The Summer Palace is located in Haidian District, Beijing, and is the largest and best preserved imperial garden in China. It covers an area of 290 hectares and mainly consists of the Palace Area, Longevity Hill, and Kunming Lake, offering both natural scenery and garden views. There are over 3,000 palaces, temples, and garden buildings of various styles in the park, which are both independent and interconnected. At the same time, it ingeniously borrowed the Western Hills and Yuquan Hill as a background, harmoniously integrating artificial buildings with natural scenery, making it a model of Chinese garden art.
The Summer Palace used to be the imperial palace and garden of the Qing Dynasty. Its predecessor was the Qingyi Garden, which was built in the 15th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1750) and completed in the 29th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1764). During the Second Opium War, in the 10th year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860), the Qingyi Garden, together with the Old Summer Palace, was burned down by the British and French Allied Forces. In the 14th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1888), Empress Dowager Cixi used the money to raise funds for the navy, rebuilt it, and renamed it the Summer Palace as a place for her to enjoy her later years. Since then, the Summer Palace has become the most important political and diplomatic activity center outside the Forbidden City for the highest ruler of the late Qing Dynasty.
During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, as the country declined and foreign enemies invaded, the Summer Palace was repeatedly destroyed. After the founding of New China, the old imperial garden has been renovated and rejuvenated, becoming one of the first national key cultural relics protection units and world cultural heritage sites. In 2007, it was officially approved by the National Tourism Administration as a national 5A-level tourist attraction.
The Seventeen-Arch Bridge in the Summer Palace is so named for its seventeen arches. There are 544 stone lions of various shapes carved on the bridgehead and railing pillars, several dozen more than the Lugou Bridge.
Mountains Embrace the Water, Magnificent and Colorful
Wanshou Mountain is part of the Yan Mountain Range and is approximately 60 meters high. The architectural complex is built on the mountain, starting from the “Yunhui Yuyu” archway at the foot of the mountain, passing through the Paiyun Gate, the Er Gong Gate, the Paiyun Hall, the Dehui Hall, the Buddhist Fragrance Pavilion, and ending at the Wisdom Sea at the top of the mountain, forming a central axis that rises layer by layer. Climbing Wanshou Mountain, the entire Kunming Lake is visible, with green willows brushing the banks and distant mountains resembling ink paintings, giving the impression of being in a painting.
The Paiyun Hall is located in the central part of the front building of Wanshou Mountain. It was originally built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother’s 60th birthday as a large gratitude and longevity temple, and later Cixi rebuilt and renamed it as the Paiyun Hall, where she accepted worship during her residence and birthday celebrations in the garden. From a distance, the Paiyun Hall, together with the archway, Paiyun Gate, Jinshui Bridge, and Er Gong Gate, form a straight line that rises layer by layer. This group of buildings is the most spectacular architectural complex in the Summer Palace.
The Buddhist Fragrance Pavilion is located in the middle of the front mountain of Wanshou Mountain. According to the information, we know that the pavilion is 41 meters high and has 8 giant iron pear wood columns inside. The original pavilion was burned down by the British and French coalition forces in the 10th year of Xianfeng, and it was rebuilt at a cost of 780,000 taels of silver in the 17th year of Guangxu and completed in the 20th year of Guangxu. It was the largest project in the Summer Palace and the place where the imperial family burned incense and worshipped Buddha.
The highest point on the top of Wanshou Mountain is the Wisdom Sea, a religious building that is entirely made of brick and stone without beams. The outer layer of the building is decorated with exquisite yellow and green glazed tiles, and a small amount of other colored glazed tiles, mostly purple and blue, are used on the upper part. In this way, the entire building looks very bright and colorful from a distance. It is particularly characterized by the more than a thousand glazed Buddha statues embedded in the exterior wall of the hall. Because the hall enshrines the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, it is also called the “Hall of Immeasurable”.
Kunming Lake, located at the southern foot of Wanshou Mountain, accounts for about three-quarters of the entire garden area and is the largest lake in Chinese gardens. However, its water surface is not monotonous, but instead makes full use of the space of the water surface, making it more Jiangnan style. Kunming Lake was originally a lake formed by the convergence of springs, called Xihai, with an area less than half of what it is today. When the garden was built during the Qianlong period, it was transformed, with the lake expanded and mountains piled up, forming the current lake.
Spring view of Summer Palace
There is a story behind the name Kunming Lake. During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu dispatched people to dig a lake near Chang’an that resembled Erhai Lake, in order to teach water warfare and prepare for future attacks on Kunming. Emperor Qianlong changed the name of Xihai to Kunming Lake based on this legend, and imitated Emperor Wu’s water warfare exercises here.
Kunming Lake is the largest lake in the imperial gardens of the Qing Dynasty. A long dike, the Xidi, stretches from the northwest to the south. The Xidi and its supporting dikes divide the lake into three different-sized water areas, each with an island in the center. The island dikes create a rich sense of depth on the surface of the lake, avoiding monotony and emptiness. The Xidi and six bridges on it consciously imitate the Sudi and six bridges on Hangzhou’s West Lake, making Kunming Lake even more similar to West Lake.
