The Summer Palace (1)The Summer Palace is located on the northwest outskirts of Beijing, about 20 kilometers away from the center of the city. It is the best-preserved imperial garden in the world and one of the largest of its kind in China.The Summer Palace mainly consists of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. It covers an area of over 290 hectares. The Longevity Hill covers an area about 70 hectares, while Kunming Lake is about 220 hectares. The peaks of the Western Hill and the pagoda on the Jade Spring Hill can be seen in the distance. This is a typical method in garden-building, known as “borrowing the scenery from a distance”.In 1961, the Summer Palace was listed as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation by the Chinese Government. And in 1998, it was listed as the world cultural heritage by UNESCO. This garden is famous in the world not only for its man-made architecture, but also for its scenic beauty of nature.Now let me tell you something about its history. The Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. In the Jin Dynasty, there was a small hill here. It was called Golden Hill, the Lake was called Golden Water Pond. In the Yuan Dynasty, the name of the hill was changed to the Jar Hill, because it was said that an old man had dug up a jar from the hill. And then the lake was called Jar Hill Pond. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was called West Lake. Later, Emperor Hongzhi, the 9th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, built Yuanjing Temple on the Jar Hill. Next year, the 10th Ming Emperor Zhengde changed the name of this area as the Wonderful Imperial Garden. During the Qing Emperor Qianlong’s reign, the famous “Three Hills and Five Gardens” were built or enlarged in the northwestern Beijing. The Summer Palace was one of them. It was called the Garden of Clear Ripples. In 1750, in order to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday, Emperor Qianlong ordered to have the Garden of Clear Ripples rebuilt. So Yuanjing Temple was taken down and then the Temple of Paying Great Gratitude for Longevity was built on the hill. Next year, Emperor Qianlong changed the name of the Jar Hill to Longevity Hill for his mother’s 60th birthday. And the lake was expanded, and it was renamed Kunming Lake, because Emperor Qianlong wanted to follow the example of Emperor Hanwu di who had trained his navy in kunming pool in changan.The whole construction project took 15 years to finish. And it was almost the most beautiful garden in the world. But unfortunately, in 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces invad ed Beijing, the “Three Hills and Five Gardens” were burnt down. In 1888,Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to rebuild the Garden of Clear Ripples and changed its name to the Summer Palace. In 1900, the Allied Forces of Eight Powers invaded Beijing, the Summer Palace was once again severely damaged. When Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing, she immediately ordered the garden rebuilt. The Summer Palace today is more or less the same as the one rebuilt in 1903. After the Qing dynasty was overthrown, this imperial garden was turned into a public park, and in 1928, it was officially opened to the public.Let’s start our visit from the East Palace Gate, which is the main entrance to the Summer Palace. The stone slab placed in the middle gateway was moved from Yuanmingyuan. The plaque above the middle gate is inscribed with 3 Chinese characters “The Summer Palace” in Emperor Guangxu’s handwriting. And there are two bronze lions on either side of the gate.Entering the East Palace Gate, we will see the Gate of Benev olence and Longevity. It’s the 2nd gate in the palace area. Inside the gate, there is a three-meter-high giant rock. This rock was from Taihu Lake in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. So it was called Taihu Rock. The bronze mythical animal behind the Taihu Rock is known as Bronze Qilin. It was believed to be one ofthe 9 sons of the dragon. This Bronze Qilin was originally placed in Yuanmingyuan, and was moved here later.Well, please look up the two pairs of incense burners in front of the hall. They are in the shape of a dragon and a phoenix. They were used to burn incense sticks during important ceremonies. The dragon and phoenix were the symbol of the emperor and empress. According to the feudal system, the dragons should be placed in the center while phoenixes were to either side. But, what you can see here is that the phoenixes are in the middle, with the dragons by its side. This is because Empress Dowager Cixi was in power at the end of Qing dynasty.Now, we are at the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, it was the place where Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi held the audience and handled state affairs when they were in the Summer Palace. The name of this hall was taken from a book named “Lunyu” Confucius doctrine, which means: those who are benevolent can enjoy a long life. Inside the hall we can see: the emperor’s throne, two big fans, a big plaque, incense burners and candlesticks and so on. Especially there are two scrolls on both side of the wall with a big Chinese character “Longevity” written by Empress Dowager Cixi. In the background of the scroll, there is the “100 bats holding the character Longevity”. It is very famous in China.To the north of this hall, there is a well. It is said that, Empress Dowager Cixi once took medicine with the wat er from this well. So it was called “Long Life Well”.The Garden of Virtuous Harmony lies northwest of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. It consists of the theater itself with two-story makeup tower and the Hall of Pleasure Smile. The Great Theater Building is a three-story structure. It is 21 meters high and 17 meters wide. Performances could be staged on three levels. The top one was a symbol of happiness, the middle was the emolument level, and the bottom stage was the longevity stage. Each level had an entrance and an exit. There were some trapdoors in the ceiling and below the floor for “celestial beings” to fly down from the sky and the “devils” to appear from the earth. The Hall of Pleasure Smile stands right opposite the great stage in a distance of less than 20 meters. Empress Dowager Cixi used to sit inside the hall to watch and enjoy the performances. Now, there are 7 exhibition rooms in this area.Behind the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity is the Hall of Jade Ripples. It was built in 1750. Qing Emperor Qianlong used to spend his leisure hours with his ministers and friends. