The urn in the Forbidden City, officially called auspicious urn or Taiping urn, is generally made of iron, copper and bronze. In the Ming Dynasty, iron vats were the mainstay, with iron rings and big ears on both sides, while in the Qing Dynasty, copper and bronze were the mainstay, and the vats had animal bit rings. According to historical records, in the middle of Qing Dynasty, there were 308 urns in the Forbidden City. After years of changes, only 23 1 vat is left. At present, the oldest jar was cast in Hongzhi four years in Ming Dynasty and placed at the foot of the white marble steps in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
In ancient China, big families liked to put water tanks in the yard. As the first royal family in the world, they put these tanks in the Forbidden City. This is also the case. Their uses are roughly threefold:
The first is to play a decorative role. The vats in the Forbidden City are exquisitely made, dazzling and placed everywhere. Against the backdrop of the red walls and yellow tiles of the Forbidden City, the atmosphere is solemn and dignified, very royal.
The second point is the consideration of geomantic omen. The water tank in front of the door is commonly known as the "door sea" among the people, which means there is a sea in front of the door. Seawater can put out fires, and people's desire to stay away from disasters is pinned.
The third point is more practical. All the vats in the Forbidden City are filled with fresh water for a rainy day. The servants in the palace should be filled with fresh water every day, and the general affairs office sends someone to check it every five days. The bottom of the tank can also be burned with charcoal fire to prevent the water in the tank from freezing in cold winter.
Most of the buildings in the Forbidden City are made of wood, and the ignition point is extremely low. It is the place with the highest frequency among the existing places of interest. There have been more than 20 large-scale fires and dozens of small-scale fires in history, among which the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Baohe Hall and Gan Qing Palace were all destroyed by fires. Therefore, the fire prevention task of the Forbidden City is arduous and the most important. Barrels all over the palace are also used for this purpose.
Nowadays, there are still many knife marks on some vats near the Three Great Halls, which is evidence of Eight-Nation Alliance's wanton plunder after its invasion of Beijing. They never let go of any property, and even used bayonets to scrape the gold on the surface of vats. More than a hundred years later, the knife marks on these vats are still dazzling.