Zhongcui Palace

Zhongcui Palace

Zhongcui palace, one of the six East palaces in the Palace Museum of Beijing, is located in the west of Jingyang palace and the north of Chengqian palace. Built in 1420, it was called Xianyang Palace at first, renamed Zhongcui palace in 1535, and Zhongcui palace in 1571. The front hall was called Xinglong palace, and the back hall was called Shengzhe palace. It was the residence of the crown prince. Later, it was renamed Zhongcui palace.

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brief introduction

Zhong Zi and Zhong Cui, ancient times are the essence of collecting essence and essence. In the Qing Dynasty, the old name of the Ming Dynasty was used. It was rebuilt in 1655, and then in 1831, 1874, 1890 and 1897. In the late Qing Dynasty, the hanging flower gate and veranda were added to the palace gate.

Zhongcui palace is a two-way courtyard. Its main gate faces south and is called Zhongcui gate. The main hall of the front courtyard is Zhongcui palace, with 5 rooms in width. It has a yellow glazed tile Hill roof, a front porch, 5 animals on the ridge of the eaves. Under the eaves, it is decorated with single warped and single raised five brackets and painted with Su style paintings. Open the door in the open room, the window between the secondary and the tip, the door and window with ice crack and brocade step by step. The interior was originally built in the Ming Dynasty, with ceiling and square tiles. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a plaque inscribed "Shu Shen Wen" by Emperor Qianlong. In front of the hall, there are three East and three West halls, with front porches, open doors in the open room, yellow glazed tile hard mountain roof, and Su style color paintings under the eaves.

There are 5 main halls in the backyard, open in the open room, with yellow glazed tile hard mountain roof, Su style color paintings under the eaves, and ear rooms on both sides. There are three side halls in the East and the west, all of which are open in the Ming Dynasty, with yellow glazed tiles and hard mountain style roofs. There is a well Pavilion in the southwest corner of the hospital.

Zhongcui palace was the residence of concubines in Ming Dynasty, and was once the palace of Empress Dowager. In the Qing Dynasty, it was the residence of empresses. When Yichen, Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty, lived here when he was a child, imperial concubine Daoguang, the mother of Prince Gong, also lived in this palace. Emperor Xianfeng, empress xiaozhenxian (i.e. East empress dowager Ci'an), lived in Zhongcui palace since she entered the palace until her death in 1881. After Guangxu's marriage, empress Longyu also lived here. Puyi, the last emperor, once lived in this palace.

Now, the exhibition of jade relics in the Palace Museum is held here all the year round.

Architectural form

Zhongcui palace was originally named Xianyang palace. According to records, in 1535, Xianyang palace was renamed Zhongcui palace and Xianyang gate was renamed Zhongcui gate. In 1571, it was renamed Yulong palace and Shengzhe palace. In the early Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Zhongcui palace, which is still in use today. In the early Ming Dynasty, this palace was the residence of concubines. In the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhongcui palace was the residence of the crown prince. In the Qing Dynasty, it became the living area of empress dowagers and their concubines.

Zhongcui palace belongs to a courtyard in the six Eastern Palaces of the inner court. It is 47.38 meters long from north to South and 47.9 meters wide from east to west. Its plane is nearly square. It is divided into two parts, the front hall and the back bedroom. The main hall of the front courtyard, namely Zhongcui palace, sits in the north to the south. It is a five room wide hall with a roof of Xieshan style. There are three East and three West halls, with a single eaves and a hard top. There is a corner corridor on the left and right of the main hall, which is connected with the front corridor of the auxiliary hall. The main gate, named Zhongcui gate, sits north and south. It is a single eaves glass gate with a bucket arch on the top of Xieshan mountain. There are glass decorative walls on the left and right. Inside the gate are a hanging hill, rolling shed top and inverted seat type vertical flower gate. The vertical lotus column is built with four openable screen doors. The two sides of the gate are connected with the south wall and the front porches of the East and west side halls, forming a pattern of Sanheyuan with enclosed porches. The backyard is also a courtyard with two sides, but it is a little lower than the front yard. The roof is of a lower level of hard mountain style. In the middle of the courtyard, there is a North-South Corridor which is higher than the ground and connects with the front and rear halls. On the left and right sides of the back hall, there are lower East-West ear rooms and card walls, which form a small courtyard. There is a well Pavilion on the west side of the backyard corridor. Zhongcui palace is a typical Palace House.

According to field investigation, the main hall of Zhongcui palace has only been partially repaired since its completion in the early Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, and the framework of the early Ming Dynasty is still preserved.

The plane layout of the main hall gradually reduced from the central Ming Dynasty to the left and right, and then to the top. The main and secondary layout was more obvious than that in the song and Yuan Dynasties, and was used in the Qing Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the distribution of the column network of the official buildings was strictly symmetrical. Four columns and one room were also the basic way of this period. The columns had obvious side angles and rising. This practice still maintained the legacy of the Song Dynasty.

In the main hall, the beams are simple, the structure is rigorous, the joints are firm, the materials are excellent (the beams, purlins and trusses, and the brackets are all made of Phoebe), and the components are exquisitely processed. The joints between beams and between beams and columns are generally supported by cross arch, so as to reduce the shear force of beam purlin. Although the five beams of the main hall are not carved, they are short and narrow at both ends and high and wide in the middle. In this way, not only the load function of the frame itself is considered, but also the beams are not bulky because of their large materials. In the building components, the edge contour of beam head, column head, bucket arch rafter head, etc. are mostly rolled and killed, making rules, making full use of the characteristics of wood itself easy to process, so as to better play the role of decoration.

