Xiyuan Three Seas is the general name of the North Sea, the China Sea and the South China Sea, and it is located in the well-preserved royal garden complex with a long history. Its overall planning belongs to the layout of one pool and three mountains, which is the embodiment of the Three Immortal Mountains in the East China Sea (Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou) in the ancient legend of China. Xiyuan Sanhai has a total area of more than 2,500 mu, and the water surface is close to 1300 mu. The park has a wide water surface and thousands of scenery. There are Qionghua Island, Yingtai, Shuiyunxie, Fengze Garden, Ziguangge, Jingxinzhai and many other scenic spots. The ancients once praised this place as a "scenic spot in Beijing" and "scenery is better than roundness". Therefore, it is close to the Forbidden City, and it is an important place for emperors to enjoy the scenery and hold banquets. Xiyuan Sanhai has a long history as a royal garden. As early as the Liao Dynasty, the rulers built palaces here.
In the 19th year of Jin Dading (1 179), lakes and mountains were carved here, and Daning Palace (later changed to Wanning Palace) was built as an emperor. In the Yuan Dynasty, Wanning Palace was expanded and renamed Taiye Pool. At that time, Taiye Pool was equivalent to today's Beihai and Zhonghai, and it was the center of the whole Dadoucheng.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Taiye Pool in the Yuan Dynasty was rebuilt on a large scale. As an important royal garden in the imperial city, it is called Xiyuan or Xihaizi. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of Gongcheng's southward migration, a water surface (now South China Sea) was excavated southward on the basis of Yuantai liquid pool, and a south terrace (now Yingtai) was built here. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of Gongcheng's southward migration, the South China Sea was excavated and the South Terrace (now Yingtai) was built in the South China Sea. Nanjie, Qionghua Island and Beitai (Ganyouge, later destroyed) imitate the legendary Sanxian Mountain of Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou [1]. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the former general "Xihaizi" was divided into North Sea, China Sea and South China Sea, which were collectively called "Three Seas", hence the name Xiyuan Three Seas. On the basis of the Ming Dynasty, Xiyuan Sanhai was rebuilt and rebuilt on a large scale many times in the Qing Dynasty, and finally it reached today's scale. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, great changes have taken place in Xiyuan and Sanhai. The newly renovated Beihai has been turned into a park, and Zhongnanhai is now the office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.
Jingshan is located in the north of the Forbidden City, which is the center of the north-south axis of the city. The main peak of Jingshan is also the highest point in feudal Beijing. Jingshan Mountain, with a total area of 280,000 square meters, perimeter 1, 015m, and main peak height of 47.5m; The flower lawn in the park covers an area of 1 100 square meters, with nearly 10,000 trees. The history of Jingshan can be traced back to the middle of13rd century. In the Yuan Dynasty, it used to be the backyard for the Empress Dowager, and buildings such as Yanchun Pavilion were built here. At that time, there was a dirt mountain in the garden called Qingshan. After the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty demolished all the palaces in the Yuan Dynasty, and piled the moat and muck excavated from the South China Sea on the former site of Yanchun Pavilion in the Yuan Dynasty to suppress the geomantic omen of the previous dynasty. The five peaks formed are named Long Live Mountain;
Also known as Jingshan Park. In the twelfth year of Shunzhi (1655), it was renamed Jingshan, which can be interpreted as "daylight" and "grandeur". Jingshan is a mountain of light [2]. In the sixteenth year of Qianlong (175 1), Jingshan was rebuilt on a large scale, and a pavilion was built on each of the five small peaks, which is the famous five pavilions of Jingshan. After the Revolution of 1911, Jingshan was once deserted. It was not until the founding of New China that this ancient garden regained its attractive brilliance and became a favorite tourist attraction for tourists inside and outside the park.
