Chapter 27 Lecture 08

The Hall of Central Harmony is different from the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and has its own characteristics—square, single eaves, four-cornered cuan tips, gilded dome, "like a hallway", and a pavilion-like building. Its characteristics are : First, the square dome.When we look at the Hall of Central Harmony, the most intuitive impression is: the canopy is covered with a golden roof, and the architecture is special.That is to say, the architectural form of Zhonghe Hall is square in plane and golden round on the top of the hall, which means "the sky is round and the earth is round".There are 3 vertical and horizontal rooms in the hall, totaling 9 rooms, which conforms to the regulation of "Mingtang Nine Rooms" in the book "The Book of Rites of Da Dai" compiled by Dai De in the Western Han Dynasty.The roof of the hall is not a double eaves, but a single eaves, with pointed corners. The roof is covered with yellow glazed tiles, and the center is a gilt copper crown.Most of the Forbidden City halls are rectangular in plane, such as the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the Hall of Wenhua, the Hall of Wuying, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation. There are only two exceptions - the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Jiaotai. This shows the similarity in the architectural form of the three main halls in the outer dynasty.

Second, the doors and windows on all sides.There are corridors on all sides of the Zhonghe Hall. There are no walls, but doors and windows are all set up.In front of each gate, there are stone steps, one for the east and west (steps), three steps for the north and south (steps), and a royal road with embossed clouds and dragons in the middle.There are 12 doors on the south side and 4 doors on the east, north and west sides, 24 doors in total.In the center of the temple, a throne is set. Third, it is small and exquisite.Although the Zhonghe Hall is small in size, it is small and exquisite.According to records: "There are five corridors in the Hall of Zhonghe, six feet five feet seven inches wide, all sides are the same, and four feet eight feet high." The floor is paved with gold bricks, magnificent.The eaves of the Zhonghe Hall are all decorated with golden dragon and seal paintings.The building area of ​​the Hall of Central Harmony is 580 square meters, and its building height, east-west width, and total area are equivalent to nearly a quarter of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Here, I will talk about an optical singularity in the Hall of Central Harmony.Ji Xiaolan records: There is an Erlang Temple in the east of Dengshikou, Dongcheng, Beijing. The temple sits east and faces west.Someone explained: This may be because the foundation and coordinates of the Erlang Temple are equivalent to the east and west of the Hall of Zhonghe. The fire beads on the gilded treasure top of the Hall of Zhonghe reflected the sun and reflected back into the temple room. Why is the architectural form of the Hall of Central Harmony special?I think there are three main reasons: One is the space factor.The distance from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the Hall of Preserving Harmony is about 84 meters, and the distance from the north steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the south steps of the Hall of Zhonghe is only 29.3 meters. It is a bit crowded to build a small square hall in the middle. Where is there room to build a huge one? What about the Hall of Central Harmony?

The second is the aesthetic factor.Architectural aesthetics emphasizes changes, ups and downs, alternate sizes, and avoids similarities.In the middle of the two rectangular halls, a small square hall is built, which is neither identical nor rigid, and can also echo the Jiaotai Hall of the Housan Palace. It is most suitable for building a square dome hall that conforms to architectural aesthetics. The third is the philosophical factor.Building a small square hall between the two main halls of Taihe and Baohe not only keeps the Hall of Zhonghe in harmony and balance between the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Baohe, but also maintains harmony between the three halls of the outer court and the three palaces of the inner court. Maintain harmony and balance, and then embody the Confucian concept of "neutralization".

Therefore, the building of the Hall of Zhonghe with a "square dome" not only has the function of practical use, but also reflects the beauty of architectural art, shows the wisdom of architects, and embodies the Confucian concept of neutrality.