Travel In The Shenyang Imperial Palace #2: （one of the two remaining palaces in China）沈阳故宫之二

Hello steemian friends:

Today I will continue to share with you the real life situation of Shenyang Imperial Palace. In my previous post, I shared with you some photos of The Imperial Palace, if you miss it, you can click here.

Last time, you saw the QingningPalace where the empress lived. The following is the Qingning Palace.

上次说到后宫的皇后的寝宫清宁宫。那这个院子里除了清宁宫中宫之外，还有四个配宫。嫔妃的住所。按照当时的等级东边西边各有两座宫殿。在级别上，东边比西边高一些。

There are four palaces on both side of the Qingning Palace in this yard . They were the places where the four concubines lived. Although their house look the same, but in fact they have a big different by their position. The east was higher rank than the west.

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The Following photo is the Guanju Palace （ 关雎宫 皇帝最宠爱的妃子海兰珠的住所）
The Guanju Palace, also called eastern Palace, It got the name, Guanju Palace.it was the harem of Huangtaiji's concubine Chen whose full name was Hailanzhu.the niece of empress and sister of Concubine Zhuang was also from the Mongolian Khorehin tribe.

Among the Four Palace, Guanju Palace, which was in the east of Qingning Palace, was the highest rank, next to the Qingning Palace.
She was the most loved by emperor Huangtaiji.

When she was 26 years old, she married huangtaiji. Because the empress had no children, in order to consolidate her position, she selected her niece, hailanzhu's sister Zhuang concubine , to marry emperor. Although she born three daughters, had no sons. Hurry to inherit the throne, Huangtaiji selected Hailanzhu as his concubine. It is unusual that three women (aunt and nieces)married an emperor.

The emperor gave a special favor for her, next year Hailanzhu born a son, emperor proclaimed a general amnesty, which only happen when the emperor bestowed the prince on his son. But the child died soon, after two years, Hailanzhu also died of grief. This was really a tragedy!

其中东边紧邻皇后的关雎宫地位最高，仅次于皇后。这里当初住的就是皇太极最宠爱的妃子，海兰珠。

海兰珠26岁嫁给皇太极。她嫁过去是因为皇后一直没有孩子，为了巩固自己的地位，把自己的亲侄女，海兰珠妹妹先嫁过去，虽然生了三个女儿,还是一直没有儿子。急着继承皇位的皇太极又选中海兰珠。姑姑和侄女三人同侍一个皇帝，这是很少见的。

结果皇帝对海兰珠特别的宠爱，以至于海兰珠生完儿子，就大赦天下。这可是立太子时才有的待遇。后来孩子不到周岁就夭折了，两年后海兰珠也悲伤过度去世了。这真是一个悲剧！

The Divine Pole 神竿
it was used for holding ceremonies to worship heaven in the imperial palace according to the Shaman customs of the Manchu. During the ceremonies, people put grains and offal into the tin on its top to feed the "divine bird" (crow) to express thanks to god.

They regarded the crow as god. It is said that because the man, who was Manchu ancestors, was chased by many peoples . Finally, a crow was fell on the man. The pursuer thought that the man had died because crow could only stop on the dead, so they stopped chasing. And then the man survived and finally unified the tribes. So they expressed gratitude for the crows.

根据满族萨满教的风俗，每当祭祀的时候，竿上挂着猪肉，粮食啊供给乌鸦吃。他们把乌鸦看作是神。据说是因为满族的祖先有个人曾经遭受追杀，最后有只乌鸦落到此人的身上，追赶者认为乌鸦只能在死人身上驻足，所以他们停止了追赶。这样这个人就活了下来，并且最后统一各部落。因此他们一直对乌鸦怀有感恩之情。

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The West Wing Palace （ 西配宫 另一个嫔妃的住所）
served as the residence of concubines of Huangtaiji. After the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it served as the place where sacrifices, such as cakes and wine, were prepared when the emperors visited Shengjing and offered sacrifices to the ancestors in the Qingning Palace.

What a beautiful vat ! 看着装水的大缸都这么漂亮！

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接下来这个宫殿是四位后妃地位中最低的，永福宫。尽管庄妃当时地位不高，但是历史上庄妃确是斯妃中最有名气的一个，她还是海兰珠的亲妹妹。在这里她生下了儿子福临，也就是后来的顺治皇帝。一提电视剧孝庄秘史大家可能都知道。她被后人评价是清朝历史上最有作为的后妃。

Next, the palace was the lowest rank in this yard, named Yongfu Palace. Although Zhuang concubine‘s status was not high, she was the most famous concubine in the four concubines in history. She was sister of Hailanzhu, and born a son, named Fulin, who was the emperor Shunzhi. As mentioned the TV drama, XiaoZhuang Secret History, you all know it.
She was the most capable concubine in history by people.

So, can you guess the stone’s function?

Stone 栓马石：
It was used to tie up a horse, and there was a custom for a grown man, if he can move the stone, he was adult.
主要用于拴马，还有就是满族人有个习俗看男子是否成年，如果能搬动这个石头就算是成年了。

The Screen Wall in Prince Yu's Mansion 豫王府影壁

It was originally located in the Prince Yu's Mansion in Shenyang. Prince Yu is the 15th son of Nurhachi. The ancient site of this mansion is located in the north of Zhongjie in Shenyang today.
原来位于豫亲王府。豫亲王是努尔哈赤第15个儿子，其王府遗址在今沈阳中街北。

beautiful china

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The Mural of Rivals of the Dragon 仙鹤图：

In ancient times, people looked the rivals of the dragon as the symbol of good health and longevity. It has the meanning of good luck , best wishes , honesty and blessing the imperial power and the country.

古代人们把仙鹤看作健康长寿的象征。仙鹤之“仙”，彰显于宫廷则更加尊贵，有吉祥的含义，有祝福的作用，有清正的象征，更有护佑皇权江山的功利性。

The Chimney 烟囱

It is the only chimney in Shenyang Featuring typical characteristics of Manchu"cross-ocean chimney"
寓意一统江山。是故宫里唯一的一座烟囱。

The Milling House 磨房
it was constructed before the Qing entered the Shanhai Pass, was later destroyed in fire and rebuilt in 1987. It served as the place where flour for imperial consumption was milled. Inside the mill, the millstone on display was the object used in the Qing Dynasty.

这里是磨房，能磨面粉，给皇宫里制作各类食物，糕点的地方。

The Rihua Tower and Shishan House 日华楼 和师善斋

They were the places where the emperor's children studied and read.
是皇子们读书学习的地方。私塾学校。

Now we see the beautiful Imperial Garden. 现在来到了漂亮的后花园（御花园）。

Walking in the long garden, I saw these various the stone. There is a small pavilion on the hill, a flight of stone steps leads to the pavilion, you can get there through it. but now the stone steps were stopped. I thought emperors and concubines enjoyed the beautiful flowers and the sound of birds singing in here at that time.

走在狭长的后花园中，看到形状各异、姿态万千的太湖石。假山上有一座小凉亭，穿过石阶即可登上凉亭观看美景。不过现在凉亭前的石阶已经上了锁，禁止入内了。想当年，皇帝后妃们就在这里赏花听鸟鸣吧。

So let's finish the sharing in the garden, hope you like this place, and next time I will share with you other interesting photos.

If you like this, don't forget to upvote and follow me.

好了，今天分享就到这里结束了，希望你们喜欢我的故宫之旅，下次再见！

Thank you

@helene