In addition to palaces and imperial home forests, dozens of royal temples are also a group of important buildings in the imperial city. There are dozens of temples and temples in the imperial city of Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of which were built by the Ming and Qing emperors. Due to the different beliefs of emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are both Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in the imperial city. Taoism was once popular in the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu all believed in Taoism. By the time of Sejong in the Ming Dynasty, it reached its peak. In the imperial city, the Great Hall of the Great Gao Xuan was built and temples such as the Great Hall of Light were rebuilt.
Da Gao Xuan Dian, located in Qian Jie, Jingshan, Xicheng District, is a royal Taoist temple in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was built in the twenty-first year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1542) and rebuilt many times. The Dagaoxuan Hall faces south, and there were three archways and two Xili pavilions outside the gate, which were all demolished when the street was expanded after liberation. There are some key buildings in the Great Hall, such as the Great Hall, the Great Hall, the Tan Lei and the Gan Yuan Pavilion, which have basically maintained their original features.
In the late 7th century, Buddhism was introduced into Tibet from India and Nepal and merged with local religions to form Tibetan Buddhism. After the formation of Tibetan Buddhism, it was worshipped by ethnic minorities in Tibet and Mongolia. In order to consolidate the frontier, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty used religion to maintain ethnic relations and regarded respecting Tibetan Buddhism as a national policy. During the heyday of Qianlong period, many Tibetan Buddhist temples, such as Pudu Temple, Pusheng Temple, Songzhu Temple and Fu You Temple, were successively built in the Imperial Capital.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many offices, royal warehouses and workshops dedicated to the daily life of the court, besides the palace, the imperial palace and the altar temple. For example, Ciqiku Hutong and Satin Hutong in Dongcheng District are the former sites of the Royal Warehouse. In addition, Xicheng District also has the former sites of the Accounting Department and the Wage Savings Department. The paint factory near Di 'anmen, the former site of the royal workshop, and so on. Most of these institutions are low-rise quadrangle buildings with blue bricks and gray tiles. Overlooking from the air, the blue bricks and gray tiles are resplendent and complement each other, forming a unique landscape of this former imperial city.
Nowadays, most of these buildings no longer exist or have changed their functions. Only some hutongs and place names named after them have survived to this day, leaving them for future generations to visit.
In the former imperial city, there were two water systems, east and west, which met at the southeast corner of the imperial city. The west branch, the Jinshui water system, enters the imperial city from the west bridge outside Di 'anmen and flows into Xiyuan Sanhai. It has two branches: from the east to the north of Beihai silkworm altar, then through Banqiao and Jingshan West Gate, bypassing the Forbidden City, which is the Tongzi River outside the Forbidden City today. The Neijinshui River, which flows through the Taihe Gate of the Forbidden City and in front of the ancestral temple, is also a tributary of this river. From the east of the South China Sea, it leaves the garden wall, passes through the Weaver Girl Bridge, flows down the Jinshui Bridge in front of Tiananmen Square, passes through the Changpu River in the north of Chang 'an Zuomen, joins the Jinshui River in the Forbidden City, flies over Hongqiao, reaches the southeast corner of the imperial city, joins the east branch, and flows south into the moat. Today, most of the Jinshui River system, including the internal and external Jinshui River and Xiyuan Three Seas, is still well preserved, and a few (such as Zhinv Bridge) have long since disappeared due to river changes. This river flows through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City successively, which not only plays a role in decorating the landscape and beautifying the environment in the old imperial city, but also plays an important practical role as a fire water source for the imperial city and the Forbidden City.
The east branch is the Royal River. As mentioned above, this river played a practical role in the water transportation of the imperial city in the Ming Dynasty. This river comes from Shichahai, enters the imperial city from the fixed bridge outside Di 'anmen, passes through Dongbanqiao, turns south to the North Arrow Pavilion, and is caught by weeping willows, which is called the North Riverside. Further south, across the Wang 'en Bridge in Dong 'anmen, it is the south riverside, to the west of Tangzi, to the southeast corner of the imperial city, to meet at Jinshui River, and then to the moat. This section of the river was silted up during the Republic of China. After liberation, it was filled in and turned into a street, which is today's North-South Riverside Street [3].
