Why is the "Fallen Stone" in the Summer Palace facing Le Shoutang?

Dear friends, now I want to introduce the Summer Palace, which is the largest imperial garden in the world. Founded in the Jin Dynasty, it is located in the northwest suburb of Beijing, 5 kilometers away from the urban area/kloc-0, covering an area of 290 hectares. The scenic spot is mainly composed of Kunming Lake and Wanshou Mountain, of which the water area accounts for 3/4 of the whole park. The whole park is divided into three areas with different functions, namely, the political area centered on Renshou Hall; Living quarters centered on Yulantang, Yiyuntang and Leshoutang; A tourist area with promenade, Kunming Lake and Suzhou Street as the main body. The Summer Palace combines the beautiful scenery of the whole country with famous buildings, and the gardening art of the north and the south, achieving the artistic effect of "although people do it, the garden is as natural as it is".

As early as the Jin Dynasty, this garden was neither called the Summer Palace nor so beautiful. This is just a natural garden where the emperor hunts. At that time, the mountain was called Jinshan, and the Jinshan Palace was built on the mountain, and the waters were called Jinhai. In the Yuan Dynasty, the mountain was changed to Mount Weng, and the water was Mount Weng. In the Ming Dynasty, this group of mountains and rivers was called Shan Hao Gardens, and the beautiful scenery of "ten miles of green hills and Bai Niao in Qi Fei like the south of the Yangtze River" has appeared. The Qing Dynasty was its heyday. In order to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday, Emperor Qianlong not only expanded the lake, but also built many buildings, especially corridors, in front of and behind the mountain. Emperor Qianlong dug Kunming Lake into a peach shape, meaning to present a birthday present to his mother, and renamed Wengshan as Wanshou Mountain, and called the garden here Qingyi Garden.

Everything has ups and downs. 1860, British and French troops entered Beijing, burning the "three mountains and five gardens" including Qingyi Garden and Yuanmingyuan to a scorched earth. 1885, Empress Dowager Cixi used naval military expenses to rebuild this garden and renamed it the Summer Palace, which means "seeking peace for the aged". However, the good times did not last long. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance burned down the Summer Palace again, and Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt it again in 1903. Due to limited financial resources, only the landscape in front of Wanshou Mountain was restored. After liberation, the people's government repaired and protected the garden many times, and the Summer Palace recovered its former style. 1998 UNESCO listed it in the World Cultural Heritage List. Now let's visit Renshou Hall.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Renshoumen. There are two Taihu stones at the entrance, which are called "Pig Monkey Stone". It is said that the Monkey King and Pig Bajie were sent here to look after the royal family. When you walk into the door of life, what you see is not the Hall of Renshou, but a tall stone of Taihu Lake, which acts as a "barrier". This is one of the landscaping techniques in China classical gardens. Its purpose is to play the role of a screen, to avoid the scenery in the yard take in everything in a glance and lose the sense of meaning. As we said just now, the Summer Palace is a masterpiece of north and south gardens, so it is also a model of classical gardens in China. Many times, various landscaping techniques have been successfully used. I will introduce them to you later. Please follow me first.

(Under the pine tree in the southeast corner of Renshoutang)

Just now, we saw Taihu Stone at the door. Now, please look at the courtyard again. There are also four Taihu stones here. Why do you want to put some grotesque so-called "Taihu Stone" here? First, let me tell you what Taihu Stone is. Speaking of Taihu Stone, everyone should be familiar with it. They appear in many gardens. They look grotesque, full of holes, or piled into rockeries, or decorated with scenery, just don't know their names. In fact, Taihu Stone is produced at the bottom of Taihu Lake in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Because of its peculiar appearance, it is known as "transparent, thin, wrinkled and leaky" and its output is small, so it was selected as a rare thing by the royal family and transported to the garden for decoration. Some Taihu stones are born like some people, animals or auspicious things, and become "stunners" that people collect and give away with some beautiful symbols.

Remember that Taihu stone at the door? From the back, there is nothing strange, but from the front, you will applaud, because this Taihu stone is like an old birthday star, facing Renshou Hall, wishing Empress Dowager Cixi. Do you think so? According to their shapes, the other four Taihu stones symbolize "Chunhua, Qiushi, Donggan and Xia Rong" all the year round. These four seasons stones and the birthday star are collectively called "five old people in the sky", symbolizing longevity.

