Palace of Prolonging Happiness
延禧宫
The Lingzhao Pavilion in the Palace of Prolonging Happiness
Former namesPalace of Longevity
Alternative namesYanxi Palace
General information
TypePalace
Town or cityForbidden City
Coordinates39°55′08″N 116°23′33″E / 39.918870°N 116.392410°E / 39.918870; 116.392410
Completed1420

The Palace of Prolonging Happiness (simplified Chinese: 延禧宫; traditional Chinese: 延禧宮; pinyin: yán xǐ gōng), also known as Yanxi Palace, is one of the Six Eastern Palaces in the inner court of the Forbidden City, situated behind the Hall for Ancestral Worship.[1] Described as one of the most 'exotic' looking structures in the Forbidden City, the Palace of Prolonging Happiness was built in 1420 as the "Palace of Longevity".[2][3] From the Ming to the Qing dynasty, the palace was home to many imperial consorts and concubines. The palace was later destroyed by multiple fires between 1845 and 1855.[2] Empress Dowager Longyu ordered the palace to be rebuilt in 1909 with a new three-story Western-style building included. Known as the "Crystal Palace" (水晶宮) or "Lingzhao Pavilion", the building was surrounded by a moat that was supposed to be filled with spring water from the Jade Source Mountain near Beijing. However, lack of funding and damage from a bombing raid in 1917 prevented the completion of the structure.[3] Today, only the iron cast and marbles remain. In 1931, three two-story warehouses were added to house the Palace Museum's artifacts.[1] Since 2005, the warehouses have been used for the Ceramics Laboratory, the Research Centre for Ceramics, and the Research Centre for Traditional Calligraphy and Paintings.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Palace of Prolonging Happiness". The Palace Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 Dagmar, Shafer (2017). "Knowledge by Design - Architecture and Jade Models During the Qianlong Reign (1735-1799)". In Valleriani, Matteo (ed.). The Structures of Practical Knowledge. Springer. pp. 282–283. ISBN 978-3319456713.
  3. 1 2 Barmé, Geremie R. (2011). The Forbidden City. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0674069091.
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