Chapter 53 Two, the hero of the sea

Zhonghai, from the north of Centipede Bridge to the south of Jinaoyudong Bridge (now Beihai Bridge), is called "Zhonghai" because it is in the middle of Xiyuan Haizi (Taiye Pool).Zhonghai is mainly divided into three palace districts: South, West and East. In the Xiyuan Gate of the South Bank Palace, facing Yingtai across the pond is the Qinzheng Hall, which was once the administrative office of Emperor Kangxi's imperial gate.To the west of the hall is Fengze Garden, which was built during the Kangxi period. "Daqing Huidian Case" records: "Fengze Garden is in Zhonghai. There are ten mu of rice fields and one mu of cultivated land." Agriculture is the foundation.It is named Fengze, implying the wind and rain, and the five grains will be plentiful.Emperor Kangxi once tried to plant new rice seeds here, and invited ministers to watch and give a banquet.There are several huts in the southeast of the garden, where Emperor Kangxi raised silkworms.Mulberry trees are planted behind the garden.The main building in Fengze Garden is Chongya Hall.In the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), a banquet was given to the princes and princes of the clan, and poems and couplets were written to describe the friendship of the clan, so it was renamed Dunxu Hall.During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, it was renamed the Hall of Yi Nian to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi.During the Republic of China, it was renamed Yi Nian Tang, where Yuan Shikai once worked. After 1949, Yi Nian Hall was a high-end conference hall where Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others held meetings.To the east of Yi Nian Hall is the Juxiang Study House, which was built in the reign of Kangxi and used to be a study.Later, Chairman Mao Zedong once worked and lived here, and today it is the "former residence of Comrade Mao Zedong".Behind the Juxiang Bookstore is Chenghuai Hall, where Emperor Kangxi listened to the lectures of civil servants.There is also Spring Ou Zhai in the garden, where ponds are dug and mountains are piled up, pavilions are scattered here and there, trees are densely shaded, and the scenery is charming.Zhaibei is Haiyantang, a second-floor building with a Western style, where Empress Dowager Cixi entertained female guests.In the early years of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai was changed to Ju Ren Tang (now there is no existing one).

Ziguang Pavilion, a palace on the west bank, is located on the north side of the west bank of the Zhonghai Sea. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a square high platform, where the emperor watched horseback riding and watching dragon boats.Later, the platform was changed into a pavilion, called Ziguang Pavilion, with a width of 7 rooms, a building in front, a verandah roof, and green tiles with yellow edges (green tiles inlaid with yellow tile edges).As usual, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty read and tested martial arts Jinshi here, and watched the Eight Banners school shooting.Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty imitated the system of drawing shapes in Lin Pavilion of the Tang Dynasty, and made the so-called "Shiquan martial arts" (Ping Junggar 2, Dinghuibu 1, Jinchuan 2, Jingtai 1, Burma and Annan 1 each, Gurkha 2) , a total of 135 heroes in four times, "writing pictures and traces, showing forever" (Volume 24 of "Jixia Jiuwenkao"), the images are hung in Ziguang Pavilion.The most famous ones are Agui and Hailancha, each drawing Ziguang Pavilion four times.Those who ranked in the top 50 were praised by Emperor Qianlong himself.Emperor Qianlong also gave banquets to Mongolian princes and Huibu Burke in the pavilion, and invited them to watch ice games, dances and dances.After the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, "most of the statues of heroes in the Ziguang Pavilion were stolen by the enemy, or they were cut to paste the walls" (Hu Sijing's "Donkey's Back Collection").Behind the Ziguang Pavilion is the Wucheng Hall, which is connected to the corridor of the Pavilion by Chaoshou Corridor, forming an independent courtyard.The architraves of the cloisters are embellished with colorful paintings of Jiangnan and Su styles, and the pavilions are dignified and elegant, reflecting the royal style.Ziguang Pavilion was also the hall for receiving foreign envoys in the late Qing Dynasty.In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1874), Emperor Tongzhi received envoys from Japan, Russia, the United States, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in Ziguang Pavilion, and accepted the letters of credence presented by the envoys (this was the first time that the Qing emperor officially received Officials of foreign embassies and consulates submit credentials).There is a spacious platform in front of the gate of Ziguang Pavilion, surrounded by white stone railings and railings, and the pillars are carved with dragons.The current Ziguang Pavilion building is basically the pattern of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

Yiluan Hall (Huiren Hall), originally located in the west gate of Nanzhonghai, Ziguang Pavilion, used to be the palace for the Empress Dowager Xi.In the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885), Empress Dowager Cixi ordered that Yiluan Palace be built by Prince Chun Yidu and Sanhai was renovated.The Yiluan Hall was built behind the Chunkuzhai, with 5 main halls and corridors around the outside; an apse hall, two east and west side halls in front of the hall, each with 5 rooms; .There are Kua courtyards on both sides of Yiluan hall. The east courtyard houses the longevity dining room, tea room, pharmacy, etc., and the west courtyard houses four residences, each with 5 main rooms and 5 east and west side rooms.In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, and the Empress Dowager Cixi left Xi'an.Xiyuan became the headquarters of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, and the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, Waldsi, lived in Yiluan Hall, Cixi's bedroom.At night, the invaders took off their clothes, drilled into holes, and stole cultural relics. Small items were packed in their arms, and large items, such as porcelain vases, were wrapped in coats and stolen.In the middle of the night on February 29 of the second year, the Hall of Yiluan caught fire and was reduced to ashes.Waldsi fled in a hurry, only to escape, the chief of staff of the coalition army was burned to death in the hall.Later, the cause of the fire was found out. According to records: "It was caused by the fire of the iron furnace burning the wood veneer and paper surface on the wall." (Wadexi's "Fist Random Notes") After the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Luan, she repaired the Yiluan Hall and used it for reference. Western style, renamed Haiyan Building.Another site was chosen to spend 100,000 taels of silver to build a new Yiluan Hall, which was renamed Fozhao Tower, and Huairen Hall at the beginning of the Republic of China.