Look at the copper monster in this yard. It's called "four unlike". Look at its antlers, faucet, lion's tail and cow's hoof. Although it looks strange, it is a kind of benevolent beast and can avoid fire. Therefore, it is really in the right position in front of the "Renshou" temple! You may ask, just now you said "You really found the right place". Is this "four unlike" not here? You are right. The original pair of "Four Elephants" was cast in the Qianlong period. It was originally placed in Yuanmingyuan. 1860 When the British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, another one was destroyed by the invading army. I'm really sorry.

There are bronze dragon and phoenix incense burners and Taiping jars in front of the main hall. In particular, the location of dragons and phoenixes is different from other places. In the palaces and gardens of ancient emperors, mascots such as dragons and phoenixes should be placed in the way of dragons on the top and phoenixes on the bottom. The dragon is inside and the phoenix is outside. It has become a pattern of "phoenix in the center and dragons on both sides". Who was brave enough to do it? It was none other than Empress Dowager Cixi. The hostess listened to politics and gave orders in this hall, as if to say to people, "Who said that women are not as good as men?"

(Left in the middle of Renshou Hall)

This hall, called Renshou Hall, is a temporary place for the emperor to handle government affairs when he came here for the summer vacation. Its function is equivalent to the Gan Qing Palace in the Forbidden City, and its level is equivalent to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City. This area is the political activity area of one of the three major areas of the Summer Palace. In every garden of the Qing Dynasty, there was a hall dealing with state affairs, which was generally called Qin Zhengting Hall, to show that the emperor would not neglect state affairs when he was on vacation and entertaining, so as to show diligence. In fact, he was just too lazy to run back to the Forbidden City to deal with state affairs. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Cixi held the power of the Qing Dynasty and "listened to politics" in the hall of mental cultivation of the Forbidden City and the Qinzheng Hall of the Summer Palace. People in power in the world usually don't want to die, but want to live forever. Therefore, the ruling Empress Dowager Cixi changed the "Hall of Diligence" in The Analects to "Hall of Renshou", which means that benevolent politicians can live a long life.

On the back wall of the main hall, there is a large plaque of "Shouxie Renfu", and there is a Kowloon throne, a royal hall and many decorations in the hall. There are two pieces of furniture worth mentioning. First of all, please have a look at the big mercury mirror directly opposite. There are 226 longevity characters in different fonts, which means "two". On the left side of the mirror, there is a big word "Longevity" on the scroll, with 100 bats in the background, which means "a hundred blessings will last forever". This 100 bat and the 226 longevity words on the mirror mean "Bless (bats) long life (longevity words)", which is really well-meaning. So, does Empress Dowager Cixi live long? Empress Dowager Cixi lived to be 73 years old. There is an old saying that "people live for seventy years". It is not surprising to live to seventy now, but in those days, people in their seventies have to say that they have lived for a long time. Did those words "Fu" and "Shou" bless Lafayette? Of course not, this is inseparable from the regular diet and daily maintenance of Lafayette. People eat whole grains, who can not get sick? Accidents will happen. Who can avoid disaster? However, Empress Dowager Cixi is not afraid of getting sick. She said: "I can overcome diseases and disasters because I have a well to prolong my life." It is said that drinking water from Yanchang well is one of the secrets of Lafayette's longevity. So, do you want to see Yanchang Well? All right! Everybody, come with me. Let's go and have a good look at Yan nian. (By Yannian Well)

Ladies and gentlemen, this is yannian well. It is said that Cixi suffered from summer sickness one year and could not recover for a long time. One day I dreamed of a well during my nap, so I sent someone to dig it, and sure enough, I dug a well. Empress Dowager Cixi took the water and drank a bowl. She was very happy that the summer heat was gone, so she named it "Yannian Well". After that, Empress Dowager Cixi often drank this kind of water to make tea, which was called "making tea in Yanchan well, making doctors all over the street". In fact, the well water of this extension well is high-quality mineral water, which is really good for human health. Cixi's affection for this well is better than gold and silver jewelry. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance went to Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi ran from the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace. She didn't take any gold, silver or jewelry. She just came to drink a bowl of well water to prolong her life, and then she left her hometown and hurried west with Emperor Guangxu …

Ok, the political activity area is over, and now we are going to visit the living area of Empress Dowager Cixi. Let's take a look at Yulantang first. Emperor Guangxu lived in the garden. Please follow me.

