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Belvedere of Spreading Righteousness

Buildings and structures in BeijingChina stubsForbidden City
弘義閣 Beijing (November 2016) 360 (cropped)
弘義閣 Beijing (November 2016) 360 (cropped)

The Belvedere of Spreading Righteousness (simplified Chinese: 弘义阁; traditional Chinese: 弘義閣; Manchu: ᠵᡠᡵᡤᠠᠨ ᠪᡝ ᠰᡝᠯᡤᡳᠶᡝᡵᡝ ᠠᠰᠠᡵᡳ jurgan be selgiyere asari) is a building in Forbidden City's Outer Court, in Beijing, China.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Belvedere of Spreading Righteousness (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Belvedere of Spreading Righteousness
Gugong Dongmen Wai, Dongcheng District Donghuamen (首都功能核心区)

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

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N 39.9163 ° E 116.3958 °
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故宫东门外

Gugong Dongmen Wai
100010 Dongcheng District, Donghuamen (首都功能核心区)
Beijing, China
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弘義閣 Beijing (November 2016) 360 (cropped)
弘義閣 Beijing (November 2016) 360 (cropped)
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Forbidden City
Forbidden City

The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) 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 22 ha (54-acre) Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 69 ha (171-acre) Beihai Park, and the 23 ha (57-acre) Jingshan Park. It is officially administered by the Palace Museum. The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.The complex consists of 980 buildings, encompassing 9,999 rooms and covering 720,000 m2 (72 ha)/178 acres. The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019. In 2018, the Forbidden City's market value was estimated at 70 billion USD, making it both the world's most valuable palace and the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world.The Forbidden City in Beijing is one of the largest and most well-preserved wooden structures in the world. It was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961.

Hall of Supreme Harmony
Hall of Supreme Harmony

The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Chinese: 太和殿; pinyin: Tài Hé Diàn; Manchu: ᠠᠮᠪᠠ ᡡᠸᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠮᠪᡠᡵᡝ ᡩᡝᠶᡝᠨ;Möllendorff: amba hūwaliyambure deyen) is the largest hall within the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. It is located at its central axis, behind the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Built above three levels of marble stone base, and surrounded by bronze incense burners, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is one of the largest wooden structures within China. It was the location where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies. The name of the Hall was changed several times throughout the past few centuries, from its initial Fengtian Dian (奉天殿), later to Huangji Dian (皇极殿) in 1562 and to the current one by the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty in 1645. Together with the Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony, the three halls constitute the heart of the Outer Court of the Forbidden City. The Hall of Supreme Harmony rises some 30 metres (98 ft) above the level of the surrounding square. It is the ceremonial center of imperial power, and the largest surviving wooden structure in China. It is eleven bays wide – with the main room being nine bays wide – and five bays deep, the numbers nine and five being symbolically connected to the majesty of the Emperor. The six pillars nearest the imperial throne are covered with gold, and the entire area is decorated with a dragon motif. The Dragon Throne, in particular, has five dragons coiled around the back and handrests. The screen behind it features sets of nine dragons, again reflecting the "nine-five" symbolism. The Hall of Supreme Harmony features an exquisite throne made of red sandalwood, and formerly used by the emperors of the Qing dynasty. Set into the ceiling directly above the throne is an intricate caisson decorated with a coiled dragon, from the mouth of which issues a chandelier-like set of metal balls, called the "Xuanyuan Mirror", a reference to the Yellow Emperor, a mythological Chinese ruler. According to legend, the metal balls will fall and strike dead any usurper to the throne. In the Ming dynasty, the emperors held court here to discuss affairs of state. During the Qing dynasty, emperors held court far more frequently. As a result, the location was changed to the Inner Court, and the Hall of Supreme Harmony was only used for ceremonial purposes, such as enthronements, investitures, and imperial weddings.The original hall was built in 1421 during the Ming dynasty, destroyed seven times by fires during the Qing dynasty, and rebuilt for the last time in 1695–1697. After a reconstruction in the 16th century, the dimensions of the hall were reduced from around 95 by 48 metres (312 ft × 157 ft) to its present measurements, 65 by 37 metres (213 ft × 121 ft). Inability to find sufficiently large logs was cited as the cause for this change.