Chapter 15 Lecture 04 Fengxiang at the Meridian Gate

The Meridian Gate faces south from the north, with the left and right city walls protruding forward, and the plane is in the shape of "concave".On the high platform, there are five gate towers - the main building in the middle, nine rooms, and double eaves; two towers stand in the east and west, corresponding to each other.The main building is like the body of a phoenix, the pavilion is like the wings of a phoenix, and it looks like a phoenix spreading its wings. It is majestic and majestic, so it is also called Wufeng Tower. The functions of the Meridian Gate are diverse, such as:

(1) There are five door openings for entering and exiting the Meridian Gate, and there are three door openings on the front.The main entrance in the front, only the emperor can enter and exit.The queen can walk once when she is married and enters the palace.The champion, second place, and Tanhua in the palace examination can also walk once when they come out.Others, such as princes, prime ministers, concubines, princesses, princes, grandsons, dignitaries, and eunuchs, do not have this kind of treatment and can only go through two side doors.Other civil and military officials can only go through two tuck doors—the two tuck doors are opened on the bases on both sides, which cannot be seen from the front, but can be seen from the back.That is to say, the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City has three openings from the front and five openings from the back.When you visit the Forbidden City, you can pay attention to observe it from the front and back.The gates on both sides of the Meridian Gate are usually not open, and only open on the days of the Great Dynasty—civilian officials go through the east gate, and military officials go through the west gate.

(2) Government affairs The officials of the Ming Dynasty who participated in the imperial gate to listen to the government gathered in front of the Meridian Gate every day before the fifth shift, and other officials sat in front of the Meridian Gate on the fifth day of each month; There are officials from six ministries and six departments working or on duty inside.In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's "court stick" to punish ministers was mostly carried out in front of the Meridian Gate. (3) Etiquette For a major congratulatory gift from the imperial court, officials should pay homage at the Meridian Gate.When the emperor holds court meetings or sacrifices, as well as major festivals such as New Year's Day (Spring Festival), Winter Solstice, Longevity (Emperor's Birthday), and weddings, a guard of honor must be displayed at the Meridian Gate.The Qing Dynasty stipulated that every year on the first day of October (the first day of the new year), a ceremony for issuing almanacs would be held at the Meridian Gate, which was called the "Ceremony of Distributing Shuo".

(4) For foreign affairs, the envoys of Korea, Annan (Vietnam), Siam (Thailand), and Ryukyu paid tribute, and the gifts were presented to the emperor in front of the Meridian Gate by officials of the Ministry of Rites; the emperor's rewards to the envoys were also received in front of the Meridian Gate.After the event, the envoys can also look at the Meridian Gate to appreciate the might of the emperor. (5) Defensive doors have a defensive function.In addition to the general defense function, the Meridian Gate also has the function of preventing floods. For example, in June of the 33rd year of Jiajing (1554) and in June of the 35th year of Wanli (1607), the heavy rain in Beijing caused the depth of water in front of the Meridian Gate It was more than one foot, so the morning door was closed to prevent the accumulated water from overflowing into the palace.

(6) Other Meridian Gate towers also serve as warehouses, such as the woodcut sutra panels used to store the "Manchu Tripitaka" in the Qing Dynasty.Temporary activities, such as Tang Ruowang and Yang Guangxian in the early Qing Dynasty, who were in dispute over astronomy and calendar, ordered the two to observe the sun shadow in front of the Meridian Gate, and the scholars and ministers inspected it.In front of the Meridian Gate, it is sometimes an important royal and folk festival and entertainment place.There are two stories to tell here. The first one is the story of the Lantern Festival.During the reign of Yongle, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ordered to put up "Aoshan Longevity Lantern" outside the Meridian Gate to have fun with the people.Ao is a big turtle in the sea in the legend, or a big turtle.Li Bai's poem "Walking of the Tiger" said: "The sea is moving, the fish and dragons run peacefully." Aoshan Lantern, a huge lantern scene in the ancient Lantern Festival, is to stack colorful lanterns into a mountain, like a giant in the legend. The shape of Ao, so it is called Aoshan Lantern.Chapter 33: "Let's say that in Qingfengzhai Town, the residents discussed lighting up lanterns to celebrate the Lantern Festival. Ke collected money and goods, and went to the land king's temple to tie up a small Ao Mountain, with colorful hanging flowers on it, and five or seven hundred Bowl lantern." This is Shi Naian's image description of Aoshan lantern.The "Long Live Aoshan Lantern" in Yongle is to stack thousands of colored lanterns into a mountain shape, more than ten stories high, shaped like Aoshan Mountain, with red, yellow, blue, white, green, purple, blue and other colors. Ligated into lamps, colorful, dazzling for all to watch.

In addition to Aoshan lanterns, there are also music, singing and dancing.In front of the Meridian Gate, hundreds of actors and officials played music, and a group of artists performed. The atmosphere was warm and noisy.At the second watch, Emperor Yongle came out of the Qianqing Palace in a small sedan chair and went to the Meridian Gate to watch the Aoshan Lantern. The queen, concubines, eunuchs and ministers followed. The lantern viewing activity reached its climax.Afterwards, when the emperor returned to the palace, the citizens, like the tide, flocked to the Meridian Gate in all directions to watch the lights of Aoshan and celebrate the Lantern Festival together.

According to the records of "Huangming Tongji": "In the tenth year of Yongle (1412), the Lantern Festival on the first month was given to all officials. Banquets were given, and the subjects went to the Meridian Gate to watch Aoshan Mountain for three days. It is normal for the age." That is to say, from Yongle Beginning ten years ago, residents of the capital, during the Lantern Festival, went to the Meridian Gate to watch the lights for three consecutive days.Of course, the Meridian Gate mentioned here should be the Meridian Gate of Nanjing Palace City in Ming Dynasty, but after the Beijing Palace City was completed and opened, this palace custom was continued.However, in the Qing Dynasty, ordinary people could not go to the Meridian Gate to watch lanterns.The Lantern Festival is a lively festival throughout the year in Beijing. Citizens set up pine sheds, decorate colorful mantles, hang colored lanterns, set off firecrackers, and put lights on for ten days and nights.Today, "Dengshikou" in Dongcheng District, Beijing is a place for citizens to buy and view lanterns.The place name of Dengshikou comes from the Lantern Festival.

The second is the story of the Dragon Boat Festival.There are also activities at the Meridian Gate during the Dragon Boat Festival.Lu Rong of the Ming Dynasty recorded: On the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor entertained all officials outside the Meridian Gate, and gave food such as rice dumplings and other pastries, and also symbolically bestowed two glasses of wine.After eating zongzi and drinking wine, low-ranking officials withdrew, and higher-ranking civil and military ministers would accompany them to Longsui Mountain (commonly known as Meishan) or Jingshan Mountain to watch military officials shoot willows.After viewing Sheliu, the emperor accompanied his mother to Xiyuan (now Zhongnanhai and Beihai), visited the inner lake, watched dragon boats, and set off firecrackers. (Volume 1 of "Shu Garden Miscellaneous Notes") Later, the emperor ordered a ban on fireworks.Emperor Zhengde started the Dragon Boat Festival Banquet.Since the late Jiajing period, the Wumen banquet on the Dragon Boat Festival has been cancelled.

The above tells the joyful story in front of the Meridian Gate, and the following tells the tragedy of the court stick in front of the Meridian Gate.