(Beside the rockery behind Renshou Temple)

When you arrive here, someone may ask impatiently, "Guide, you said that the Summer Palace is big and beautiful, and 3/4 of it is water. But after we came in, what doors, stones, halls, rockeries, water? Why not take us to see it? " Don't worry, if the door is water, do you think it is too straightforward? You will feel it is not "deep". In fact, this is another gardening method called "landscape suppression". The so-called scenery suppression means that the scenery is suppressed first, and then the scenery is improved. That is, when you feel that there is no doubt that there is no way out, it is the time when you want to see "another village" most. It looks like a winding path here. In fact, a few steps forward, you can feel the feeling of "a bright future"! If you don't believe me, please walk. Everybody! Is there a sense of joy with panoramic views of lakes and mountains now? As the saying goes, "Rome was not built in a day", so the beautiful garden was not built in a day. As we said before, as early as the Jin Dynasty, this was the place where emperors went hunting. At that time, Wanshou Mountain was called Jinshan. There is a Jinshan Palace on the mountain for the Jin emperors to stay temporarily while hunting. The waters under the mountain were then called Jinhai Lake. In the Yuan Dynasty, Jinshan was changed to Wengshan. It is said that an old urn is famous for digging a stone urn on the mountain. The water under the mountain is called Wengshanbo. In the Ming Dynasty, this group of landscapes was called Shan Hao Garden, and a quiet view was built on the southern slope of Mount Weng, renamed the West Lake. At that time, the scenery had already appeared "Ten Scenes of West Lake". Especially in the Qing Dynasty, in order to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday, Emperor Qianlong of Guo Jun, Shi Sheng built a large-scale construction project here, and added a central axis building complex from Paiyunmen to Foxiang Pavilion on the south slope of Wengshan Mountain, giving this group of buildings to his mother as a birthday gift to show filial piety. Emperor Qianlong also changed Wengshan to Wanshou Mountain. Since the mountain has been renamed, the water will naturally be renamed. What's it called? It is said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once dug a "Kunming Pool" in Chang 'an, the capital city, to practice the water army, so Emperor Qianlong followed the example of the sages, dug deep the water under Wanshou Mountain and widened the lake for training the water army in the future. After the completion of the project, this water area was renamed Kunming Lake. Now please come with me to Zhichun Pavilion, which is the best place to enjoy the panoramic view of the Summer Palace. I will introduce you to the important landscapes and buildings on the east bank of Kunming Lake.

(Outside Zhichun Pavilion)

This is the best place to enjoy the panoramic view of the Summer Palace. Why is it called Zhichun Pavilion? Everyone knows the phrase "Spring River Warms Duck Prophet", right? But there are no ducks here. How do we know that spring is coming? Our method is "looking at the willow and knowing the spring". As you can see, peaches and willows are planted everywhere here. Whenever spring comes, it is the first place to show people spring, hence the name Zhichun Pavilion. Looking around, the mountains are rolling in the distance and the ancient pagodas stand tall. Now I ask you, is this ancient pagoda in the distance inside or outside the Summer Palace? The mountain in the distance is called Yuquan Mountain, which is rich in high-quality mineral water, specially for the emperor and empress in the Forbidden City.

The ancient pagoda in the distance is called Yuquan Mountain Pagoda. Looking at it in the garden, it is actually in Yuquan Mountain outside the garden. This gardening method of borrowing scenery from other places is called "borrowing scenery"

Let's look at the island on the left in front of us. It's called Nanhu Island. There are three small islands in the south-Fenghuang Wharf, Zhijing Pavilion and Jianzao Hall, which symbolize Penglai, abbot and Yingzhou of Sanxian Mountain in the East China Sea. It's far from Wanshou Mountain. This gardening method is called "landscape contrast".

The bridge connecting Nanhu Island and the land on the east coast is called Seventeen-hole Bridge, which is modeled after the famous Lugou Bridge in Beijing. Why build a 17-hole bridge here after Lugou Bridge? This has to start with Emperor Qianlong.

Although Emperor Qianlong was a great monarch, he was also an ambitious emperor. He liked the scenery and architecture in the south of the Yangtze River very much during his travels, so he had an idea, why not draw all the beautiful scenery in the promenade and gather all the exquisite buildings in the Summer Palace, so the Yellow Crane Tower, Yueyang Tower and Lugou Bridge appeared in the Summer Palace. Emperor Qianlong also wanted to preserve the scenery of Hangzhou and Suzhou, so he imitated Su Causeway in Hangzhou and built the West Embankment in the Summer Palace. Six bridges were built on the west dike to add color, which also eliminated the lack of emptiness in the west building and played a role in "adding scenery" in gardening techniques.

