Religious Architectures In The Forbidden City

1. Buddhist Architecture

There are over 40 Buddhist buildings in the Forbidden City, and the main one is Zhongzheng Hall, the spot for chanting the sutras. They are all concentrated along the Outer Western Route of the Inner Court.

Zhongzheng Hall

Zhongzheng Hall was the abbreviation of "Hall of Zhongzheng for Chanting Sutras". It was set up in 1697 (36th year of Emperor Kangxi), for managing Lama chanting sutras in the Forbidden City, making of Buddhist statues and so on. Zhongzheng Hall was the name of the organ and also the name of the Buddhist hall as well as the Buddhist hall areas. This was the Buddhist activity area exclusively reserved for the emperor. The grand Buddhist activities of seeing off the year and beating the ghost was held here.

The Zhongzheng Hall Buddhist area is located in the northwest of the Forbidden City, west of the West Six Palace, and was built with 10 Buddhist structures. Five of them were destroyed in the 1923 big fire of the Palace of Building Fortune. The other five survived, with the Pavilion of Rain and Water being the most completely preserved. Now the original structure of Zhongzhegn Hall are being the most are Beijing reconstructed in the Palace Museum. It is a pity that the original precious relics no longer exist.

Pavilion of Rain and Water

It was the largest among the several Buddhist halls in the Forbidden City and is located in between the Hall of Supreme Zenith and the Palace of Longevity and Peace. It is a 4-story building with 3-story loft, a pointed roof with four corners and four drooping ridges with gold plated flying dragons. All the spare parts on the roof were made of bronze and gilded with gold. It looks splendid under the radiance of the sun. Among the palaces and halls in the Forbidden City, its Tibetan styles is the most outstanding.

The esoteric Sect of Buddhist built the Pavilion of Rain and Water. Three statues were worshipped inside. The terrace is made of gold plated cloisonné which is a delicate national treasure.

The pavilion is the typical and complete Tibetan Buddhist hall. Inside the hall, there are four systemic esoteric musical instruments for Buddhist mass. They occupied an Important position in Buddhist history.

Hall of Heroic Splendor

There are also a group of Buddhist buildings in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City, named the Hall of Heroic Splendor. They were Buddhist halls in the Ming and Qing. It was said that the two bodhi trees were planted by Lishi, mother of Ming Emperor Wanli. The trees could bear precious beads. Officials called them precious beads which could be made into Rosaries.

2. Confucian Halls and Taoist Structures

Besides the Buddhist buildings, there are also structures built for other religions in the Forbidden City. Among them there are Confucian halls, such as the Hall for Ancestral Worship outside the Gate of Flourishing Fortune, the Hall of Proclaimed Intellect in the Hall of Literary Glory, the place for worshipping Confucius in the Palaces of Heavenly Purity and the Palace for Abstinence in the south of the Six Eastern Palaces. The Taoist structures includes the Hall of Imperial Peace, the Four Gods Temple, the Hall of Profound Vault.

3. Gods of Folk Customs

Town God

The Town God Temple, built in 1726, is located down the wall at the northwest corner of the Forbidden City. The Town God of the Forbidden City is enshrined inside. It was worshipped on the New Year's Day each year. The temple is now well protected.

Guandi

In the Qing Dynasty, the image of Guandi Emperor was worshipped in the Hall of Imperial Peaceinside the Imperial Garden, Pavilion of Thousand Springs. Guandi Emperor was highly respected by the people. There were over 200 Guandi Emperor Temples in the Qing Dynasty both inside and outside of Beijing city. The number of these temples ranked above other types of temples.

Emperor of Medicine

It was in Jisheng Hall of the Imperial Library, where Magical Doctors in the past dynasties were worshipped. The Hall of the Emperor of Medicine and it was set up in the east annex hall of the Imperial Pharmacy inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity. In the history of China, there were Emperors of Medicine, such as Fuxi, Shennong and Huangdi who were esteemed as Emperors of Medicine. Sun Simiao, Bianque, Huatuo, Lishizhen, etc. were praised as Kings of Medicine.

Kitchen God

In the Ming, the Kitchen God was worshipped on the first of summer in the Hall of Proclaimed Intellect in the east of the Hall of Literary Glory. The kitchen was one of the five places where sacrificial offerings were placed in ancient times. The five offerings refer to the door, household, well, kitchen and residence. The Tables of the Kitchen God were also worshipped in the Imperial Kitchen in the palace. "The wooden tablet of the East Kitchen God" was enshrined on the ease wall of the Divine Kitchen in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. On the 23rd day of the last month of lunar year, a sacrifice was offered to the god Kitchen.

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Article Source: Wei_Maomao