Chapter 7 Chapter 45

During the period of Nurhachi, Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty, the system was initially created without a name, and the harem was collectively called Fujin.From the beginning of Huang Taiji Chongde, imitating the Ming Dynasty, he established a system of one empress and four concubines with five palaces (Zhonggong, Guanju Palace, Yanqing Palace, Linzhi Palace, and Yongfu Palace).When Shunzhi entered the customs, the ceremony was initially decided, but the agreement was not carried out.After Kangxi, the canon system was complete. "The History of the Qing Dynasty: Concubine Biography" records: "The emperor's grandmother is called the Empress Dowager, and the mother is called the Empress Dowager. She lives in the palaces of Cining, Shoukang, and Ningshou. The concubines and concubines of the previous dynasty are called Taifei and Taifei, and they live together with the Empress Dowager , and Emperor Si are both over fifty years old, so we have to meet each other." If Emperor Si meets the concubine or concubine, both parties must be over 50 years old.

There were two Empress Dowagers of the Qing Dynasty in the Shunzhi Dynasty: one was the Borjigit family, who died in the fourth year of Shunzhi (1647) at the age of fifty; the other was the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.There was an empress dowager in the Kangxi Dynasty, the empress dowager Xiaohuizhang who lived in Ningshou Palace.In the Yongzheng Dynasty, there was an empress dowager who was the birth mother of Emperor Yongzheng, Wu Yashi, but she died suddenly before being registered.Strictly speaking, there was no empress dowager in the Yongzheng Dynasty.In the Qianlong Dynasty, there was only one empress dowager, the Empress Dowager Xiaoshengxian (Empress Dowager Chongqing).There were no queen mothers in the Jiaqing and Daoguang dynasties.Emperor Daoguang's concubine Borjijit was the empress dowager in the Xianfeng Dynasty, and she died within nine days.There were two empress dowagers in Tongzhi Dynasty and Guangxu Dynasty, Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi.There was only one Empress Dowager Longyu in the Xuantong Dynasty.In the Qing Dynasty, there were nine queen mothers in name, but only seven queen mothers actually enjoyed the life of queen mothers. The most important ones were the first three queen mothers——Empress Xiaozhuang, Empress Xiaohui, Empress Xiaosheng, and the last three queen mothers——Empress Xiaozhen (Empress Ci’an) ), Empress Dowager Xiaoqin (Empress Dowager Cixi), Empress Dowager Xiaoding (Empress Dowager Longyu).

There was only one empress dowager in the Qing Dynasty, and that was the empress dowager Xiaozhuang.In the 268th year of the Qing Dynasty, there were no queens, empress dowagers, or grand empress dowagers. The palaces where the empress dowagers lived in the Qing Dynasty, in addition to the ones mentioned above, such as the Tishun Hall and Zhongcui Palace where the Empress Dowager Ci'an lived, the Yanxi Hall, the Chuxiu Palace and the Ningshou Palace, as well as the Cining Palace, Shoukang Palace and Shou'an Palace were also used by the Empress Dowager Cixi Palace and so on.Let’s first introduce the Compassion Palace area, including the Compassion Palace and Compassion Garden:

The Cining Palace, located in the north of the western part of the imperial palace, is an independent palace. It was first built in May of the fifteenth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1536), and cost 600,000 taels of silver. It is called Renshou Palace and is mainly the residence of the empress dowager.It was rebuilt in the tenth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1653), and rebuilt in the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1769).The main buildings of Compassion Palace are: (1) Compassion Gate, which is the main gate of the palace, five rooms wide and three rooms deep, with gilded bronze auspicious beasts beside the gate. (2) Compassionate Palace, with double eaves and glazed tile roof, seven rooms wide and three rooms deep, with the front hall and the back bedroom.The long and narrow courtyard in front of the palace is spacious and stretched. It was the main palace of Empress Xiaozhuang (Empress Dowager) during the Shunzhi and Kangxi periods of the Qing Dynasty.The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager are celebrated here with their badges, enshrined treasures, and Shengshou Festival. (3) The Great Buddha Hall, at the back of the palace, is seven rooms wide and three rooms deep, with yellow glazed tiles on the top of the mountain. It is the hall where the queen mother and concubine worship Buddha.The Buddha statues, niches and other cultural relics in the hall are temporarily placed in Baima Temple in Luoyang, Henan.

