The Palace of Heavenly Purity, or Qianqing Palace (;

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

:; Möllendorff: ''kiyan cing gung'') is a palace in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, China. It is the largest of the three halls of the Inner Court (the other two being the

Hall of Union The Hall of Union (; Manchu: ''giyoo tai diyan'') is a building in the Forbidden City, in Beijing, China. It stands between the Palace of Heavenly Purity and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. These three halls together constitute the centre of ...

and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility), located at the northern end of the Forbidden City. During the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, the palace often served as the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

's audience hall, where he held council with the Grand Council. The Palace of Heavenly Purity is a double-eaved building, and set on a single-level white marble platform. It is connected to the

Gate of Heavenly Purity The Gate of Heavenly Purity (; Manchu: ''kiyan cing men'') is the main gate of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City, in Beijing, China. The gate once led people to Forbidden City's residential quarters. It is connected to the Palace of Heavenly ...

to its south by a raised walkway. In the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, it was the residence of the Emperor. The large space was divided into nine rooms on two levels, with 27 beds. For security, on any one night the Emperor would randomly choose from any of these beds. This continued through the early Qing dynasty. However, when the

Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Yinzhen, was the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned from ...

ascended the throne, he did not wish to inhabit the palace occupied by his father for 60 years. He and subsequent emperors lived instead at the smaller

Hall of Mental Cultivation The Hall of Mental Cultivation (, Manchu: ''yang sin diyan'') is a building in the inner courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The hall is a wooden structure with dome coffered ceilings, and was first built during the Ming dynasty ...

to the west. The Palace of Heavenly Purity then became the Emperor's audience hall, where he held court, received ministers and emissaries, and held banquets. At the centre of the Palace, set atop an elaborate platform, is a throne and a desk, on which the Emperor wrote notes and signed documents during councils with ministers.p 78, Yu (1984) A caisson is set into the roof, featuring a coiled dragon. Above the throne hangs a tablet with a

right-to-left In a script (commonly shortened to right to left or abbreviated RTL, RL-TB or R2L), writing starts from the right of the page and continues to the left, proceeding from top to bottom for new lines. Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Kashmir ...

script reading ''zhèng dà guāng míng'' (), penned by the

Shunzhi Emperor The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succe ...

. This tablet has been translated several ways but the loose transliteral meaning is "let the righteous shine". It is often used as a

Chinese idiom ''Chengyu'' () are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expression, most of which consist of four characters. ''Chengyu'' were widely used in Classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language ...

, meaning "to be decent, honest and magnanimous," or "to have no secret or do a shameless deed." Beginning with the

, who himself had ascended the throne amid a succession dispute, Qing dynasty emperors had designated their heirs in secret, with one copy of the will hidden behind this tablet and another carried at all times by the Emperor himself.p 51, Yang (2003)

References

Forbidden City Royal residences in China Ming dynasty architecture Qing dynasty architecture Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing {{PRChina-museum-stub

See also

References