From north to south, the Xidi is built with six different-shaped bridge pavilions: Jiehulu Bridge, Bin Feng Bridge, Yudai Bridge, Jing Bridge, Lian Bridge, and Liu Bridge. The beautiful mountain shapes of Yuhua Mountain, several miles outside the garden, and the shadow of the Yufeng Pagoda on the mountaintop are included in the garden scenery. When viewed from Kunming Lake or the west bank of the lake, the scenery outside the garden and the lake and mountains inside the garden are integrated, making it an outstanding example of the use of borrowing scenery in Chinese gardens. The lake bank and dike are covered with dense greenery, and the shimmering water under the shade of the trees presents a natural beauty of near-lake and far-mountain with a Jiangnan charm.
Pavilions and towers, each with its own characteristics
The basic layout of the Summer Palace can be divided into three main parts: the diligence district, the residential district, and the scenic area. The Ren Shou Hall represents the political activity area, where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu engaged in domestic and foreign political activities. The living area is represented by courtyards such as Le Shou Tang, Yu Lan Tang, and Yi Yun Guan, where Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, and their consorts resided. The vast area consisting of the Long Corridor, the back hill, and the western region is the scenic area for the emperor and empress to relax and enjoy themselves.
Le Shou Tang is the main building in the residential area of the Summer Palace. It was originally built in the 15th year of the Qianlong period (1750) and was destroyed in the 10th year of the Xianfeng period (1860). It was rebuilt in the 13th year of the Guangxu period (1887). Le Shou Tang faces Kunming Lake, with Wan Shou Shan as its backdrop. It is located to the east of Ren Shou Hall and to the west of the Long Corridor. There is a dock in front of the hall where Empress Dowager Cixi boarded her boat. The hall has a throne and a royal desk, with a bedroom in the west suite and a dressing room in the east suite. The purple sand wardrobe in the room is a relic from the Qianlong period. Bronze deer, cranes, and flower vases are displayed in the courtyard, symbolizing “peace under heaven”. The courtyard is filled with flowers such as magnolias, peonies, and begonias, conveying the meaning of “wealth and honor in the palace”.
Yu Lan Tang was built on the shore of Kunming Lake and is a three-courtyard-style building. The main hall, Yu Lan Tang, faces south, with the Xia Fen Room on the east side and the Ou Xiang Xie on the west side. The east wing leads to Ren Shou Hall, the west wing leads to the lakeside dock, and the back door of the main hall faces Yi Yun Guan. The back eaves and the two auxiliary halls are all built with brick walls, which are important historical relics of the Summer Palace. In the 24th year of the Guangxu period (1898), after Empress Dowager Cixi launched a palace coup, Emperor Guangxu, who advocated reform, was imprisoned here.
The Great Theatre is located in the De He Garden and, together with the Qing Yin Ge in the Chengde Mountain Resort and the Chang Yin Ge in the Forbidden City, is known as the three major theatres of the Qing Dynasty. The Great Theatre in the De He Garden was built for Empress Dowager Cixi’s 60th birthday. The theatre has three floors and the two-story backstage is for makeup. There are seven “heavenly courtyards” on the ceiling and “ground courtyards” on the floor. There is a well and five square pools at the bottom of the stage. During the performance of the gods and ghosts play, the actors can descend from the “heavens” or rise from the “ground”, or even be brought on stage by water.
The Harmonious Garden is located on the eastern foot of Wan Shou Shan. It is an independent area and a garden within the garden with a southern-style garden. Initially named Hui Shan Garden, it was built in imitation of the Ji Chang Garden in Wuxi. After being renovated in the 16th year of the Jiaqing period, it was renamed the “Harmonious Garden”. There are 13 pavilions, towers, halls, and pavilions in the garden, all connected by 100 bays of corridors and five bridges of different shapes. In the north corner of the garden wall, there is a large artificial mountain made of precious Taihu stones. Taihu stones were not easy to obtain during the Qianlong period, and it was not easy to collect such a large amount of Taihu stones.
The Long Corridor is located at the southern foot of Wan Shou Shan, with a total length of 728 meters and 273 bays, making it the longest covered corridor in Chinese gardens. Each beam and column on the corridor is painted with more than 14,000 pictures, including landscapes, flowers and birds, and historical figures. The Long Corridor and the paintings on the corridor have high artistic value, and they also serve to link the various scenic spots in the garden. In 1990, the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace was named the world’s longest corridor by the Guinness World Records.
Bronze Bulls at the Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is full of stories
The Summer Palace has a history of several hundred years, and of course, many stories have taken place there. These true or false stories have added flesh and blood to the skeleton of the Summer Palace, making it not only a solid building, but also a living, vivid entity. Let us pick out a few pearls from these stories.
