From The Jingren Palace to the Zhongcui Palace in the Forbidden City
The Jingren Palace is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the Inner Court. It was completed in 1420 (the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and was initially called the Chang'an Palace. In 1535 (the 14th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), it was renamed the Jingren Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, the old name from the Ming Dynasty was continued. It was renovated in 1655 (the 12th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), and was successively repaired in 1835 (the 15th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty) and 1890 (the 16th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty).
The Yanxi Palace is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the Inner Court, located on the east side of the East Second Long Street. It was built in 1420 (the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and was initially named the Changshou Palace. In 1535 (the 14th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), it was renamed the Yanqi Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed the Yanxi Palace again and was renovated in 1686 (the 25th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty). In both the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the residence of concubines. The Tianpin Consort and Cheng Guiren of Emperor Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty once lived here.
In 1845 (the 25th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty), the Yanxi Palace caught fire, burning down a total of 25 buildings including the main hall, the rear hall, and the east and west side halls, leaving only the palace gate. In 1872 (the 11th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), there was a proposal to rebuild it, but it was not realized. In 1909 (the 1st year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty), a three-story Western-style building - the Water Palace - was constructed on the original site of the Yanxi Palace. A pool was dug around the Water Palace, and the water from the Yuquan Spring was led to surround it. Each floor of the main building has 9 rooms. On the ground floor, there is a door in the middle of each of the four sides, and it is surrounded by a corridor. At each of the four corners of the building, there is a three-story hexagonal pavilion. Each of the ground floors of the pavilions has two doors, which are respectively connected to the main building and the corridor. According to the records in "Poems of the Qing Palace" and "Historical Anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty", the Water Palace has copper pillars and glass walls. There is water and fish in the interlayer of the walls. The floor of the ground floor is also made of glass, and the fish swimming in the pool can be counted one by one. The lotus plants and algae are uneven, as green and beautiful as a painting. The Empress Dowager Longyu inscribed a plaque named "Lingzhao Xuan", commonly known as the "Crystal Palace".
The Yonghe Palace is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the Inner Court. It was completed in 1420 (the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and was initially named the Yong'an Palace. In 1535 (the 14th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), it began to be named the Yonghe Palace. It was renovated in 1686 (the 25th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty), and there were also repairs during the reigns of Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Guangxu.
The Zhongcui Palace is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the Inner Court. It was completed in 1420 (the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and was initially named the Xianyang Palace. In 1535 (the 14th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), it was renamed the Zhongcui Palace. In 1571 (the 5th year of the Longqing reign of the Ming Dynasty), the front hall and the rear hall were respectively renamed the Xinglong Hall and the Shengzhe Hall, and later it was also called the Zhongcui Palace. "Zhongcui" means gathering the essence. The Zhongcui Palace and the Chuxiu Palace in the Six Western Palaces are symmetrically distributed on both sides of the central axis of the Inner Court. In the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly the residence of concubines and was once the Crown Prince's Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, it was mainly the residence of empresses and concubines. The young Emperor Xianfeng once lived here. The Empress Dowager Cixi and the Empress Longyu of Emperor Guangxu both lived here, and the Empress Dowager Cixi passed away in this palace.