Xiliugong

Xiliugong

The six palaces in the Forbidden City served as the residence of the emperor's wives and concubines in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Located on the left side of the central axis, it corresponds to the East six palaces. In the Qing Dynasty, after the Yongzheng Dynasty, all the Empresses of the past dynasties no longer chose Kunning palace as their dormitories, but chose a sitting empty palace as their dormitories in the east or West six palaces. In the late Qing Dynasty, the pattern of the six palaces in the West changed greatly, and no longer corresponded to the six palaces in the East.

Main attractions

Xiliugong is the residence of concubines in Qing Dynasty, including Yongshou palace, Yikun palace, Chuxiu palace, Xianfu palace, Changchun palace and Qixiang Palace (Taiji Palace). Because it is neatly located on the west side of the meridian line of the Forbidden City, it is called the six palaces in the west, and corresponding to the six palaces in the east of the meridian line. The eastern and Western six palaces (sometimes called the eastern and Western twelve palaces) also hold the central back three palaces like two armpits, which corresponds to the so-called yeting in ancient times.

Yongshou Palace

Yongshou palace is one of the six palaces in the west of inner court. Built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420), it was initially named Changle palace. It was renamed Yude palace in 1535 and Yongshou palace in 1616. In the 12th year of Shunzhi (1655), the 36th year of Kangxi (1697) and the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897) of the Qing Dynasty, they were rebuilt or overhauled, but they still kept the pattern of the early Ming Dynasty. Yongshou palace is a courtyard with two entrances. The main hall of the front courtyard is 5 rooms wide, with yellow glazed tiles on the top of the hill. The outer eaves are decorated. The front and back eaves of the Ming Dynasty are equipped with double cross four Linghua doors. The second room and the tip room are sill walls. The upper part is equipped with double cross four Linghua doors. In the hall, Qianlong's inscription "Ling de Shu Yi" is hung high. On the east wall, Qianlong's praise of emperor ban Ji's Ci Nian is hung. On the west wall, the painting of emperor ban Ji's Ci Nian is hung. In the sixth year of Qianlong (1741), Emperor Qianlong ordered that the plaques in the East and West palaces of the inner court should be "made according to the style of Yongshou Palace". After hanging, they should not be moved or replaced without permission. There are three East and three West halls in the main hall. There are five main halls in the backyard, three in the East and three in the West. There is a well Pavilion in the southeast of the courtyard. Yongshou palace is the residence of concubines in Ming Dynasty and concubines in Qing Dynasty. In the 18th year of Wanli (1590) of Ming Dynasty, the emperor summoned the great scholar Shen Shixing and others; in the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638), the emperor lived in this palace because of the frequent occurrence of disasters in China. Imperial concubine Ke of Shunzhi and imperial concubine Rufei of Jiaqing lived here in Qing Dynasty. In 1735, Emperor Yongzheng died, Empress Dowager xiaoshengxian lived in Yongshou palace, Emperor Qianlong lived in the South Corridor of Qianqing palace, and said hello to Yongshou palace. In 1772, Princess heshuohece married, and in 1789, Princess GuLun and Princess Xiaoxiao married the son of Heshuo. In the middle and late period of Daoguang reign, foreign aggression and internal troubles were increasing day by day, but the imperial court kept secret and hid the officials in Yongshou palace. After the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the front and back halls of this palace were set up as large warehouses to store imperial objects. Now it is the cultural relics exhibition room of the Palace Museum.

Yikun Palace

Yikun palace, one of the six Western palaces of the inner court, was the residence of concubines in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1420, it was originally called Wan'an palace. In 1535, it was changed into Yikun palace. In the late Qing Dynasty, the back hall of Yikun palace was changed into the hall of Chuantang, which is called tihe hall, and the East and West ear rooms were changed into a passageway, so that Yikun palace and Chuxiu palace were connected, forming a pattern of four entrances. The main hall is 5 rooms wide, with yellow glazed tiles on the top of the hill, and the front and back porches. The eaves are decorated with Dou Gong and Liang Fang with Su style color paintings. The door is made of brocade with ten thousand characters, with five bats holding longevity skirt. The window is made of brocade and decorated with ten thousand characters. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there was a horizontal throne, a screen, a incense table and a palace fan. On the east side, the ground cover of magpie climbing plum is carved with rosewood, and on the west side, the ground cover of vine and pine twigs is carved with rosewood. The main room is separated from the East and West, and the East and West secondary rooms are separated from the shoots by partition fans. In front of the hall, there is a screen door of "Guangming Shengchang", and a pair of copper Phoenix, a pair of copper crane and a pair of copper stove are set under the platform. When Puyi was Emperor Xundi, he used to install swings under the front porch of the main hall. Now the swings have been removed and the swing frame is still in use. There are two side halls in the East and West, namely Yanhong hall and Yuanhe hall. In the late Qing Dynasty, when it connected Chuxiu palace with Yikun palace, it was changed into Chuantang palace. It is 5 rooms wide, with front and back doors, back eaves out of the corridor, and yellow glazed tile hard top. There are also East and west side halls, and there is a well Pavilion in the southeast. In the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Cixi moved to Chuxiu Palace on her 50th birthday, where she was once congratulated. Emperor Guangxu's selection of concubines was also held here. It is now on display in the original state of court life.

