was not the same. The first couplet is about night scenery, and the second couplet is about day scenery.

allusion

The big round mirror of Renshou Hall

Renshou hall in the summer palace is the place where Empress Dowager Cixi and ministers of Emperor Guangxu met. In the broad courtyard in front of the hall, there are evergreen pines and cypresses, decorated with exquisite Taihu Lake stones, and ancient bronze tripods and dragons and phoenixes on the Danlong. Inside the hall, there are dragon tables, screens, thrones, peacock feather palm fans, crane jingtailan censers on the red sandalwood carving platform. There are as like as two peas in the hall, facing the face of the throne, with the size of the door leaf. When people come to Renshou hall, they like to ask about the use of these two mirrors. According to the old people, these two big mirrors really have a history.

Emperor Guangxu had a favorite concubine named Zhenfei. The princess was born smart and beautiful. She was very polite and had her own opinions when she met with difficulties. She was even more worried when she saw the internal and external troubles of the country and the dictatorship of Cixi.

Emperor Guangxu is called emperor, and in fact, Ci Xi is the only one who has the final say in the court. Guangxu wanted to manage the government, get rid of the malpractice and save the Qing Dynasty, but he couldn't help it.

Guangxu regards Zhenfei as his bosom friend and can't help complaining to her. In addition to enlightening Guangxu, Zhenfei couldn't come up with some ideas.

Cixi was most afraid that someone would secretly make up her mind. She put a lot of ears and eyes in the palace to inquire for her information. When she heard that Zhenfei always gave advice to Guangxu, she hated her and always wanted to find fault with her.

After the failure of the reform movement of 1898, Cixi imprisoned Guangxu, killed six gentlemen, and drove Guangxu's teacher Weng Tonghe back to his hometown. After she finished these things, she began to torture her and put her in the cold.

After Guangxu was locked up, he was afraid and became ill. But Cixi was not finished. She called Guangxu and Zhenfei to Renshou hall. In front of Guangxu's face, she took Zhenfei's mouth and scolded: "kill you, you fox spirit. I don't think you can come up with a bad idea!" He bit his teeth and said, "if anyone makes me unhappy for a while, I'll make him unhappy for the rest of his life."

In the year of gengzi, the eight nation allied forces attacked Beijing, and Cixi ran to Xi'an. Before running away, Cixi thought of the princess in the cold palace. Take her to run with her. It's not worth it. Leave her. Don't worry. Just kill her! He asked Cui Yugui, the second manager, to cheat the princess out and drown her in the well.

Later, Cixi signed a treason treaty with the Eight Allied forces and returned to Beijing. That night, Cixi summoned the minister in Renshou hall. As soon as she sat on the throne, she thought of beating the princess in the mouth. She couldn't help feeling nervous.

As the saying goes, suspicion begets darkness. Cixi thought about it, and suddenly felt that the light was dim, and a dark wind was blowing in front of her. In a trance, she saw a woman coming into the hall, all covered in water. Cixi looked carefully. It turned out that it was Princess Zhenfei. She was so scared that she let out a cry and turned her back.

The princes and ministers didn't know what happened. When they saw that the Empress Dowager had passed out, they didn't care about the etiquette of the monarchs and ministers. Men and women were different. They gathered around in disorder, pinched people, thumped their backs, dragged their arms and legs, and finally brought Cixi over.

After that, Cixi did not dare to come to Renshou hall. The princes and ministers are in a dilemma. According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty, some important activities of the imperial court have to be carried out in Renshou hall. If the old Buddha can't participate in them, all these activities have to come to an end. As soon as we discussed it, we invited a dancer in the city

Chinese PinYin : Ren Shou Dian