题五：故宫后廷内西路主要建筑及御花园(养心殿;储秀宫;御花园) 　　The six western palaces are located on the west side of the three rear palaces. During the ming and qing dynasties, these palaces were the residential areas for the concubines. In the six western palaces area today, we can visit the hall of mental cultivation, the palace of eternal spring and the palaces of gathering elegance. 　　The hall of mental cultivation is on the south side of the six western palaces. After emperor yongzheng moved his living quarters here, this palace became the most important building besides the hall of supreme harmony in the Forbidden City. After emperor yongzheng moved his living quarters here, the rest emperors all resided here, and then it became the place where the emperors conducted state affairs and held their private audiences. Empress dowager longyu used to issue the imperial edict in declaring the abdication here.......详细信息

　　题五：故宫后廷内西路主要建筑及御花园(养心殿;储秀宫;御花园)

　　The six western palaces are located on the west side of the three rear palaces. During the ming and qing dynasties, these palaces were the residential areas for the concubines. In the six western palaces area today, we can visit the hall of mental cultivation, the palace of eternal spring and the palaces of gathering elegance.

　　The hall of mental cultivation is on the south side of the six western palaces. After emperor yongzheng moved his living quarters here, this palace became the most important building besides the hall of supreme harmony in the Forbidden City. After emperor yongzheng moved his living quarters here, the rest emperors all resided here, and then it became the place where the emperors conducted state affairs and held their private audiences. Empress dowager longyu used to issue the imperial edict in declaring the abdication here.

　　The central hall is the main hall. It was the place where the emperor read documents, gave audience to the high ranking officials. The western chamber was the place where the emperor dandled the political affairs. There is another room in the western chamber called room of the three rare treasures. Emperor qianlong kept the collection of three precious outstanding calligraphy masterpieces here. They were 3 famous calligraphers of the jin dynasty wangxizhi, wangxianzhi and wangxun. Emperor qianlong believed that they were rare treasures, so it’s called room of the three rare treasures. There is a special historical significance of the eastern chamber. It was here that empress dowager cixi gave audience behind the screen during the reign emperor tongzhi and guangxu. So the power behind the throne was staged here.

　　Behind the hall of mental cultivation, there is courtyard called the hall of manifesting obedience. Here was the residence of the empress in the qing dynasty. In the courtyard, there is crystal stone symbolizing the empress to the honest and upright. To the west , it is hall of festive joy for concubines waiting for the emperor.

　　Now we are going to visit the palace of gathering elegance. Empress dowager cixi used to live here when she was a concubine. It was here she gave birth to his son emperor tongzhi. The palace of gathering elegance was restored several times during the qing dynasty. After empress dowager cixi’s 50th birthday celebration, she lived here for about 10 years. The last hostess of this palace was empress wanrong, the wife of the last emperor puyi.

　　The imperial garden is located on the north end of the Forbidden City. The main building in the imperial garden is the hall of the imperial peace. It is the only religious building on the central axis. It is a Taoist temple and the statue of xuanwu inside .xuanwu is the god of water, it could prevent the building from fire. And there are 4 pavilions in the courtyard, representing the 4 seasons. There is a hill in the garden called the piled elegance hill. It made of taihu rock. There is a pavilion on the top of the hill called imperial view pavilion. It was built for the emperor and empresses to enjoy the scenic beauty in and outside the imperial palace.