Chu Hsiu Palace

Chuxiu palace, one of the six Western palaces of the inner court, was occupied by concubines in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was built in 1420, the 18th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty. It was originally named shouchang palace. In 1535, it was changed to Chuxiu palace. In 1884, in order to celebrate Cixi's 50th birthday, it cost 630000 taels of silver to carry out large-scale renovation. The existing building is the shape after the renovation in the 10th year of Guangxu. In the late Qing Dynasty, the gate and wall of Chuxiu palace were demolished, and the back hall of Yikun palace was changed into Chuantang hall, which is called tihe hall. It connects Chuxiu palace and Yikun palace and forms a four entrance courtyard. The front porch of Chuxiu palace is connected with the front porch of the East and west auxiliary hall, the body and the corner of the eaves porch of the back of the hall, forming an ambulatory. On the wall of the cloister, the boundless life ode made of colored glaze was written by the ministers to wish Cixi's birthday. Chuxiu palace is a single eaves Xieshan, with 5 rooms in width and a corridor in front. The eaves are decorated with Dougong and Liang Fang with elegant Su style paintings. The door is made of Nanmu carving, five bats holding longevity, Wanfu Wanshou skirt board, and the window is decorated with Wanzi tuanshou pattern and step-by-step brocade. The interior eaves are exquisitely decorated. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there was a ground screen throne, five red sandalwood inlaid longevity Mirror Heart screens, and a plaque of "big round mirror" hung on it. On the east side, there is a glass partition fan with bamboo pattern of Huali wood carving, and on the west side, there is a glass partition fan with Yulan pattern of Huali wood carving, which separates the East and the West from the Ming Dynasty. In the East, the branches are separated by the floor covering of rosewood carving and grapevine pattern; in the west, the branches are separated by a frame of rosewood carving and a partition fan with large glass inside. The West branches are used as a warm Pavilion and a living bedroom. The courtyard of Chuxiu palace is spacious and quiet. Two vigorous ancient cypresses stand in it. A pair of copper dragon and a pair of copper sika deer are placed on the East and west sides of the base of the palace. It was cast at Cixi's 50th birthday in the 10th year of Guangxu. The East and west side halls are Yanghe hall and Suifu hall, which are hard mountaintop buildings with three wide faces. The back hall is lijingxuan, 5 rooms wide, with single eaves on the top of the mountain. There are East and west side halls called fengguangshi and Yilan hall. After entering the palace, Cixi lived in the back hall of Chuxiu palace and gave birth to Tongzhi emperor. In the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Cixi moved to Chuxiu Palace on her 50th birthday and named the back hall lijingxuan. It is now on display in the original state of court life.

Xianfu Palace

Xianfu palace is one of the six palaces in the west of inner court. Built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420), it was initially named Shouan palace. In 1535, it was renamed Xianfu palace. It was rebuilt in 1683, the 22nd year of Kangxi reign, and rebuilt in 1897. Xianfu palace has two entrances. The main entrance of Xianfu palace is a glazed door with four wooden screen doors and screen walls. The main hall of the front courtyard is called "Xianfu Palace" with a three room width and a yellow glazed tile roof. Its shape is higher than that of the other five palaces in the six palaces in the west, and is the same as that of Jingyang palace in the six palaces in the East. In front of the eaves, a door is installed in the open room, while in the rest, a window is installed in the sill, and the ceiling of the indoor wellhead is installed. The back eaves only have a door in the open room, and the rest are eaves walls. On the east wall of the hall is Emperor Qianlong's praise of the holy system of Jieyu as a bear, and on the west wall is the painting of Jieyu as a bear. On both sides of the gable, there are card walls, and small doors with the wall are set to pass through the backyard. In front of the hall, there are three East and West halls, three hard hilltops, and one ear room. The main hall in the backyard is called "tongdaotang", with 5 rooms in width, 3 rooms in the East and 3 rooms in the West. In the front eaves, a door is installed in the open room, with a curtain frame, while in the other rooms, a window is supported; in the back eaves, there is no window. The floor covering partition is set in the room, and the ceiling is painted with ceiling. The plaque in the East Room of the hall is "Qin De Zhen", which used to store Guqin; the painting room in the west room is "painting Zen room", where Wang Wei's painting of Xuexi and Mi Zhihui's painting of Xiaoxiang Baiyun are all old collections of Dong Qichang's painting Zen room. Tongdao hall also has East and west side halls. In front of the hall, there is a well Pavilion in the southeast. Xianfu palace is the residence of empresses, the front hall is the place where the ceremony is performed and the back hall is the bedroom. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it was changed to the place where the emperor occasionally lived. In the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Emperor Qianlong died. Emperor Jiaqing lived in Xianfu palace to keep filial piety. He ordered that there should be no beds, but only white felt and light grass mattress. He took this palace as the second place. In October of the same year, he moved to Yangxin palace. Since then, Xianfu palace has been restored to the residence of concubines, and the imperial concubines of Daoguang emperor Lin, Cheng, Tong and Chang have all lived here. In 1850, Emperor Xianfeng lived in Xianfu palace to keep filial piety for Emperor Daoguang. After the period of filial piety, he often lived here.

Changchun Palace

Changchun palace, one of the six palaces in the west of inner court, was built in 1420, and was originally named Changchun palace. It was renamed Yongning palace in 1535, and was renamed Changchun palace in 1615. In 1683, it was rebuilt and then renovated many times. In 1859, the gate of Changchun palace was demolished, and the back hall of Qixiang palace was changed into the hall of Chuantang. Emperor Xianfeng wrote the title "tiyuan hall". Changchun palace and Qixiang palace were connected. Changchun palace is 5 rooms wide, with yellow glazed tile Hill roof, front porch, open door and partition fan

Chinese PinYin : Xi Liu Gong