When you come to the Forbidden City this holiday, when you pass the ticket gate security check, quickly through the Noon Gate doorway to the three halls of the time, there is no stopping, take a good look at the Noon Gate
The Forbidden City, thousands of doors and ten thousand households, the Noon Gate for the most.
Wulumen, the Forbidden City's south gate, is also the main gate of the Forbidden City. Directly south of the twenty-four directions in the afternoon, so the name "Wulumen".
Wulumon 35.6 meters high, more than the Forbidden City, the most important Hall of Supreme Harmony and a little higher it, see the first door of the Palace, the world's first door of the status.
13-meter-high red platform surrounded by three sides, the platform of the five towers towering, hipped corridor through. The main gate tower heavy eaves hipped roof, four slope five ridge; before and after the porch, building area of 1773.3 square meters. On both sides of the main gate and the east and west wings of the southern end of the city platform each has a heavy eaves, four corners of the roof of the queer, **** four, and the main gate, known as the five phoenix building. Five Phoenix Tower and connect the two wings of the Que Lou hipped corridor as one, towering staggered, want to rise to fly, so it is also known as the wild goose wing building.
The gate in the middle of the doorway on both sides of the bright corridor, the placement of bells and drums. The emperor worship altar of the Gods, the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of the First Farmer out of the noon gate, the gate tower on the bell; worship temple out of the noon gate, the gate tower on the drum; palace held major events, the emperor ascended to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the gate tower on the bells and drums are ringing.
When standing in front of the noon gate of nearly 10,000 square meters of concave plaza, looking up at the city buildings, as if the face is not the emperor's palace, but the city passes, and therefore, the noon gate into the dedication of the captives.
The Ming Wanli Emperor four times in the Wumen to dedicate the ceremony, the Kangxi, Yongqian three dynasties to the Daoguang dynasty has been held many times in the Wumen to dedicate the ceremony, only the Qianlong Emperor held four times.
Built the Noon Gate into the world's majestic posture, the most suitable for such a ceremony: when the Noon Gate is set up on the floor of the Royal Seat, open the yellow cover, a huge lineup of halogen books set up in the city under the platform, princes and ministers, civil and military officials are divided into service, the emperor's dragon robe and gun suit by moped out of the inner palace, ascending the Royal Seat, the bells and drums ringing, the Ministry of the Army will lead the prisoners of war kneel down, the Ministry of the Army, the minister of the Ministry of the Army, played: pacify a certain place, the situation of how the battle, the prisoners of war, a few, would like to dedicate the section! I would like to present the section, please decree. To the emperor's decree, or by the Ministry of Justice or amnesty release, so the prisoners of war kowtowed to thank you, the princes and officials salute, the sound of music, a good look of the world's momentum.
To enter the Forbidden City, it is necessary to first pass through the doorway of the Noon Gate, you went to the Forbidden City so many times, really have a good look at it? Have you ever found it has any special features?
If you pass the checkpoint, standing at the entrance to the Noon Gate, you will find that the doorway is square, and through the doorway, towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony looking back at the exit of the doorway, the shape of the doorway into a rounded arch, is not it a heavenly place? The symbolism of the circle of heaven and earth is reflected in the design of the doorway of the Noon Gate without a trace, outside is the ground, inside is the sky.
It is such a seemingly unintentional design, so that people visiting the inevitable produce some doubt, I saw, I was about to go into the, in the end, is the sky on earth? Or is it heaven on earth? When you go through the doorway, to the open and empty square in front of the Taihe Gate, suddenly have a feeling of heavenly palace.
There are five doorways opened under the city platform of the 午门. What people go what door, there is a strict hierarchical restrictions. Civilian and military ministers go in and out of the east side of the doorway, the royal family clan princes go to the west side of the doorway. Where the great dynasties, officials according to the civil east and military west from both sides of the tuck door doorway. The middle of the doorway, naturally, is the emperor's special channel, but in the emperor's wedding, the empress can go through once, there is a temple examination of the top three of the scholar, the top, flower, from the palace out of the middle of the doorway can go. I think when these three through the emperor's special doorway, must be high and mighty, after all, this special honor, but even the Prince of the heavy ministers do not have the opportunity to get.
So it can be understood why the emperor Jiajing, who came to the capital as a vassal, refused to enter the palace from the East China Gate, but insisted on entering the palace by the Wu Gate, and went straight to Fengtianmen to show that the name is right.
