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The Palace Museum - The Imperial Garden

Royal Gardens Stories

The Imperial Garden is located in the northernmost part of the Forbidden City, originally named "Palace Rear Court", which was renamed in the Qing Dynasty. It is the largest royal garden in the Forbidden City. Qin'an Hall is the center of the garden, which now has more than 20 pavilions, towers and other buildings, and more than a hundred ancient trees.

The Imperial Garden is at the northernmost part of the Forbidden City, which existed in the Ming Dynasty when the Forbidden City was built, and was originally named “Palace Rear Court” before being renamed “Imperial Garden” in Qing Dynasty.

The Imperial Garden is the largest royal garden in the Forbidden City, with an east-west width of about 130 meters and a north-south length of about 90 meters. With Qin’an Hall 钦安殿 as its center, the Imperial Garden has a symmetrical east-west layout, and more than 20 pavilions, towers, pavilions and other buildings, more than a hundred ancient trees. In the Qing dynasty. The ceremony of selecting maiden consorts was also held inside the Imperial Garden.

Qin'an Hall 钦安殿 situated in the center of the imperial garden, the main hall is built on a white marble platform with a gilt roof, surrounded by walls on all sides. The Qin’an Hall is dedicated to the god Xuantian Shangdi 玄天上帝, and every year the emperor would come here on New Year’s Day to worship him.

The most famous pavilions here are Wanchun Pavilion 万春亭 and Qianqiu Pavilion 千秋亭. These two pavilions are similar in appearance, divided into upper and lower layers, the upper layer is a conical roof, and the lower part is a square-shaped pavilion with covered porches at all four sides. This kind of structure represents the traditional Chinese philosophy of “the heaven is round and the earth is square”. This kind of design is very rare and makes the two pavilions so unique. The original altars and statues inside the pavilions no longer exist, but the Coiled Dragon Coffered Ceilings 蟠龙藻井 inside the top of the pavilions are preserved intact.

To the north side of the Qianqiu Pavilion and Wanchun Pavilion, there are two other square pavilions named Chengrui Pavilion 澄瑞亭 and Fubi Pavilion 浮碧亭. The two pavilions are open on all sides, with Double Dragon Chasing Pearls Ceilings inside. There are fish playing in the pool around the pavilions, adding vitality to the Imperial Garden.

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One of the most overlooked sights in the Imperial Garden is the mosaic stone pathway underfoot, where each step has a different pattern, including flowers, birds, animals, characters and even a train!

Yangxing Zhai 养性斋 is located in the southwestern part of the Imperial Garden, and is a pavilion-style building with a C-shaped layout. After the abdication of the Qing Emperor Puyi, his English teacher Reginald Fleming Johnston 庄士敦 used to live here.

Alongside the northern wall of the imperial garden is a rocky hill made of jagged lake stones, about 10 meters high, named Duixiu Hill 堆秀山. At the top of the hill, there is a square pavilion called the Yujing Pavilion 御景亭, which not only overlooks the Forbidden City, but also the Beihai Park and Jingshan Park, where the emperor used to come every year on the Double Ninth Festival.

If you walk out of the north gate of the imperial garden, you will come to the north exit of the Forbidden City: Shenwu Gate 神武门, please continue our tour:

The Palace Museum - Gate of Divine Prowess

Shenwu Gate

The north gate of the Forbidden City is called the Shenwu Gate, which is opposite to the south side of the Meridian Gate. The Shenwu Gate has a tower with a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof on the city wall and three arches at the bottom. In the Ming dynasty, there was a lively market outside the Shenwu Gate, and in the Qing dynasty, the gate was a passage for the girls waiting to be selected to enter the Forbidden City.