In addition, there is Suzhou Street built behind Wanshou Mountain, and the whole street reproduces the beauty of Suzhou water town. So you can travel all over the south of the Yangtze River without leaving Beijing. Although landscaping costs a little money, it saves the travel expenses and hard work of going to Jiangnan again and again. So, it's really a good deal!

On the east side of the 17-hole bridge, there is an octagonal pavilion called Kuoru Pavilion, which is the largest existing pavilion in China. Connected with Seventeen-hole Bridge and Nanhu Island, it is shaped like a turtle's head, neck and body, symbolizing eternal life in the shape of a turtle.

There is a bronze cow lying on the river bank in the north of Kuluting, which is about the size of a real cow. Why are there bronze cows here? There are two kinds of sayings: one is that Emperor Qianlong cast a bronze cow in order to save water. He specially wrote an inscription on the bronze cow and carved it on its back. Another way of saying it is that "when the garden was first built, there was a group of idyllic scenes on the west side of Kunming Lake, named" Weaver Maid Farming ",which symbolized the place where the Weaver Maid lived. On the east bank, the bronze cowherd and the Weaver Maid faced each other across the river-Kunming Lake. Isn't this romantic?

Finally, I would like to introduce Wenchang Pavilion to you. Please look at the Guancheng building in front of us. It is called Wenchang Pavilion, and a bronze statue of Emperor Wenchang is enshrined in the attic. According to legend, Emperor Wenchang is a god who is in charge of human fame and fortune, and is deeply believed by the world, even the emperor is no exception. However, Emperor Wenchang really wanted to bless someone to become an emperor. Fame and fortune, and a country, will he be happy? Not necessarily! Here is an example.

Look at that small yard. Her name is Yulantang (pointing to the north). This used to be the "prison" of Emperor Guangxu. As an emperor, even the most basic personal freedom has been lost, which is really sad! Why did your son Guangxu fall into this situation? We'll talk later. Now, please enjoy the beautiful scenery and take a picture We'll meet in front of Yulantang in five minutes.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we are going to visit now is a group of buildings in the living area of the Summer Palace, where Empress Dowager Cixi lived when she visited the Summer Palace in the late Qing Dynasty. The building complex in front is called Yulantang, where Emperor Guangxu lived. The latter group of buildings is called Yi Yun Pavilion, where the Queen lives. This is a group of buildings adjacent to Kunming Lake, so the emperor's residence was named Yulantang with the artistic conception of "the lake is like jade, fluctuating".

I wonder if you have noticed that there are two big stones standing on the left and right in front of this gate? Why do you put stones here? Does the stone have a history and a statement? Of course, but it has to start with Emperor Guangxu and the Reform Movement of 1898. 1894, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894 broke out, and Empress Dowager Cixi implemented a policy of non-resistance on the grounds of "not offending the vassal state", which led to the total annihilation of the largest Beiyang Navy in Asia in the Qing Dynasty. After the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing government ceded territory to pay reparations, and China was carved up by the great powers, which made some people of insight in China very excited. The reformists represented by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Tan Sitong wrote to Emperor Guangxu to propose reforms, which were supported by the young Emperor Guangxu. The conservatives represented by Empress Dowager Cixi are "the law of ancestors, which cannot be changed". So he plotted to secretly depose Emperor Guangxu. At the most critical moment, the Reform Movement of 1898 failed because of the informer of two-faced Yuan Shikai. Emperor Guangxu also lost his personal freedom, which was equivalent to being sentenced to "life imprisonment" and imprisoned in Yulantang.

Now let's talk about these two stones. They are called mother and son stones, which were moved from Xiangshan by Empress Dowager Cixi. Putting it here is a rebuke to Emperor Guangxu, as if to say, "Guangxu! Guangxu! Can you be emperor without me? But now you want me to turn against you. You have no conscience. You see, no matter how stubborn a stone is, it still has mother-child feelings. You are not as good as a stubborn stone! "

Guangxu also secretly scold a way, "galeries lafayette! Galeries Lafayette, you are too cruel. Do you know what it's like to be a puppet emperor? As an emperor, I can't rule the country, I can't live in peace, my country will die, I am spurned by all the people, and the lavatory is on my head, but you stand there enjoying yourself and lock me up. What a heart! " Ok, now let's visit the garden.

