Chapter 12 Lecture 03 Weather in front of the palace

Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) is majestic and magnificent.From the architectural point of view, the tall and magnificent Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) comes from six measures: first, the lowest part is a 1.6-meter-high white marble xumizuo; The third is that the city tower is supported by 60 vermilion giant pillars, nine rooms wide from east to west, and five rooms deep from north to south, taking the meaning of "Ninth Five-Year, flying dragon in the sky" in "Book of Changes", symbolizing the "Ninth Five-Year Zun" of imperial power; The fourth is that it is decorated with colorful paintings; the fifth is that the roof has double eaves and yellow glazed tiles; the sixth is that there is a dragon kiss on the top.In this way, the pedestal, tower, giant pillar, high-rise building, temple roof, and dragon kiss of Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) are heightened layer by layer, rising one after another, reaching a height of 33.7 meters, which is equivalent to the height of a 12-story building.In addition, the Waijinshui River in front of the building flows slowly under the bridge. Looking down at the green water and looking up at the roof, it seemed to people in ancient times that it was connected with the sky.Chengtianmen (Tian'anmen), which is both the main gate of the imperial city and the first gate of the palace city, has green water and white bridges, red walls and Zhuzhu pillars, painted yellow tiles, blue sky and white clouds, layers of colors, changing step by step, moving and moving. Tranquility, splendor and splendor——at present, people will have endless reveries and endless emotions no matter they stand on the Tiananmen Gate and look up, or stand on the Tiananmen Gate and look down!After nearly 600 years of historical vicissitudes, Tiananmen is still a pearl of Chinese culture.

Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) is heavily guarded and heavily guarded.On the Jinshui River in front of Chengtianmen (Tiananmen), there are seven white marble Hongqiao Bridges, called the Outer Jinshui Bridge (the Inner Jinshui Bridge is in front of Taihe Gate).The bridge in the middle is slightly wider, with a dragon carved on the column head of the railing, and the bridge deck only allows the emperor to pass through, commonly known as "Yulu Bridge"; the left and right bridges have lotus carved on the column head of the railing, and the bridge deck only allows princes to pass through, commonly known as "Prince Bridge"; The bridges on both sides are only allowed to pass by ministers of civil and military affairs above the third rank, commonly known as "grade bridges".

In front of the Jinshui Bridge outside Chengtianmen (Tiananmen), stone lions and Chinese watches are decorated.There are a pair of Huabiao at the front and back of Chengtianmen (Tiananmen).The more than ten-meter-high Huabiao is engraved with clouds and panlongs, and a stone beast is carved on each top, named Hou (hou), commonly known as "Wangtianhou".The Huabiao on the north side of the gate, with Shi Jie facing the imperial palace, is commonly known as "Wang Jun Chu".Here is an ancient legend: when the emperor lived in seclusion and went out to have sex day and night, the two stones behind the door said: "My lord, don't stay in the palace for a long time, come out and see the suffering of the people!" It's called "Wang Jun Chu".When the emperor went out for a long time and fortunately did not return, the two stones in front of the door said: "My lord, don't wander around for a long time, come back and manage the state affairs by yourself!" So people named it "Wang Wang". Your return." The ancient legends of the two pairs of Huabiao, "Looking out for the king" and "Wang for the king's return", reflect the good wishes of the court and the people to look forward to the Mingjun's governance.

Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) is the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties held the golden phoenix ceremony.When the emperor issued the edict, he put the edict into the Dragon Pavilion, guided by the imperial guard, and lifted it from the Fengtian Hall (Huangji Hall, Taihe Hall) to the city tower.The officials of the Ministry of Rites read the imperial edict on the tower of Chengtianmen (Tiananmen), because it is high and "sacred", it sounds like the voice of heaven.Civil and military officials stood and listened at the south of Waijinshui Bridge, kneeling three times and knocking nine times.Then the official of ceremonies held the imperial edict with a golden wooden "golden phoenix", slowly lowered it from the tower, and landed on the cloud plate on which the official of ceremonies knelt, then put the imperial edict into the Dragon Pavilion, sent it to the Ministry of Rites, and copied and printed it. , Announce the world.This is called "the edict issued by the golden phoenix", which shows the supremacy of the imperial power and the supremacy of the monarchy.

In the Guangxu period, the Qing Dynasty was about to run out, and chaos arose in front of Tiananmen Square.A censor said: When the Golden Phoenix Issuing Ceremony was held in Tiananmen Square, some officials did not wear official uniforms, and some officials made arbitrarily loud noises with servants in "cloth (shu) brown"; In front of the duty room, there were even officials sitting cross-legged, ignoring the edict issuing ceremony, it was nothing serious! (Volume 266 of "Records of Emperor Dezong of the Qing Dynasty") Although Emperor Guangxu issued an edict to investigate and deal with officials on duty, it could not boost the increasingly slack court.However, a generation later, the Qing Dynasty was wiped out, and the golden phoenix in Tiananmen Square issued an edict, which has since become a thing of the past.

Many past events happened in front of Chengtianmen (Tiananmen). I will tell two stories. first story.During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the country's power declined day by day.One day, during the incident, Wu Tingpu was surprised to find that there were only two people on duty in the majestic Tiananmen Square, and these two people were "lying naked", lying on the ground with their clothes uncovered!He hurried to play, and the emperor immediately ordered a strict investigation of the officers and soldiers on duty. (Vol. 95 of "Records of Emperor Wenzong of the Qing Dynasty") However, history left little time for Emperor Xianfeng to rectify the order and get stronger.Three years later, another seemingly majestic but sad event happened.

second story.The British and French allied forces invaded Beijing, and Emperor Xianfeng fled north to Rehe, leaving minister Jia Zhen and others to stick to it.Jia Zhen, a native of Huang County (now Longkou City), Shandong Province, was a Bachelor of Tiren Pavilion and a Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy at the time. He also managed the Ministry of War and served as the Minister of Defense of the capital.He "sits on Tiananmen Square every day, preventing foreign troops from entering." ("Manuscripts of Qing History·Jia Zhen Biography" volume 390) He sits in front of Tiananmen every day to prevent the invading army from entering the palace through Tiananmen.Later, he held talks with the invading army, and he was generous and unyielding, and his integrity was touching.It's a pity that Jia Zhen's resistance can't change the fact that the imperial capital has fallen; the glory of Tiananmen Square can't cover up the white light of the coalition bayonets.

Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) not only witnessed the two glory of Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also witnessed the two elegiac songs of Ming and Qing Dynasties.What is the history of Daming Gate (Daqing Gate) in the south of it?