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was Emperor Guangxu’s private living quarters. But after the failure of the Reform Movement in 1898, Emperor Guangxu was under house arrest here. So until now, we still can see the high brick walls in the east and west chambers. Behind this hall is Yiyun Hall, also named the Lodge of Propriety of Weeding. D uring Emperor Qianlong’s reign, this building was used for storing books. But during Empe ror Guangxu’s reign, the main hall became the residence of Empress Longyu. The west chamber was the residence of concubine Zheifei. But after the failure of the Reform Movement in 1989, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered them to live somewhere near the Marble Boat.To the northwest of the Lodge of Propriety of Weeding is the courtyard of the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. In this courtyard we can see pairs of bronze deer, bronze cranes, bronze vases and big water vats, symbolizing universal peace. Magnolia trees, flowering crab-apple trees and peony flowers were planted in this courtyard, representing riches and honor, or wealth and prestige. There is a huge rock named “Qing Zhi Xiu” and nicknamed “Family Bankruptcy Rock”. Outside the south gate of the courtyard, there is a Lantern Pole. When Empress Dowager came to the Summer Palace, a red lantern on the pole would be lit as a signal of her arrival. The Hall of Eternal Longevity was built near to the east side of the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, and it was the living quarters of the chief eunuch Li Lianying in thegarden. The Wind of Benevolence and Virtue is northwest of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. The fan-shaped building in this courtyard looks like a folding fan so it is nicknamed “Fan-Hall”. Wh en Empress Dowager Cixi came to the Summer Palace she enjoyed watching the birds here.Now let’s move on to visit the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. It was Empress Dowager Cixi’s residence. It consists of four chambers. Inside the hall, we can see a larg e table, a pair of big porcelain plates, a plaque four incense burners shaped with nine peaches, fish table, two embroideries and the chandeliers.The Summer Palace (2)Today we will visit the front part of the Longevity Hill in the Summer Palace. First, I will tell you something about the history of the Longevity Hill. In the Jin Dynasty the Jin rulers built the Golden Hill Palace at the present site of the Summer Palace. At that time, the hill was called Golden Hill. In the Yuan Dynasty, the name of the Hill was changed to Jar Hill. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong changed the name of the hill to the Longevity Hill for the celebration of his mother’s 60th birthday.Now, l et’s visit from the Long Corridor. It looks like a colorful ribbon in front of the Longevity Hill. It was first built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong for his mother to enjoy the rainy scenes on Kunming Lake and to shade her from the sunshine in summer. The Long Corridor is 728 meters long with 273 sections. It is the longest and most famous corridor in China and even in the world. In 1990, it was listed in the “Guinness World Records” as the longest painted corridor in the world, and in 1998, it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. There are four pavilions along the Long Corridor. The four double-eaved octagonal pavilions respectively are named: Liujia, Jilan, Qiushui and Qingyao, symbolizing the 4 seasons of the year. They are used to support the Long Corridor and join each part together. On the beams and crossbeams there are more than 14000 paintings covered with different subjects. Such as: Landscapes and scenic spots, beautiful flowers and birds, Chinese architectures and human figures and classical stories. 546 of the landscape were copies from the scenery of the West Lake in Hangzhou.In the center of the Long Corridor, there is a gate called the Gate of Dispelling Clouds. It was the main entrance to the Hall of Dispelling Clouds. In front of the gate, there is a wooden archway with 4 words “Yun Hui Yu Yu ” inscribed on it. Yun Hui stands for “palace hall in the rosy clouds ” while Yu Yu refers to “the residence of immortal ” in Chinese legend. So these words eulogize Empress Dowager Cixi as an immortal because the building inside the gate was the Hall of Dispelling C louds. The phrase “Dispelling Clouds ” comes from a poem written by a famous poet, Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty, describing an immortal coming out from the clouds and seeing a gold and silver platform, thus indicating this hall as the place for the an immortal Empress Cixi to live in. The Hall of Dispelling Clouds was the place for Empress Dowager Cixi to celebrate her birthday on the 10th day of the 10th lunar month each year. On her birthday ceremony, Emperor Guangxu would kowtow to Empress Dowager Cixi inside the second palace gate while the High-ranking officials would kowtow outside.Behind the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, we can see the