(in Yulantang Hospital)

Yulantang is the main hall of this courtyard, with subsidiary halls on both sides, Xia Fen Room in the east and Lotus Champs in the west. Behind Yulantang is a hall door leading to Yiyun Hall. If you go to the door of the annex hall on both sides, you will be surprised to find that, alas! Why is it not the house but the wall after opening the door? In fact, not only the halls on both sides, but also the back door to the Yi Yun Pavilion was blocked, which is where Emperor Guangxu was imprisoned. Emperor Guangxu did not need to wear handcuffs and shackles, but looked at the sky like a well every day. How miserable! In this way, after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Emperor Guangxu spent ten years in prison and died in 1908. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu are really enemies. The day after the death of Emperor Guangxu, Galeries Lafayette also sailed west. It is said that Lafayette was not at ease and was afraid that Guangxu would make a rebellion against her in the underworld, so he followed Guangxu.

The furnishings in the Yulan Hall remain the same as they were then. There is an emperor's throne, imperial case, palm fan and dragon bed in the main hall. Please visit for 5 minutes, and we will meet in the backyard.

(In front of Yi Yun Pavilion)

Ladies and gentlemen, Yi Yun Pavilion is the place where the Queen lived in the Summer Palace. Yi Yun means collecting books. Emperor Qianlong studied here. At present, there are 10 original calligraphy copied by Emperor Qianlong embedded in the corridor wall inside the door, and the items in the hall are also displayed in the original state when Queen Yulong lived here. Please visit here for 5 minutes. Our next stop is Le Shoutang, the official residence of the old Buddha Cixi in the Summer Palace.

Dear friends, now we have come to Le Shoutang, the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi, the owner of the Summer Palace. The word "Le Shou Tang" is taken from The Analects of Confucius, which means that those who know are happy and those who are kind live longer. In other words, learned people are happy, and people who speak righteousness live long. The reason why she chose the word "Le Shou Tang" is that Cixi hopes that she can live a long and happy life.

Le Shoutang's furnishings remain the same. The main hall is the place where Cixi lives daily. There are thrones, imperial cases, palm fans, etc. In addition, there are large blue and white porcelain plates. Porcelain plates are used to hold fruits, not to eat, but to smell incense. The east and outer rooms in the hall are refreshment rooms, the east and inner rooms are dressing rooms, the west and outer rooms are places to handle daily political affairs, and the west and inner rooms are bedrooms.

There are a pair of sika deer, crane and vase on both sides of the outer door of Leshou Hall. Some people may ask, why are there no dragons, phoenixes and lions here, but some deer and cranes? What is the reason? In fact, these decorations add up to an auspicious word. The deer of sika deer is homophonic with the capital six (ground), and the word "six" is taken. The pronunciation of "crane" is similar to that of "family happiness", and the bottle of vase is homophonic with the word "flat", so deer, crane and vase take the meaning of "Liuhe Taiping".

There are also magnolia trees, begonia trees and peony trees. Take the "jade" of Magnolia, the "Tang" of Begonia and the "Tang" of Leshoutang, and then take the meaning of peony, that is, "Jade Hall is rich". Besides, Cixi's nickname is "Laner", so it is more natural to plant magnolia!

Tour guide words of Summer Palace

There is a huge stone called Fangshan Stone in front of Leshou Hall. Remember Taihu Stone? In the south, the Taihu stone is wrinkled and thin, while the Fangshan stone is "porous, elegant and leak-free, wrinkle-free and thin". This huge stone, with holes and shapes, looks like Ganoderma lucidum and is called Qingzhixiu. "Green" is cyan, "wisdom" is ganoderma lucidum, and "hole" means hole, that is, a big blue ganoderma lucidum stone with holes and holes. But, ah, it also has an unlucky name called "prodigal son stone". What happened? This has to start from the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was an official who liked to collect strange stones. His name is Mi Wanzhong. Listen to this name. If a big clock is used to hold rice, it can hold 10 thousand minutes, which is rich enough! I lost my family because of this stone. It is said that one day, Mi Wanzhong found this huge stone in Fangshan and liked it very much, so he used a lot of manpower to carry it. In the dead of winter, it is very expensive to dig a well every tens of meters, pour water and frozen ice on the road, and then haul it by people. There was no money before we got to Beijing, so we had to abandon the roadside. Therefore, it is called "the stone of failure".