Because the main hall was built in the early Ming Dynasty, the beams, purlins, trusses, arches and other components of the beams were painted with color. Later, with the replacement of the indoor owner or due to the need of use, the indoor ceiling also changed several times. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the early Qing Dynasty and the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the ceiling moved downward three times, and each time the ceiling moved downward, the color paintings on it were preserved. Therefore, the interior of Zhongcui palace preserved not only the swirling pattern color paintings of green and gold in the early Ming Dynasty and the middle of the Ming Dynasty, but also the dragon and Phoenix and seal color paintings, as well as the purlin style color paintings of the outer eaves. In a palace, it is rare to leave color paintings of different historical periods and styles, which is of great value for the study of the development history of Ming and upright official color paintings.

Residents of past dynasties

Crown prince Zhu CiZhen of Ming Dynasty

Zhu CiZhen, the crown prince of Chongzhen Dynasty in Ming Dynasty. There are few records of Zhu CiZhen living here. Only when he lived here, his biological mother, empress Zhou, once sent her maids to deliver tea and fruit cakes to Zhu CiZhen, who lived here at that time. The maids passed by Chengqian palace, where Tian Guifei lived at that time, pushing a stone lion, laughing and playing, and woke up Tian Guifei who was taking a nap, which almost caused a dispute.

Filial piety to empress Xian in Qing Dynasty

Empress xiaojingxian (June 28, 1681 - October 29, 1731) was a native of zhenghuang banner in Manchuria. The wife of Emperor Yongzheng, the daughter of Fei Yanggu, the Consul General of military affairs, was born on May 13, the 20th year of Kangxi.

Honghui, the eldest son of Kangxi, was born in 1697. Honghui died early in 1704, when he was only eight years old. Yongzheng first year (1722) volume for the queen. Yongzheng nine years (1731) 1898 September 29 collapse. In the second year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, he was buried with Emperor Yongzheng in the mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty. Posthumous title: xiaojinghe Yishun Zhaohui Zhuang Su Ankang Zuo Tianyi Shengxian queen.

Imperial concubines of the Qing Dynasty

Huixian imperial concubine? On February 25, 1745), Gao Jia, daughter of Gao Bin, a bachelor, was Emperor Qianlong's concubine, the first imperial concubine of the Qianlong Dynasty. In the reign of Yongzheng, he was selected as the fourth elder brother Hongli's maid (namely Ge Ge). In March of the 12th year of Yongzheng, Emperor Yongzheng superceded Gao from his maid to the side Fujin. In September of the 13th year of Yongzheng, Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne and granted Gao as his imperial concubine. On the 23rd day of the 10th year of Qianlong, the imperial concubine Gao was granted imperial concubine. On the 25th day of the 1st month, imperial concubine Gao Hong was named Huixian imperial concubine Buried in Yuling.

Imperial concubine Xin of Qing Dynasty

Princess Xin? Dai Jia, a native of Manchuria, was the daughter of governor nasutu and granddaughter of Chang Shi daochan. The great granddaughter of imperial concubine Cheng of the Qing Dynasty. One of Emperor Qianlong's concubines had two daughters. Born on May 29, she was granted the title of Xin pin on July 20, the 18th year of Qianlong. On September 10, the 28th year, Jin Xin Fei died on April 28, the 29th year. She was about 30 years old. As a gift to your concubine. In the 30th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, he was buried in the palace of imperial concubine Yuling of the eastern Mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty.

Empress xiaoquancheng of Qing Dynasty

Empress xiaoquancheng (March 24, 1808 - February 13, 1840), Niu Hulu's family, originally from the red flag of Manchuria, was the third empress of Emperor Daoguang, the mother of emperor Xianfeng, and his great grandfather was general Chengde of Qianlong Dynasty in Tibet, His grandfather was mukdenbu, and his father was a general stationed in Suzhou of the Qing Dynasty, a second-class bodyguard of the qianqingmen, a second-class Baron, a first-class benefactor, and a third-class benefactor from Jin Dynasty.

Empress Xiaojing of Qing Dynasty

Empress xiaojingcheng (June 19, 1812 - August 21, 1855), born to the borzijit family, the daughter of wailang Hualiang a, a member of the Ministry of punishment, the adoptive mother of emperor Xianfeng of the Wenzong reign of the Qing Dynasty, and the biological mother of Aixinjueluo Yixin, the king of politics and Prince heshuogongzhong. After emperor Xianfeng ascended the throne, he was honored as empress kangci of emperor Kao and Empress Dowager GUI. In the fifth year of Xianfeng, he was honored as empress kangci of Jin Dynasty and buried in Mudong mausoleum.

Empress xiaozhenxian of Qing Dynasty

Empress xiaozhenxian (from August 12, 1837 to April 8, 1881) Niu Hulu, a native of Manchuria inlaid with yellow flag, was the second empress of emperor Xianfeng. The first class Chengen Marquis, the third class Chengen Duke, and the daughter of muyang'a, Youjiang Road, Guangxi.

Xianfeng two years (1852) in February was draft into the palace, April 27 into the imperial edict

Chinese PinYin : Zhong Cui Gong