(in front of yiyunguan (chamber of mortal beings)
this was where empress and empress dowager of china` s feudal system. however, emperor guanxu was not the last emperor of the qing dynasty. the last in the line was emperor puyi, who ascended the throne in 1908 at the age of three, too young to be married . in 1912, he was forced to abdicate. during the short reign of emperor puyi. empress longyu handled state affairs on his behalf in the name of empress dowager. in 1911, a revolution led by dr. sun yat-sun succeeded, and the year after, empress longyu announced the abdication of the last emperor of china.
(in the hall of happiness and longevity)
the aged empress dowager cixi was so fond of the summer palace that she decided to live here from april through october of every year. this group of buildings served as her residence.
this group of courtyard dwellings consists of a forecourt and a backyard with annex courts on each side .the whole compound was basically made of wood, which is ideal for ventilation and lighting . with its quiet and tasteful layout, the hall of happiness and longevity made life very easy and convenient. no wonder one of empress dowager cixi` s pleasure boat. on the pier there is a tall lantern post. flanking the staircase leading to the main entrance of the hall, there are bronze cranes, deer and vases, symbolizing universal peace. the interior layout is the same as the imperial court, with throne, a large table and incense burners placed in the middle. at mealtime, eunuchs-in –waiting would make a gigantic table out of this table and empress dowager cixi would dine on 128 courses. because of this more than 1,800 tales of silver would be spent each month on meals. on the east side of the living room is the cloak room. the bedroom in on its west.
in front of the yaoyue (inviting the moon ) gate of the long corridor
the famed long corridor is ahead. facing kunming lake and in the foreground of longevity hill, the long corridor stretches from yaoyue (inviting the moon ) gate to shizhang (stony old man) pavilion. it is 728 meters in length and consist of 273 sections and connects four octagonal pavilions. in 1990 ,it was listed in guinness book of world records.
(strolling along the long corridor)
the long corridor is one of the major structures of the summer palace .since the corridor was designed to follow the physical features of the southern slope of longevity hill , four multiple-eaved, octagonal pavilions (beauty-retaining pavilion, enjoy-the ripples pavilion, autumn water pavilion and clarity distance pavilion) were placed at bends and undulation. thus sightseers will hardly notice the rise and fall of the terrain. as a major part of the architectural style of the summer palace, the long corridor serves as an ingenious connector between the lake and the hill. scattered buildings on the southern slope were linked to creat a unified complex.
this corridor can also be called a “corridor of paintings ”: there are more than 14,000 paintings on its beams. some of them are of birds, flowers and landscapes of the west lake in hangzhou, zhejian province. others present scenes from literary classics. the majority of the landscape painting were done under the order of emperor qianlong, who preperred the scenery of south china.
(by the door leading to the exhibition of cultural relics)
this group of temple-shaped structures are known as qinghua (clarified china) hall ,also known as arhat hall during the reign of emperor qianlong. the original hall burned down in 1860. after it was reconstructed, it was renamed.
qinghua hall is now used as a exhibition hall displaying rare cultural relics collected in the summer palace. the hall consists of 6 exhibition rooms with tens of thousands of articles of treasure on display in turn. among the exhibits there are bronze ware, porcelain, jade assemblages from the ming and qing dynasties, and rare and paintings. there is also a gigantic stone slab, which is more than 3 meters in height and width. it bears the handwritten inscriptions of emperor qianlong is commemoration of the suppression of a rebellion in the xinjiang region. only this slab survived when the angle-french allied forces set fire to the summer palace.
(in front of the gate of dispelling clouds)
now we are approaching the central part of the structures on the lakeside slope, the tower of buddhist incense within the hall of dispelling clouds. the hall of dispelling clouds was where numerous palatines kowtowed to empress dowager cixi. it was surrounded by galleries and flanked by annex halls. in the forecourt there is a pool and marble bridges . starting from the lakeside, there lies in succession a memorial archway, the gate of dispelling clouds, the hall of dispelling clouds and the tower of buddhist incense. all of these structures are built on a central axis and each is taller than its predecessor. this was designed to give prominence to the last structure, the tower of buddhist incense, which was a symbol of imperial power. the layout of this group of architectures was based on scenes described in buddhist sutras. this group of structure are among the most magnificently constructed here in the summer palace.
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