In a blink of an eye, in the Qing Dynasty, when Qianlong went to Xiling to worship his ancestors, he found this huge stone. At that time, Qianlong was purchasing "rare things" for his mother's 60th birthday, so he wanted to transport this stone back to Beijing. After arriving here, I found that the door into the garden was too small, so I had to break in. Gan Long's mother was very angry and said, "This stone not only defeated the Mijia family, but also broke our door. This is really a failed stone ... a defeated stone ... "Emperor Qianlong had nothing to say at the moment, but listened to the criticism. The witty Liu's eyes lit up and said," Empress Dowager, the emperor brought this stone here. It looks like an ingot and a ganoderma lucidum. Do you think so? If it is ingot and ganoderma lucidum, it is really gratifying! This is a good omen that the financial resources are rolling in and the ganoderma lucidum and fairy grass will prolong life. This means that the queen mother is blessed and has a long life! " The queen mother looked at the stone carefully, alas! Indeed, it's a bit like ingots and ganoderma lucidum, so I stopped my anger and turned my worries into joy. Seeing this, Qianlong got off the donkey along the slope and immediately wrote the words "Qing Zhi Xiu" on the stone. He also wrote a poem "Qing Zhi Xiu" on impulse, which is still discernible.

Coincidentally, since this prodigal stone entered the garden, the Qing Dynasty began to decline from the prosperous time of Qianlong, and finally really defeated the Qing Dynasty.

As I said before, Cixi is a person who loves luxury. Let's take eating for example. In the Summer Palace, there are eight courtyards dedicated to cooking for Empress Dowager Cixi, called Shoushan Room. Every day, 120 people are busy with her three meals. Empress Dowager Cixi has two dinners and two snacks every day. Generally, there are three tables, one for food, one for viewing and one for decoration. Empress Dowager Cixi needs 60 kinds of staple food, 30 kinds of refreshments, 128 kinds of various delicacies for each dinner, and the daily meal fee is 600 taels of silver. At that time, she could buy 10 thousand Jin of rice, enough for a family of four to stutter for more than a year. It is really "a meal for the queen mother, and food for the people for several years". Even so, Empress Dowager Cixi still has something to learn. She eats regularly every day and never eats much. More importantly, she always exercises after meals. She firmly believes that "walking a hundred steps after a meal can live for 99 years", which is probably one of the secrets of her longevity! So where does Empress Dowager Cixi go? Of course, I went to the promenade! Ok, everyone, now let's take a look at the promenade and take a walk. ...

Now we come to the promenade scenic spot. The promenade is the longest gallery and corridor in the world. Built in 1750, it is located between Kunming Lake and Wanshou Mountain. It not only connects mountains and rivers, but also adds interest to the whole park. It can be described as a wonderful work.

The promenade starts from the Moon Inviting Gate in the east and ends at Zhang Shiting in the west. The promenade is 728 meters long and divided into 273 rooms. There are four pavilions, namely Liu Jia Pavilion, Jilan Pavilion, Qiushui Pavilion and Qingyao Pavilion, which symbolize the four pavilions. Standing on Wanshou Mountain overlooking the promenade, like a big bat flying into Kunming Lake, a symbol of the East China Sea. The design of this bat flying into the East China Sea is a symbol of "happiness as the East China Sea"! Isn't that clever?

As mentioned earlier, when Emperor Qianlong went down to Jiangnan, he was very attached to the landscape of Jiangnan, so he sent painters to sketch in Jiangnan. After he came back, he painted the landscapes on the promenade, and at the same time gathered the characters and stories in China's classical literature on the promenade, thus forming a world-famous art gallery integrating landscapes and humanistic anecdotes. There are more than 13000 pictures on the promenade, and 1900 was rated as the highest gallery in the world and recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. If you walk in the corridor, you will naturally feel that "people walk in the corridor and God travels in a picture world". Ok, we invite you to visit the promenade. I wish you a good mood!

(in front of the cloud)

How's it going? Guys, you are a little tired! But this corridor has not been built yet, comrades still need to work hard! As a matter of fact, we have just passed halfway through the promenade, which is the dividing line between the left and right parts of the promenade. The buildings in front of Paiyunmen include Paiyunmen, Paiyuntang, Foxiang Pavilion and Wisdom Sea, which are a group of axial buildings in front of Wanshou Mountain. As we don't visit them, I will tell you the main buildings inside.

