Beijing’s 800 years of Rise, Design, Destruction, and Rise How a city at a strategic geographic crossroads — where settled China met the nomadic world — became one of the most carefully planned capitals in human history. Geography made the city. Beijing sits where mountain passes funnel every army, caravan, and migration from the steppe…
Emperor Qianlong touring Chengde The private courtyards, pavilions, gardens, and residences were constantly expanded, renovated/redesigned under successive emperors. The Qianlong emperor was an avid builder within the Forbidden City and elsewhere in Beijing and the capital area. The Empress Dowager Cixi, who held a great deal of power in the late-19th century, resided there when…
Zhongnanhai The name of the Zhongnanhai complex, adjacent and west of the Forbidden City, means “Central and Southern Seas”, referring to two lakes, the “Central Sea and Southern Sea”, within the compound, also called “Sea Palaces”. The two lakes were part of a series of projects carried out during construction of the Imperial City. The…
The world of the Qianlong Emperor Draped in Dragons The dragon was considered the king of animals in Chinese culture and the symbol was often incorporated into lavish costumes brocaded and embroidered with silk and gold-metallic yarns. The jifu, or dragon robe as it became known in the West, was the most common type of…
Qianlong with Mongol leaders at banquet at Chengde Mntn Qianlong was the first Manchu ruler to feel completely at ease with both his Manchu and his Chinese identities, and also conceive of himself as a “universal ruler.” He deliberately represented himself differently to each of the various constituents that formed his extensive, multi-ethnic empire: To…
THE 3 GREAT QING EMPERORS The Qing emperors (1644 to 1911) formed the last of the successive dynasties of China. As “alien” rulers, the Manchus inherited and adopted the cultural norms and political institutions of the previous Han Chinese Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644), at the same time maintaining their own Northeast Asian military organization,…
The Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) These tombs are the largest, most complete, and the best preserved mausoleum complex in China, 125 km from Beijing, finally completed in 2008. Five emperors, 15 empresses, 136 imperial consorts and concubines, 3 princes, and 2 princesses are buried here in 15 Mausoleums. The complex stretches over…
Qingyiyuan, Gardens of Clear Ripples, the Summer Palace with Kunming lake Around 1749, the Qianlong Emperor decided to build a summer palace in the vicinity of Jar Hill to celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing. Longevity Hill is about 60 m-high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill…
Nurhaci, a military leader of the Jurchens of Northeast China and founder of what became the Qing dynasty, named his tribe after Mañjuśrī as the Manchus. This painting is arranged with Qianlong at the center of a cosmogram, a symbolic universe. The background shows clouds and the 5-peaked sacred Wutaishan mountain. He is seated on…
Palace of Tranquility and Longevity The Qianlong gardens 9 Dragons wall (96’x12′) Qianlong Garden (1772) The Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Chin: 寧壽宮),literally, “peaceful old age palace,” also called the Qianlong Gardens or the Palace of Tranquility and Longevity, is located in the NE corner of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City: The secret garden,…
十八羅漢 The 18 Arhats (Luohans in China) are depicted in Mahayana Buddhism as the first followers of the Buddha: Kek Lok Tong Temple, Ipoh, Malaysia They followed the Noble 8-fold Path and attained the 4 stages of enlightenment. They have reached the state of Nirvana and are free of worldly cravings. They…
Hall of Supreme Harmony or “Hall of Gold Throne” is the heart of the Forbidden City palace complex. It is the grandest and the most important building in the nation. There is also a large square for the officials to offer respects to the emperor in front of the hall, with a capacity of 10.000…
