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The Palace Museum - Three Halls of the Outer Court

Taihe,Zhonghe and Baohe Halls

The Three Great Halls is the center of the outer court of the Forbidden City, also known as the first three halls, referring to Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall. They are the venues for grand ceremonies, the imperial examinations, imperial weddings, and other activities.

Walking into the Taihe Gate, you come to the core area of the Forbidden City: the Three Great Halls area. The three main halls of the Imperial Palace is the center of the outer court, is also the Three-Courts part of the ancient “Three-Courts-and-Five-Gates System”.

Three great halls, also known as the first three halls, referring to the three palaces of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Hall 太和殿), the Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghe Hall 中和殿), and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Hall 保和殿). These magnificent buildings are located on a three-story H-shaped white marble base, they are of different sizes and levels, with different architectural styles. The three buildings form a Saddle-Shaped Curve, which is a staggered view of the palace from the side, with the Taihe Hall being the tallest, the Baohe Hall the second, and the Zhonghe Hall the shortest.

First-time visitors to the Forbidden City will be impressed by what appears after passing through the Meridian Gate and Taihe Gate Square. There is no arrangement of buildings and furnishings within The Wide Open Taihe Hall Square, you can only see the front of the Xumi base on the “the Hall of Golden Chimes”. Just look around, you will see Tiren Pavilion, Hongyi Pavilion, Chonglou Tower, Gelou, East and West corridors, and the Taihe Gate behind, together with the palace walls, they form a rhythmic set. Standing in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, successive emperors must understand the meaning of power the moment he sees this scene.

Taihe Hall is also called The Hall of Golden Chimes, and is the highest-ranked existing palace architecture in China. It is easy to see its importance in the Ming and Qing dynasties from its scale, its overall height, the golden glazed tiles on the rooves, the Double-eaved hip-and-gable roof structure, and the total amount of 10 of the Ridge Beasts in the Cornices. Taihe Hall is 11 rooms wide, 63.96 meters of east-to-west length, and is the highest building in the Forbidden City with its 35.05 meters height, which is even 1.5 meters higher than the Zhengyangmen (Qianmen) Turret. There are six Golden Pillars of the Coiled Dragon in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with a coiled dragon coffered ceiling in the center of the roof, and a giant dragon looking down with a jewel in its mouth.

Manywhere Trivia:
Don’t trust the TV show. The Emperor never holds his everyday meeting in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties usually hold meetings at Taihemen or Qianqingmen. It is also Yangxin Hall where the two empress dowagers of the late Qing dynasty reigned behind a curtain.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where grand ceremonies are held, such as the emperor’s accession to the throne, marriage, birthday and other important occasions. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is also the place where the Emperor summoned the finalists of the imperial examination.

Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghe Hall 中和殿) is located between the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Hall 太和殿) and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Hall 保和殿). Having a squared pyramid roof, it is much smaller than the other two Halls. Every time before the ceremony held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the emperor will rest in the Zhonghe Hall, meet with various officials, review the relevant documents, and prepare for the ceremony.

Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Hall 保和殿) is the last one of the three main halls. Baohe Hall has nine Ridge Beasts in all Cornices, which means its rank is second only to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In Ming Dynasty, Baohe Hall was called the Hall of Scrupulous Behavior (Jinshen Hall 谨身殿), which is the emperor’s dressing place before the ceremony to participate in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In Shunzhi during the Qing Dynasty, the name was changed to Baohe Hall. Baohe Hall was also the place where the emperors hosted banquets for courtiers and held imperial examinations. And the emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi of the Qing dynasty also Lived Here for a Period of Time.

Manywhere Trivia:
All of the plaques in the three main halls are only in Chinese but not Manchu, which is done by Yuan Shikai.

According to the principle of “Court in Front and Living Quarters Behind” layout, the outer court of the Forbidden City of the Imperial Palace is the place to deal with state affairs, while the inner court is the resting place of the royal family. After walking through the three outer halls, you will enter the Three Palaces of the Inner Court, please continue to the next chapter:

The Palace Museum - Three Palaces of the Inner Court

Qianqing,Jiaotai and Kunning

Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Hall and Kunning Palace, are known as the Three Palaces of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City. Qing dynasty emperors usually attended meetings at Qianqing Gate, Qianqing palace and Kunning palace are the bedchambers for the emperor and empress, and Qianqing Palace is also the place where the emperor reviewed political memos or summoned courtiers.