First of all, I want to introduce the Paiyun Hall. The origin of its name comes from the four words "A fairy leaves the cloud, but sees a golden platform" in Guo Pu's poems about immortals in the Jin Dynasty. It can be seen that all the people living here are extraordinary people, so what is the purpose of this building? In the Ming Dynasty, there was an ancient temple called Yuan Jing Temple, which was later destroyed. In order to celebrate his mother's birthday, Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty built a "yanshou temple" on the basis of Yuan Jing Temple, which was later destroyed by the invading army. The Paiyun Temple you see now was built in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, namely 1887. It is a place dedicated to the birthday celebration of Empress Dowager Cixi. Empress Dowager Cixi compared herself to a row of immortals, hoping that she could live forever.

Above the Paiyun Hall is the center building of the whole garden-Foxiang Pavilion, which was designed for Empress Dowager Cixi to burn incense and worship Buddha. The word "Buddha incense" comes from Buddhism's praise of Buddha.

Further up, the top of Wanshou Mountain is the tallest building in the whole park-the Sea of Wisdom. From the names of these buildings, it can be concluded that they are a group of religious buildings. The sea of wisdom means praising the wisdom of the Buddha as vast as the sea. Although this group of buildings was destroyed by Coalition forces, they were not burned down. Why? Because it is made of glazed tiles and stones, and because it is made of stones, there is no girder to bear the weight, so it is called the Buddha-free Hall, which is one of the three Buddha-free halls in Beijing.

Now let's go back to Paiyunmen. In addition to bronze lions, there are twelve Taihu stones on both sides of the gate, also known as dental calculus, which look like two rows of officials guarding the door. In fact, they also have a name called "Zodiac Stone". If you are interested, you can find out which is your own zodiac stone, but art itself is exaggerated, and the beauty lies in similarity and difference, that is, "the more you look at it, the more you feel like it." Don't argue with each other about what you see! Ok, let's rest here for ten minutes. You can take photos and meet here in ten minutes.

Dear friends, now we come to the west end of the corridor, Zhang Shiguan. There is a big stone boat in the lake in front of us. Its name is Shifang. Zhou Shi is also called Qingyan Boat, which means "Heqing Haiyan". With a total length of 36 meters, it is the largest existing ancient stone ship in China. There was originally a single-story Chinese hut on the hull, but it was burned by the invading army. After the reconstruction of 1893, a double-deck western-style cabin was built on the hull, which has become today's style. There is a big mercury mirror in the upper and lower cabins. It is said that during the rainy season, Empress Dowager Cixi often drinks tea on the boat and enjoys the rainy scenery. You may ask, what is the relationship between drinking tea and watching the rain and the mirror? That's what happened. Empress Dowager Cixi didn't see the rain scene directly. How vulgar! People look at the rain scene in the mirror and pay attention to the hazy beauty of "half dreaming and half waking". So what is the moral of this big stone boat? Everyone has heard of the old saying "water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it"! Rulers are like ships, and people are water. If it is a peaceful place, the ship will not capsize. If officials force the people to revolt, the ruler's boat will turn over. This is what the rulers don't want to see, so they built such a big Zhou Shi that it will never be submerged by the wind and waves, meaning "the mountains and rivers will be solid forever".

People say that Emperor Qianlong was clever. I think this is one of his failures. As we all know, a rising tide lifts all boats. You think, if you build a big wooden boat, if you encounter rising water or huge waves, you may still be able to save your life. But if you build a stone boat, if you meet a rising water, the boat will not rise. In the end, this big ship symbolizing the ruling class was first submerged by the flood of the Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen. ...

All right! The introduction of the key scenery of the Summer Palace ends here. Now please take a picture in front of Dashifang. Thank you for your cooperation along the way!

Everything has ups and downs. 1860, British and French troops entered Beijing, burning the "three mountains and five gardens" including Qingyi Garden and Yuanmingyuan to a scorched earth. 1885, Empress Dowager Cixi used naval military expenses to rebuild this garden and renamed it the Summer Palace, which means "seeking peace for the aged". However, the good times did not last long. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance burned down the Summer Palace again, and Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt it again in 1903. Due to limited financial resources, only the landscape in front of Wanshou Mountain was restored. After liberation, the people's government repaired and protected the garden many times, and the Summer Palace recovered its former style. 1998 UNESCO listed it in the World Cultural Heritage List. Now let's visit Renshou Hall.