Tower of Buddhist Incense. It is the symbol of the Summer Palace. It was first built in 1758. But it was damaged in 1860 and in 1900 respectively. The present one was rebuilt in 1903. The Tower of Buddhist Incense was built on a 21-meter high square platform with a wooden tower of 36 meters on the top. Thetower is a 3-story octagonal wooden structure with 4 tiers of eaves. It was used for Empress Dowager Cixi to come and worship Gods on the 1st and 15th day of each lunar month when she lived in the Summer Palace. On the first floor is enshrined with the gilded bronze statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva with a thousand hands and eyes. On the 2nd floor are kept the portraits of Buddha of Three Ages. The Tower of Buddhist Incense has 2 groups of building s on the east and west.To the east below the Tower of Buddhist Incense is Revolving Archives. It consists of 3 parts: the main building in the middle, with 2 side-pavilions on both sides and a large stone tablet in front of the main building. The main building was the place for the emperor and empress to keep the copies of Confucian classics, Buddhist scriptures and Buddha portraits. It was also the place for them to chant scriptures and pray. The stone tablet in front of the main building is inscribed with some words written by Emperor Qianlong. On the front side there are six Chinese characters “Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake ”. On the back side, there is an essay of 447 words entitled “Notes of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake ”. The two side-pavilions are known as Archive Towers. When the Emperor and Empress came to chant scriptures and pray, they just turned the tower, revolving it around once, symbolizing they chanted the scrptures and prayed once.To the west below the Tower of Buddhist Incense is Pavilion of Precious Clouds. It is called “Bronze Pavilion”. It was cast in 1755 and used to be the place where Lamas chanted scriptures during the religious activities. The Bronze Pavilion is 7.55 meters high and 207 tons in weight. It resembles its wooden counterparts in every detail, but all made of bronze. There used to be a Buddhist Statue inside the Pavilion. But the Buddhist Statue, doors and windows and some other parts were taken abroad by foreign invaders. In 1993, the bronze doors and windows were bought back in the Bronze Pavilion for all to see.Now, lets move to the Temple of Sea of Wisdom, the highest point of the Longevity Hill. First, we can see a colored glazed archway in front of the Temple. On the front side are carved 3 words 众香界, which is the name of Buddhist State. On the back side are carved another 3 words 祗树林, which means Buddhist Temple. The Temple of Sea of Wisdom is a stone structure. The name of this temple “the sea of wisdom” came from Buddhist scriptures and means “the wisdom of Buddha is as vast as the sea”. It was built in 1750 entirely with bricks, stones, and glazed tiles. This building is also known as “Beamless Hall”. Because it was built without using a single beam or column, there are 1008 Buddha statues carved on the outer wall of the temple. But most of them were damaged by the Anglo-French Allied Forces. Inside the temple, the statue of Guanyin is enshrined in the center.On the east slop of the front part of the Longevity Hill, there is a gate tower named Purple Cloud Gate-Tower with inscriptions on both sides written by Emperor Qianlong. The inscription on the north gate-tower “Chichengxiaqi” means “the rosy clouds rising in Chicheng Mountain”. Chicheng is the name of a place in Zhejiang Province. The 4 words on the south gate-tower “Ziqidonglai” means “the purple clouds come from the east”. This phrase comes from a story about the ancient philosopher Lao Zi, who was trying to get through a major military pass named Hangu Pass. It was said that Ling Yin, a military official, saw a wisp of purple clouds coming from the east. He knew that this good omen meant that a saint was coming. Then he took a bath and out on his new clothes to welcome the saint. The next day he really saw Lao Zi riding slowly to the pass on a black ox..On the west slop near the foot of the Longevity Hill is the Hall for Listening to Orioles. It was built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother to enjoy Peking Opera and performances. Later, it was used by Empress Dowager Cixi. After the Garden of Vitreous Harmony was built, the Hallbecame a residence for the imperial concubines. Zhenfei, a favorite concubine of Emperor Guangxu, was put under house arrest here after the failure of the Reform Movement in 1898. Now it is nice restaurant for both Chinese and foreign tourists.Near the western end of the Long Corridor is the Marble Boat. It was first built in 1755 for the purpose of creating a symbol of the stability of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Qianlong built this boat on a story happened in the Tang Dynasty. Prime Minister Wei Zheng expostulated with the Tang Emperor Li Shi Min about the water and the boat, by saying: “Water can carry a boat, and it also can capsize a boat”. He put the water to represent common people and the boat indicated the Tang Dynasty Court. Therefore the Marble Boat stood for the Qing Dynasty would be as solid as rock and never be overturned. The Marble Boat is 36 meters long and it has 2 decks. The base deck was built of marble while the upper part was made of wood. Originally, there was a Chinese-style wooden superstructure on the top, but it was burnt down in 1860. In 1893, Empress Dowager Cixi had it rebuilt into a European style wooden building. And she ordered to have 2 water wheels added outside the boat. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong often accompanied his mother here for freeing captive fish and birds. Empress Dowager Cixi often came here to enjoy the beautiful rainy scenery on the lake.。