First, let’s talk about the origin of the Long Corridor. Legend has it that after the Summer Palace was built, Empress Dowager Cixi spent half of every year there “enjoying her old age.” At first, Cixi loved the Jiangnan scenery of the Summer Palace, but over time, she became bored with it. Cixi thought to herself, “Although I can see the mountains and waters all around me at a glance, it’s boring because it’s always the same. Wouldn’t it be great if I could build something by the lake so that every step I take would reveal a new view?”
One day, when the mood was down, Cixi went for a walk again, and the royal officials followed her. When the group reached the south slope of Wanshou Mountain, it started to rain, and eunuch Li Lianying hurriedly stepped forward to hold an umbrella. Unexpectedly, Cixi’s face suddenly changed from cloudy to sunny, and Li Lianying was puzzled. Cixi spoke up, “The umbrella is so good, it not only shields me from the wind and rain, but also lets me see another view.” No one understood.
After returning to the palace, Cixi immediately summoned the craftsmen and told them her idea. Soon, a long corridor appeared between the south slope of Wanshou Mountain and Kunming Lake. Empress Dowager Cixi’s whimsy has created a beautiful corridor, allowing us to follow history and stroll through the beautiful corridor.
Do you know about the “Baijia Stone”? In the Yishou Hall courtyard of the Summer Palace, there is a North Taihu Rock lying horizontally on a white marble base, called Qingzhixiu, commonly known as the “Baijia Stone”. Every day, many people stop in front of this stone to observe it carefully, with enthusiasm and conversations.
This giant rock that shook Beijing comes from the Fangshan Mountains on the outskirts of Beijing. More than 400 years ago, it was discovered by a Ming Dynasty official, Mi Wanzhong. The Mi family was a descendant of the Song Dynasty’s Mi Fu. He had a passion for stones and called himself “stone hidden” and took the name “friend of stones”. He was talented in many fields, and had deep knowledge in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He especially liked strange mountains and rocks. Mi Wanzhong was also good at painting stones, and many of his stone paintings have been passed down to this day.
Mi Wanzhong was looking for garden stones, and went through the fields and mountains around the city. One day, he accidentally found a huge rock in the Fangshan Mountains, which was towering and lying down, and he immediately climbed up to the top of the rock to worship and admire it, intending to place the rock in his garden, Shao Garden (now west of Peking University). For this reason, he spared no expense, hired more than a hundred people, first opened the mountain to build roads, divided the water, dug wells, poured water into ice in the severe winter, and used 40 horses to transport the stone, which was difficult to transport, to Liangxiang. Many ministers of the court came to watch its true face, which caused a sensation in the capital and also alarmed Wei Zhongxian’s private party. Mi Wanzhong was unable to flatter the evil officials in power, and unfortunately fell into Wei Zhongxian’s trap. Ni Wenhuan, one of the Five Tigers of this eunuch party, fabricated a charge against Mi Wanzhong, and he was falsely accused and lost his position. The Lingxiu giant stone that shook the capital was thus stranded in Liangxiang. Mi Wanzhong was afraid that speaking the truth would cause even greater harm, so he pretended to be weak and broke, claiming that he had exhausted his strength and money by transporting the stone. People became more and more amazed by it, so they called it the “Baijia Stone.”
A hundred years later, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went to the Western Tomb of Yixian County, Hebei Province to sweep his father Yongzheng’s tomb. When passing through Liangxiang, eunuchs reported to him the details of Mi Wanzhong’s search for stones and the charges against him. Emperor Qianlong was very interested and went there in person. Seeing the extraordinary shape of the stone, he was delighted and immediately ordered that the giant stone be moved into the Qingyi Garden. At that time, the main gate of Yishou Hall, “Water and Wood are Close to Each Other,” had been built, and the door was only one meter wide. The stone left by Mi Wanzhong was large in size and heavy in weight, making it difficult to enter the courtyard. Emperor Qianlong ordered the removal of the wall and the door to place this giant rock in its current location, and two Taihu rocks of unique shape were also placed on its left and right to set off the atmosphere. It is said that the Empress Dowager was very unhappy about this and thought that the stone “not only ruined the Mi family, but also broke our door. Its name is ominous.” The mother and son had a big quarrel over this, which shows that the stone’s relationship history is indeed extraordinary.
After Emperor Qianlong placed the stone in the Yishou Hall, he often watched and enjoyed it, and gave it the name “Qingzhixiu” based on its shape and color, and also took into account his mother’s taboo. He carved the three characters on the stone. Qingzhixiu is 8 meters long, 2 meters wide, 4 meters high, and weighs more than 20 tons. Due to years of weathering, the word “qing” has fallen off, and the words “zhixiu” are still clearly visible. Qianlong’s poem “Qingzhixiu” is also still on the stone. The words “Lianxiu” on the east side and “Wang Ying” on the west side are also clearly visible.
Buddha’s Fragrance Pavilion
Tips:
1. The Summer Palace is very large, with a circumference of approximately 8 kilometers. Visitors can plan their route before entering the park, such as entering from the South Garden and exiting from the North Gate to avoid walking back.
2. You can take a boat from the Beijing Zoo, Zizhuyuan Park, or Yuyuantan Park to the Summer Palace and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.