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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.

The Forbidden City is not only the place where Ming and Qing emperors deal with state affairs, but also the living quarters of emperors, empresses, princes and concubines. We have already shown you the Three Great Halls, which is the center of the outer court in our previous chapters, then let us walk into the inner court of the Imperial Palace to find out more.

Gate of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Gate 乾清门) is the boundary between the outer and inner courts. Inside the Qianqing Gate is the living quarters of the emperor and the empress. Any trespasser here will face execution. The Ming emperors generally attended court in Taihe Gate, but in the Qing dynasty, the morning court was moved to here at the Qianqing Gate, which meant that the Qing emperors didn’t have to walk through the three halls every day early to get to Taihe Gate as Ming emperors did. It did save a lot of sleep time.

In front of the Qianqing Gate is a square more than 200 meters wide from east to west, named Qianqing Gate Square. In order to deal with urgent military matters more efficiently, the northwest corner of the square was set for the Military Department 军机处, while the northeast corner of the square was the resting place for the officials waiting for the morning meeting.

The core of the Inner Court, The Three Palaces, refers to the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Palace 乾清宫), Hall of Union (Jiaotai Hall 交泰殿) and Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunning Palace 坤宁宫), which are similar to the Three halls of the Outer Court, only slightly smaller in scale. The first one Qianqing Palace was built on a layer of white marble base, and has the greatest size and rank among the inner court buildings. A total of 14 emperors lived here during the Ming and Qing dynasties, until the Yongzheng Emperor moved his bedchamber to the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Hall 养心殿). Even so, the Qianqing Palace is still the most important place for the emperor to read documents, summon ministers and deal with daily affairs.

Inside the Qianqing Palace hangs the Zhengdaguangming Plaque 正大光明匾. Behind the plaque, there is a secret storage casket, which contains the imperial edicts for the successor of the throne. The fates of countless people have been changed by it over the centuries.

Manywhere Trivia:
In Chinese, Zhengdaguangming 正大光明 means frank and righteous, which is ironic compared to the actual history.

Jiaotai Hall is located between the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace, it is said that when the Forbidden City was first built, there were only two buildings, the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace, in the inner court. In the Jiajing period Jiaotai Hall was built according to the design of the Zhonghe Hall. Every year on the Empress’s birthday, concubines and princes will attend the celebration in the Jingtai Hall. The Jade Seals collected by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty are also kept here.

Manywhere Trivia:
The painting in the Jiaotai Hall is different from other palaces: the Phoenix at the top while the dragon at the bottom, showing the respect for the Empress.

Kuning Palace is the northernmost of the three palaces. With the Imperial Garden to the north, The Kunning Palace has a Double-eaved hip-and-gable roof with seven Ridge Beasts in the Cornices, which means it has a slightly lower rank than the Qianqing Palace. It was originally the sleeping quarters of the Empress, but gradually changed its purpose in the Qing Dynasty, becoming a place of worship. The Kunning Palace was also used as a bridal chamber for the wedding of several emperors, including Kangxi, Tongzhi and Guangxu.

The Meridian Gate, Taihe Gate, Three Halls of the Outer Court and Three Palaces of the Inner Court are the main buildings in the center axis of the Forbidden City. In our next chapter, let’s enter the West Road complex of the forbidden city – the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Hall 武英殿) area:

The Palace Museum - Hall of Martial Valor

Wuying Palace

Wuying Hall and Wenhua Hall are located on the east and west sides of the Three Main Halls. In Ming Dynasty, the Wuying Hall was a fasting palace before the emperor's participation in sacrificial activities, in the Qing Dynasty it was changed to works for books, now the Wuying Hall was opened as a calligraphy and painting gallery.