Chapter 22 Two and four burned

The majestic hall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony has been repeatedly burned and burned down. There are four main reasons for its grandeur. The first time: On the first day of the first lunar month in the 19th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1421), a grand court meeting was held in Fengtian Hall (Hall of Supreme Harmony) to celebrate the official opening of the Beijing Palace. "Blessings come, misfortunes come and fall" - this famous philosophical saying of Lao Tzu has been tried and tested.Just when Emperor Yongle was elated and full of ambition, an expert said something that made him doubtful.

The thing is like this: Emperor Yongle summoned Dr. Hu Yu (yun), the doctor who supervised the time of Qintian, and asked him to divination the auspiciousness of the three halls.After Hu Xie was ordered to do the divination, she knelt down and said: "At noon on a certain day of a certain year, the three halls will be destroyed!" The temple will be destroyed by fire.The noon mentioned here refers to 11:00 to 13:00, and noon is exactly 12:00.Emperor Yong Le was furious after hearing this, and ordered Dr. Hu to be imprisoned.Why didn't he kill him right away?What Emperor Yong Le meant was: when the time comes, the three halls will be safe and sound, and it will not be too late to kill them.After the first month, February, and March, the three halls are safe and sound!On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, Emperor Yong Le waited quietly for the noon.The time-telling official reported: It is noon!Emperor Yong Le was both happy and angry - he was happy that the three halls were safe and sound, while he was angry that Hu Xie was talking nonsense, disturbing the hearts of the officials, the army, the people, and my heart.At this time, the jailer reported: "There was no fire at noon, and Hu Xie died of poisoning in prison!"But just three quarters past noon, a report was received suddenly: Fengtian Temple was on fire due to a lightning strike!All three halls are on fire!Dr. Hu committed suicide in prison, and Emperor Yongle deeply regretted it. (Zhu Guozhen's "Song of Chung Building")

The second time: After the reconstruction of the three halls, on April 13th in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1557), a thunderstorm caught fire and the three halls were completely burned down.This is the second time that the three main halls have been destroyed by thunder and fire.Why were the three main halls destroyed by thunder and fire twice in a row?At that time, the ancients did not know the scientific knowledge of lightning rods. There were many thunderstorms in summer and autumn in Beijing, and the palace was a tall wooden structure. As a result, the palace was burned by thunder and fire many times.

The third time: On June 19th in the 25th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1597), Guiji Gate (Xihe Gate) caught fire, the fire spread, and the three halls were destroyed again.This time, the three halls were only used for 40 years in the Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli dynasties. The fourth time: On the third day of December in the eighteenth year of Kangxi (1679), there was a fire in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. (Volume 81 of "Records of the Holy Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty") This time the fire started in the imperial dining room, and the fire took advantage of the wind to turn the Jinluan Hall into scorched earth.The four persons in charge of the palace supervisor were hanged.This year, Wu Sangui's rebellion, the Beijing earthquake, and the fire in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.But this time the fire in the Hall of Supreme Harmony had an unexpected harvest, which will be explained later.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Beijing Imperial Palace was burned down four times in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.This is because: first, mainly wooden structures are flammable; second, tall buildings are prone to lightning fires; third, there is no scientific knowledge of lightning rods; fourth, human factors, accidental fire, extended to the hall; fifth, Fire fighting equipment cannot be matched.Therefore, once there is a fire, it will burn without leaving a trace.The tall and majestic Hall of Supreme Harmony was time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly to build.Because it was too expensive, it took many years to rebuild after each burn. As a result, at least three emperors in the Ming Dynasty never saw Fengtian Hall (Huangji Hall) intact in their entire lives.

