The three halls of the Inner Palace are replicas of the three halls in the front, but smaller in size. They are the
Palace of Heavenly Purity(7), the Hall of Union(8), and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility(9).
The Palace of Heavenly Purity was once the residence of the Ming emperors and the first two of the Qing emperors. Then the Qing Emperor Yong Zheng moved his residence to the Palace of Mental Cultivation and turned it into an audience hall to receive foreign envoys and handled the state affairs. The promotion and demotion of officials were also decided in this hall. After the emperor's death his coffin was placed here for a 49-day period
of mourning.
The Palace of Union was the empress's throne room and the Hall of Earthly Tranquility, once a private living room for the empress, was partitioned. The west chamber served religious purposes and the east one was the bridal
chamber where the newly married emperor and empress spent their first two nights after their wedding. The Imperial Garden was laid out during the early Ming dynasty. Hundreds of pines and cypresses offer shade while various flowers give colors to the garden all year round and fill the air with their fragrance. In he center of the garden is the Hall of Imperial Peace, a Daoist temple, with a flat roof slightly sloping down to the four eaves. This type of roof was rare in ancient Chinese architecture. In he northeastern corner of the garden is a rock hill, known as the Hill of the Piled-up Wonders, which is topped with a pavilion. At the foot of the hill are two fountains which jet two columns of water high into the air. It is said that on the ninth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the empress would mound the hill to enjoy the autumn scene. It is also believed that climbing
to a high place on that day would keep people safe from contagious diseases.
The six Western Palaces were residences for empresses and concubines. They are kept in their original way for show. The six Eastern Palaces were the residences for them too. But now they serve as special museums: the Museum of Bronze, the Museum of Porcelain and the Museum of Arts and Crafts of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the northeastern-most section of the Inner Palace are the Museum of Traditional Chinese Paintings and the
Museum of Jewelry and Treasures where rare pieces of imperial collections are on display.
Now the Forbidden City is no longer forbidding, but inviting. A visit to the Palace Museum will enrich the
visitors' knowledge of history, economy, politics, arts as well as architecture in ancient China.
Notes:
1. the Meridian Gate 午门 2. the Five-Phoenix Towers 五凤楼
3. benevolence, righteousness, rites, intelligence, and fidelity 仁、义、礼、智、信
4. the Hall of Supreme Harmony 太和殿 5. the Hall of Complete Harmony 中和殿 6. the Hall of Preserving Harmony 保和殿 7. the Palace of Heavenly Purity 乾清宫
8. the Hall of Union 交泰殿
9. the Palace of Earthly Tranquility 坤宁宫