The Imperial Capital is such a magnificent and exquisite city. A unique and beautiful city with complete functions and Excellence. Pan Fu, Premier of the Republic of China, once praised Beijing Imperial City as a "magnificent city wall, which was valued by Chinese and foreign people". Unfortunately, it is such a precious ancient city, but it has not escaped the invasion of war and man-made destruction. Since 19 12, when Dong 'anmen was burned by the Lunzi mutiny, 1920, Daming Hao was looted and demolished while building a city in Beijing. By 1927, the walls of the imperial city, which had a history of hundreds of years, had been demolished, leaving only a few places. From the documents of the national government at that time, we read such a written record: "Recently, the walls of the Imperial City were demolished in many places, and there were mud and rubble everywhere. People who saw them were very strict and pedestrians avoided the road. It is not necessary for transportation. Why do you destroy it at will? " [4]。 At the same time, because the warlord government at that time lacked the minimum awareness of cultural relics protection and urban planning, the basic pattern of the imperial city in Ming and Qing Dynasties was also greatly destroyed at that time, and many key buildings in the past were demolished and converted into western-style or semi-western-style multi-storey buildings. At that time, Professor Xi Long Ren left such a record with infinite sadness and anger: "... only foreign or semi-foreign new buildings dare to override harmony and despise the protection of the city wall? The number of these buildings is increasing rapidly. ..... How many old houses with front porches and huge gardens have been razed to the ground, giving way to semi-new brick houses on the third and fourth floors? How many old streets have been widened, and how many gorgeous pink palace walls around the imperial city have been demolished to lay tram tracks? The ancient city of Beijing is being destroyed rapidly, and it has lost the face of the former imperial city ... "[5]. In this way, this beautiful city, with a history of hundreds of years, almost disappeared in a short period of 50 years, slowly submerged in people's memory.
Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, the people's government has paid more and more attention to the protection of human cultural heritage and historical and cultural cities. The imperial city of Ming and Qing dynasties has a unique and profound historical and cultural accumulation, which is unique in today's world. It is a precious heritage of the Chinese nation and all mankind, and it is also the focus of cultural relics protection in the new period. In order to better protect and utilize the imperial city of Ming and Qing dynasties, our government has made many beneficial attempts.
In 2000, with the second phase project of Wangfujing Street, many ruins of the wall of the Eastern Emperor of Ming Dynasty were discovered during the construction. In order to promote Chinese culture and add a tourist and leisure landscape for the citizens, the Beijing Municipal Government decided to build Huangchenggen Ruins Park on the original site of the east wall of the Ming Emperor City. The park was completed and opened in September 20001year.
In September 2002, after half a year's renovation, the Changpu River, which once became an underground culvert in the 1960s and 1970s, presented itself to the world with a brand-new look and became a new landscape in Beijing.
In 2003, it became a residential building, and Pudu Temple, which had been quiet for many years, was renovated and opened to the outside world. The repair work of Xuanren Temple and Ninghe Temple is also under intense progress.
At the beginning of 2003, the Beijing Municipal Government officially issued the Protection Plan of Beijing Imperial City. Solemnly announced that it will protect the entire Ming and Qing imperial city in Beijing. In addition to protecting and repairing the existing cultural relics protection units, it will also completely protect the unique historical culture and social customs of the imperial city in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In June, 2003, as the pioneer of the protection series of Beijing Imperial City, Beijing Imperial City Art Museum officially opened.
In July, 2003, the Beijing Municipal People's Government officially announced to the world that the Imperial City of Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasties was declared as a world cultural heritage.
After nearly a hundred years of baptism, the imperial city of Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasties once again became the focus of world attention. Yesterday of Beijing Imperial City was brilliant, today it is brilliant, and tomorrow it will be colorful. With the gradual protection of the imperial city by the government, the history of the imperial city in Beijing in Ming and Qing dynasties is about to turn a new page. (Beijing Huangcheng Art Museum)
Zhang Lichen)