How to prevent fire at that time?The imperial court adopted measures such as changing the name of the hall, worshiping the god of fire, offering sacrifices to the god of water, and installing water tanks. First, change the name of the hall.At that time, people believed that since the thunder and fire came from the sky, they looked for the reason from the word "Heaven"-the ministers found the reason from the plaque of "Fengtian Temple".After the restoration of the three halls, should the plaques be hung vertically or horizontally?This was not a big problem at first, but it became a big problem in the court at that time.why?Because there are two opinions: one opinion advocates hanging a horizontal plaque, and the reason is that it turned out to be a vertical plaque with the words "Fengtian Temple" on it, with the word "Feng" on top, and the word "Tian" covered by the word "Feng". Live, "Heaven" did not show his head, offended the sky, and the sky gave a warning, so the two heavenly fires burned down the three halls.And when the horizontal plaque is hung, the word "Tian" is in the middle, and the middle is big.Another opinion holds that although the word "Tian" is in the middle, the word "Feng" is still in front, and proposes: "The word 'Tian' is in the middle and rises above, and the characters 'Feng' and 'Dian' are slightly lower and opposite to each other. After hearing this, Emperor Jiajing thought that although the word "Heaven" was highlighted on the horizontal plaque, the words "Feng" and "Dian" were written next to each other, which was very unsightly.So what to do?Someone put forward a brilliant idea: take the word "Huangji" in "Shangshu·Hong Fan", "Huangji, Huangjian has its own pole", "Weihuang Zuoji", and change the name of Fengtian Temple to Huangji Hall, with "Huangji Temple" on the plaque. The three characters "Huangji Hall" are written on a vertical plaque.In this way, the word "Huang" is on the top, and the emperor is the son of heaven, so it is logical.In the end, Emperor Jiajing decided to change the name of "Fengtian Hall" to "Huangji Hall", and the plaques of the hall are "the same as before". (Volume 513 of "Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty") is still using a vertical plaque to write "Huangji Hall" vertically from top to bottom.Although the dispute over the name of the temple and the plaque has been finalized, the fire remains.

Second, offering sacrifices to the god of fire.Located in Shichahai, the Fire God Temple, whose full name is "Huode Zhenjun Temple", has a long history.During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the gray tiles on the roof of the hall were changed to green glazed tiles in order to express respect for "True Lord Huode".It is said that Vulcan's birthday is on June 23rd, so in the first year of Qi (1621) tomorrow, June 22nd is designated as the day for worshiping Vulcan.On this day, the palace will send people to sacrifice to the god of fire.Whenever there is a fire in the palace, ministers are also appointed to come here to report the disaster and ask the god of fire to bless the safety.During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Temple of Fire was rebuilt, and yellow glazed tiles were laid on the top of the mountain gate and the back pavilion.Empress Dowager Cixi went to this fire temple to offer incense after the fire at Taihe Gate in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888), and begged for the blessing of the fire god.Empress Dowager Cixi came to burn incense in person, which was the highest courtesy for this small temple.This fire temple is well preserved to this day.

Third, offering sacrifices to the water god.The Hall of Supreme Harmony was hit by a fire, and people worshiped both the god of fire and the god of water.The water god, Xuanwu God, is enshrined in the palace, and it is located in the Qin'an Palace in the Imperial Garden.According to legend, Xuanwu God is the god of Tai Chi in the north. Among the five elements, the north belongs to water, so Xuanwu God is the god of water.In fact, the horned dragon and Xingshi decorated on the corners of the eaves of the Hall of Supreme Harmony also have the meaning of protecting the hall from lightning and fire.

Fourth, secure the water tank.There are 308 large and small water tanks placed in various places in the Forbidden City, and there are currently 231 tanks, called "Taiping tanks", which are used to store water and prevent fire.There are iron vats, copper ones, and copper gilt ones.Generally speaking, the iron cylinders were cast in the Ming Dynasty, the copper cylinders were from the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and the gilded copper cylinders were all from the Qing Dynasty.In winter, the tank is heated to prevent the tank water from freezing.The large cylinder is gorgeously carved and expensive.According to the records in "Zoupin File" during the Qianlong period, each gilt copper vat weighs about 1,696 kilograms, and the manufacturing cost of the copper vat alone costs more than 500 taels of silver, plus the 100 taels of gold covered outside the vat, the total cost is at least 1,500 taels of silver. two.There are 22 gilt copper vats in the Forbidden City, 18 of which are in existence, including 4 in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, they rushed into the Forbidden City, and the invaders even used bayonets to scrape off the gold on the vat.There are many knife marks, which can be seen so far, reminding people, don't forget the national humiliation!