The Wanshan Hall on the East Bank, and the Ming and Qing Zhongyuan Festivals (July 15th) are all practiced here.According to a Buddhist story, Mulian, a disciple of Sakyamuni, saw his deceased mother surrounded by hungry ghosts in hell and asked Buddha to save her.Sakyamuni asked him to prepare a hundred flavors of food on the Ghost Festival and offer it to the monks of the ten directions, so that his mother could be liberated.This day is called "Menglan Basin Meeting" ("Menglan Basin" is a Sanskrit transliteration, which means "rescue the upside down"). Dojos are set up, ghost sheds are set up, scriptures are read, flames are set, river lanterns are lit, and decorations are arranged. On both sides of the strait, there are thousands.There are tens of thousands of floating lights in Taiye Pool, as bright as stars.In the early Qing Dynasty, eunuchs were sent to cut their hair to become monks in the temple, and they burned incense to worship Buddha.Emperor Shunzhi often went to Wanshan Hall to talk with Han Pucong, Yulinxiu, Mu Chenmin, Xisen, etc. all night long, discussing scriptures and Zen.The story of Emperor Shunzhi shaving his hair happened here.There is a pavilion in the west of the hall, called Shuiyun Pavilion.In the middle of the pavilion stands the stele "Taiye Autumn Wind" written by Emperor Qianlong, which is one of the eight scenic spots in Yanjing.In addition to the "Taiye Autumn Breeze" and "Qiongdao Spring Yin" in Xiyuan, the Eight Views of Yanjing also include "Lugou Xiaoyue", "Jintai Sunset", "Jimen Smoke Tree", "Xishan Qingxue", "Yuquan Baotu" and "Juyong emerald".Looking south from today's Beihai Bridge, you can see it.

Bingxi is an ice skating performance.Xiyuan Bingxi has existed in the Ming Dynasty and became more popular in the Qing Dynasty.The army set up a special "ice boot battalion".When the emperor watched the ice play, colorful sheds were set up around the Taiyechi ice rink, colorful flags and lanterns were hung.During the performance, there are 200 people in each of the Eight Banners, a total of 1,600 people, divided into two teams: one team leader wears red jackets, and the players wear red vests; the other team leader wears yellow jackets, and the players wear yellow vests.The team members have small flags of different flag colors on their backs, leather knee pads wrapped around their knees, and leather boots with ice skates on their feet.Three colored gates are set up on the ice rink, and the two teams pass through the gates respectively, forming two large circles in the shape of clouds, sliding fast and spectacular.The skates at that time were made by inlaying copper strips or steel sheets under the wooden boards and tying them under the shoes.There are single pole and double pole.There are five main skating events: one is speed skating, including flat bend style, big bend style, big outer edge style, and ice running style.Emperor Qianlong described skating as fast as "Liezi controls the wind" and "Kuafu chases the sun".The second is figure skating, such as "Big Scorpion", "Golden Rooster Standing Alone", "Nezha Exploring the Sea", "Kite Turning Over", "Fairy Monkey Presenting Peach" and other postures, as well as the pair skating "Shuangfeiyan".The third is acrobatic skating, including flying forks, juggling knives, playing flags, edge poles, using sticks, handstands, and stacking arhats.The fourth is ice skating and archery, which is colorful and has extraordinary skills.The fifth is the ice hockey performance: "Crowd bows on the ice, the emperor also watched it, and Gai Shangwu also." ("Ji Sheng at the age of the emperor") Sometimes the emperor sat on the ice bed, and the eunuchs dragged the ice bed to play on the ice.The line in the imperial poem "The sound of the ice bed crosses the long lake, and people on the far shore seem to be drawing pictures" is the description of this scene.

The "Ice Play" (now in the Palace Museum) by the court painter of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty vividly reflects the grand occasion of "Bing Play" in the court. In the fourteenth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1888), Xiyuan had two sparks of modern technology: one was to build the Xiyuan Electric Lamp Office with only 20 horsepower, and two years later it officially produced electricity for lighting. This was the first power plant established in Beijing , It was also the beginning of the adoption of electric lighting in the Qing Palace.The second is to build the Ziguangge Railway, starting from Yingxiu Gate of Zhonghai in the south, along the west coast of Zhonghai and Beihai, to Jingqingzhai (Jingxinzhai) station, with a total length of more than 2,300 meters.For a period of time, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu took a small train to Beihai Jingqingzhai (Jingxinzhai) every day after the Qinzheng Palace to rule.Because the Empress Dowager was afraid that the roar of the train would spoil the Feng Shui of the Forbidden City, the small train was pulled by a eunuch with a rope, and the eunuch held a guard of honor to open the way when driving.