Prince Gongs Mansion
Only the emperor and his immediate family members were qualified to live in the Forbidden City, so many relatives of the emperor established their own mansions. Today, in Beijing, there are over 60 princes’ mansions from Qing Dynasty – among them, Prince Gong’s Mansion is the most ostentatious and well preserved. When it was built, Prince Gong’s Mansion was the largest dwelling in the world.
It was once the mansion of Hesheng, who’s famous as the most-corrupt official in Chinese history. Later it was presented to Prince Gong as a gift from the government. Hesheng was spoiled by Emperor Qian Long. No matter how many mistakes he made, the emperor would always favor him. As the story goes, the emperor spoiled Hesheng because he believed him to be the reincarnation of a former concubine. This concubine was hanged for testifying her loyalty and honesty, a mistake the emperor regretted miserably. Her death haunted the Emperor and he vowed to forgive her for all mistakes if he could only just see her in the next life. He painted a red dot on her forehead so that he could recognize her in the future. Several years after her death, Emperor Qian Long saw a man with a red dot on his forehead, Hesheng, and lavished him with all the blessings he could muster.
The east, south, and west ends of the garden are surrounded by hills. The landscape in the garden is delicate and beautiful. It is the most treasured and protected mansion in China. Some experts and scholars believed that this mansion is the place which inspired the great Chinese novelist Cao Xueqin to write Dreams of Red Chambers, one of the four most famous books in Chinese literature.
The area of Prince Gong’s Mansion is divided by three roads, creating an eastern area, a middle area , and a western area. The center of the mansion iconsists of the great hall, the back hall, and the extended buildings. The length of the extended buildings is up to 160 meters, and the mansion is constituted of more than forty houses. The last part of the mansion is made up of gardens; more than 10 scenic spots totally distinct from one another can be found on the complex.
Prince Gong’s Mansion
Is surrounded by local architecture, known as Hutong, and is difficult for newcomers to find because the houses around it look very similar. Walking along the street, we could wander for hours and not find it. This part of the city is very popular among foreign visitors, because creative clubs and cafes abound here. Jazz and rock music can be heard at night. Many people would rather walk here than drive because of the beautiful architecture, shops, cafes, and small parks where relaxation and amusement are easily found. Here, you can see Chinese traditional buildings mixed with western culture, giving it a truly unique feeling.Prince Garden
Its name is Cuijing Garden, which occupies 30,000 square meters. Symmetrical measures are thoroughly employed in this Garden.
The Monument to the Peoples Heroes
The Monument to the People’s Heroes, constructed from August 1952 to May 1958, was the first large-scale memorial built in New China.Towering 10 stories high, its northern facade is dominated by the inscription, “Eternal Glory to the People’s Heroes,” in Mao Zedong’s hand. The 17,000 pieces of marble and granite, brought in from Shandong Province and Fangshan on the outskirts of Beijing, weigh over 10,000 metric tons. Of such high quality the monument is projected to last 800 to 1,000 years. The lower plinth is decorated with 10 two-meter high marble bas-reliefs depicting the Chinese revolutionary movement over the past hundred years.
“Burning the Opium,” the incident on June 3, 1839 in which chests of opium were destroyed by an angry crowed at Humen, begins on the eastern face. Next comes the 1851 Jintian Uprising, a crucial event in the Taiping Revolution, A swarm of Han and Zhuang warriors wield their makeshift weapons under a flag-filled sky. On the south there is the Wuchang Uprising, a key event leading up to the Revolution of 1911, in which rebellious soldiers and civilians storm the mansion of the local Imperial Viceroy, inflicting a deadly blow to the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history. The May 4th Movement (1919) is the theme of the next panel. A young man is shown demanding “national sovereignty as a defense against the foreign powers and punishment for all traitors” before a crowd at Tian’anmen.
Next is depicted the May 30th Movement (1925), where tens of thousands of workers, students and urban residents fought their way through sandbags and barbed wire to the British Concession in Shanghai.
On the west side is the Nanchang Uprising against the Kuomintang on August 1, 1927. The panel shows a company commander making the signal to attack. “Guerrilla War Against the Japanese Invasion”(1937-1945) is depicted beside: Guerrillas thread their way through forests and fields; peasant supporters stand ready with spades; an old woman gives her son a gun; a group of young men await their officer’s orders.
“Crossing the River” on the north side is the largest of the 10 panels. Crossing the Yangtze River, the People’s Liberation Army rush toward Nanjing, the stronghold of the Kuomintang and in the background, battleships plow through the waves.
THE FORBIDDEN CITY
The palace covers an area of over 2,350,000 square feet. It has 9,999 rooms built in traditional architectural style. Ten-foot-high walls surround the palace, reinforced by a massive moat and observation towers. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony are at the center of this awe-inspiring palatial complex. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is famous as a lama temple. These three halls divide the complex along a north-south and an east-west axis. Just outside the palace complex is Tian’anmen Square , the largest city square in the world.
Henry. S. Churchill, an American layout expert, once said that the three-dimensional design layout of the city’s grand palaces, pagodas, and city gates create a perfect effect in arts and architecture. The colors incorporated into the palace’s design are also deeply symbolic. Yellow is primary in the Forbidden City, because yellow represents both the emperor, the central figure of China, and also represents land, the root and origin of all earthly creatures. The palaces golden tiles flicker above the gray rooftops of the common people.
It is the supreme example of Chinese traditional architecture – an art form built upon the mystical conception of Feng Shui, also known as Chinese geomancy. Taoism and Confucianism are considered the foundations of Chinese traditional culture. They penetrate into every part of Chinese life. As such, the Forbidden City is a reflection and exhibition of their ideals. Chinese people believe in an essential unity between the universe, humanity, and nature. The Forbidden City, embodying Chinese life and philosophy, was created according to the descriptions of the heavenly palace in Chinese fairy tales. The names of Forbidden City mainly include benevolence, harmony, balance and stability. All of these characters represent the essence and core of Confucian thought. Qianqing Palace was the residence of the Emperor. Jiaotai Hall and Kunning Palace are closely connected with the Book of Changes, perhaps the most fundamental Confucian classic. In this book, the Chinese character Qian means Heaven and symbolizes male energy, while the character Kun means Earth and symbolizes female energy. The character Tai means safety, honesty, and tranquility.