The noon gate, not only is the emperors show off their victorious achievements, but also to punish those who go against the holy will of the place. But we often hear in costume dramas, "push out the noon gate beheading", in fact, in the history of the Forbidden City does not have such an example.
During the Ming Dynasty, outside the Noon Gate was used as a venue for the execution of the court cane. The court cane is the emperor punished ministers of a very cruel punishment, both insulting the heart and pain in the flesh, or cane after the death of a few people.
Ming Yongle nineteen years (1421), less than a year after the completion of the Fengtian, Huagai, the three main halls were destroyed by lightning. Some of the ministers who were dissatisfied with Zhu Di's move to Beijing took this opportunity to speak out, believing that this was a warning from heaven, and demanded that the capital be returned to Nanjing. So the ministers who support the relocation of the ministers and the ministers of the request for the return of the capital of the quarrel is not open, the anger of Zhu Di, even came up with a penalty for the two sides kneeling outside the Noon Gate debate on the loss of tactics.
Zhengde fourteen years (1519), "play with the phoenix" of the Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, due to the many officials to block the joint oversight of its tour hunting, so angry, punished 146 ministers kneeling during the day at the gate of the afternoon, the night lock the prison, and then five days later, outside the gate of the court caning, caning eleven people dead on the spot.
Unlike the two above, the Kangxi Emperor will be outside the noon gate into a "debate ground". Kangxi seven years (1668) in the fall, advocating the use of the Western calendar, the Belgian missionary Nanhuairen, pointed out that the opposition to change the traditional calendar Yang Guangxian, Wu Mingxuan made the Kangxi calendar book of all kinds of fallacies. The next year, the 15-year-old Kangxi, in order to resolve the dispute between the Chinese and Western calendars since the end of the Ming Dynasty, let Nan Huairen and Yang Guangxian, Wu Mingxuan successively in the square outside the Noon Gate and the Observatory, in the presence of princes and ministers of the face of their own calculations, verification of celestial phenomena. As a result, "and Nanhuairen referred to each paragraph are consistent", the Kangxi Emperor then appointed Nanhuairen as the supervisor of the Chintian Supervision Deputy, and ordered the use of the new calendar of the East and the West.
The promulgation of the calendar was a major event in ancient times, and in the Qing Dynasty, a ceremony to promulgate the calendar for the second year was held at the Noon Gate on the first day of the tenth month of every year, known as the Shuo ceremony. Before the ceremony, officials of the Qin Tian Supervision calculated the second year's solstice, stipulated the daily taboos, and made the calendar called "the book of the calendar", the book of the time through the noon gate held in front of the promulgation of the Shuo ceremony to promulgate the world to comply with the implementation.
The day of the award, the ceremony is quite grand, "Qing Dynasty Regulations" Volume 1104: (Chintian Supervision) Supervisors set up a yellow case two in the middle of the Taihe Gate, yellow case two in the middle of the outside of the Noon Gate, the red case eight in the outside of the Noon Gate on both sides. Ministry of Public Works set up a Dragon Pavilion in the Supervision Department (Chintian Supervision Yamen) Hall in the center, the Yellow Pavilion eight on both sides of the Hall. And set up eighty red case in two corridors. Supervisors rate belongs to the court dress, respectfully into the Emperor, Empress, Royal Princess, Princess, Concubine, concubines, "the Book of the Times Constitution", placed in the Dragon Pavilion. Princes and Ministers, "the Book of the Constitution", placed in the Yellow Pavilion. Eight banners of the Yamen officials, "the Book of the Constitution", placed in the two corridors on the red case. In front of the Dragon Pavilion in a kneeling and three kowtow ritual lieutenant lift (yú) Pavilion, the Royal Warriors guide, the Ministry of Music and the Department of Music, the three section of the official guide, the Hall of Officials with the rear. From Chang'an, the left gate into the middle gate, to the front of the Noon Gate. Supervisors from the pavilion respectfully submitted to the "Book of the Times Constitution", set on the yellow case. Awarded to the princes and ministers of the "Book of the Constitution", set up on the red case. The captain removed the pavilion on both sides. Supervisor of the book from the noon gate into the door, to the door of Taihe, set up on the yellow case, the official line three kneeling and nine kowtow, authorized the Ministry of the Interior official respectfully submitted. Exit. Public officials lined up in front of the Noon Gate, Honglu Temple officials praised the guide. Xuan system salute. Wang Gong the following kneeling collar such as rituals.