The Garden of Compassion and Ning, on the south side of the Palace of Compassion and Ning, is a place where the Empress Dowager and the Concubine rest, play and worship Buddha.The characteristics of the garden: First, there are many flat roads, without winding paths, high and low, arch bridges, and hillsides, to take care of the physical strength and safety of the elderly; Baoxiang Building, Jiyun Building on the right, Hanqingzhai on the left in the south, and Yanshou Hall on the right, all of which provide convenience for the Empress Dowager and the Concubine to worship Buddha; the third is that there are many pavilions, such as the Linxi Pavilion in the south, with Cuifang Pavilion (Liubei Canal in the pavilion does not exist today), Lvyun Pavilion (no existence exists now), etc.Pavilion, stop also.Most of the pavilions are for the old queens, old concubines, and old concubines to stop and go when they are walking, so that they can rest.

Shoukang Palace, on the west side of Compassionate Palace, is an independent palace with three entrances. The front is Shoukang Gate, the main building is Shoukang Palace, and the back is the sleeping palace. Shou'an Palace, in the north of Shoukang Palace, was Xianxi Palace in the early Ming Dynasty, and was renamed Xian'an Palace in the 14th year of Jiajing (1535). Emperor Longqing, Empress Chen, and Tianqi Chaoke family all lived here.Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty imprisoned the abolished prince Yinreng here twice until Yinreng died.In the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), the Xian'an Palace Official School was established here, and 90 children of officials from the Three Banners and Eight Banners of the House of Internal Affairs were ordered to enroll. It was a school for the children of the Eight Banners nobles.In the 16th year of Qianlong (1751), on the 60th birthday of the Empress Dowager, the official school of Xian'an Palace was moved to Xihuamen (now Baoyun Tower). After the Xian'an Palace was rebuilt, it was renamed Shou'an Palace.In the 26th year of Qianlong (1761), the Shouan Palace was rebuilt for the 70th birthday of the Empress Dowager.

Shouan Palace is a rectangular palace, 107 meters long from north to south, 78 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of ​​8346 square meters.The palace has three courtyards, and there are east and west courtyards.The main entrance is Shou'an Gate, and the main hall inside the gate is called Chunxi Hall (the current hall was rebuilt later), with three floors of stone foundations, and the hall is magnificent.There are 5 side halls in the east and west.There are passage doors on the left and right of the hall, and the entrance through the passage door is the second entrance courtyard.In the middle of the courtyard is the Shouan Palace, which is 5 rooms wide and 3 rooms deep, with yellow glazed tiles resting on the top of the mountain.In the hall, there are plaques written by Emperor Qianlong "Changle Chunhui" and "Yaoshu Chungu".There are corner buildings in the east and west in front of the hall, and the south is connected with the inverted building at the back of the Chunxi hall.The inverted seat was originally the play building of Shou'an Palace.In the courtyard, there was a three-story stage added in the 25th year of Qianlong (1760).The "Illustrations of Scenic Spots in the Tang Dynasty" written by the Japanese is called the theater stage, and it has pictures.The upper plaque is "Qingxiao Shaolu", the middle plaque is "Zengcheng Guangle", and the lower plaque is "Kunlang Hengchun".In July of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), it was demolished and rebuilt into five Houjuan halls.The back of the hall is the third entrance courtyard, in which stones are stacked to form mountains, and bamboo is cultivated in the courtyard ("The Internal Affairs Office Memorial").There are small halls in the courtyard, with Fuyi Zhai in the northeast and Xuanshou Hall in the northwest.The concubines and concubines of the Daoguang and Xianfeng dynasties once lived in this palace.The building is well preserved.Today it is the library of the Palace Museum.

The Ci Ning Palace is famous all over the world as the residence of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.