After the completion of the noon gate, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di announced that every year in the first month of the Festival of Lights, civil and military officials and the people of the capital can be in front of the Noon Gate to view the lights. So, the noon gate upstairs lights and colors, Zhu Di gives banquet civil and military officials. Outside the Noon Gate, hundreds of colored lanterns stacked into a mountain, up to 13 layers, shaped like ao, so called the ao mountain lights. The people set off fireworks, watching the lights for three days. In addition to the Ao Shan lights, there is music, song and dance. In front of the noon gate, hundreds of actors and actresses playing music, a hundred art group performance, the atmosphere is warm, noisy and unusual. To the second shift, the Yongle Emperor in a small sedan chair, out of the Qianqing Palace, to the Noon Gate to view the Ao Shan lights, the Empress, concubines, eunuchs and ministers followed, when the pianoforte and song, Kabuki dance and dance, bright lights, firecrackers, the culmination of activities to see the lights. Later, the emperor returned to the palace, the public people, as if the tide, in all directions, crowded to the Noon Gate, watching the Ao Shan lights, **** degree Lantern Festival.
However, the good times do not last long, Yongle thirteen years (1415) because the audience is too much, overcrowded, crowded Ao Shan, triggering a fire, many deaths and injuries, this activity also had to stop.
The Dragon Boat Festival also has activities at the Noon Gate. The Ming Dynasty people Lu Rong recorded: Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor in the Wumen outside the banquet for the hundred officials, the imperial food dumplings and other pastries, but also a symbolic gift of two cups of wine. After eating rice dumplings, drink wine, low-grade officials exit, the higher level of civil and military ministers to accompany the driving to Banzai Mountain (i.e., Jingshan), to watch the martial arts ministers shooting willow; finished, the emperor also accompanied his mother to the West Garden (now the South China Sea, the North China Sea), the view of the Dragon Boat, firecrackers. Since the late Jiajing, the Dragon Boat Festival of the Noon Gate gives feast, was canceled.
Today's National Museum, located on the east side of Tiananmen Square, first appeared in front of the world, is in the Noon Gate citadel.
In 1912, the establishment of the Republic of China, the State Council in June decided to change the National Palace of China for the Museum of History, in 1917, because of the remoteness of the National Palace of China, the narrowness of the house, the Ministry of Education proposed to use the Forbidden City, Wu Men Building as the capital library, the Duanmen Building as the Museum of History. Later, due to lack of funds, the Ministry of Education stopped the relocation of the National Library and designated the area around Duanmen and Wumen as the preparatory office of the National Museum of History, which was moved in separately. Preparatory Office moved into the Wumen, the Wumen Tower and the two wings of the Queer Tower for the showroom, the Wumen Tower under the east and west hipped three as the office, the east and west rooms as a storeroom, the Duanmen Tower storage of heavy, large artifacts. A total of 57,375 pieces of cultural relics, to 1924, the collection has reached more than 200,000 pieces.
In November 1920, the National Museum of History was officially established. However, it was not until October 10, 1926 that it was officially opened.
On this day, ten showrooms were opened on the Noon Gate Citadel, four in the main building, and three in each of the east and west long hips. Ten showrooms, "one for the sale of storage, two for the gold and jade, three for the carving of stone, four for the education of Bo products, five for the Ming and Qing dynasty archives, the State Council of the old stock of cultural relics, Ming ware, model, six for the acupuncture bronze, miscellaneous and send Chen cultural relics, seven for the military, criminal weapons, eight for the excavation of cultural relics, nine for the model icons, ten for the international souvenir".
According to the archives: the Museum opened during the daily number of visitors to the comparative table (Republic of China 15 years from October 10 to November 7) records, four weeks after the opening of the Museum, the total number of visitors amounted to 185,714 people; October 10, the first day of the number of visitors to the 45,020 people, then the "Forbidden City fever", by no means inferior to today's ah!
If you're not sure what you're looking for, you'll be able to find it.
If you have been to the Forbidden City, you may want to turn out the photos and then carefully reminisce about it, if you have not come, you may want to take a good look at her next time you come.