Why don’t all the plaques with the word “door” in the Forbidden City have hooks?

First of all, the reason for not having the hook in the word "men" is not for the beauty of calligraphy. To talk about the reason, we have to talk about several things since the Song Dynasty. Some people may say: Stop talking, the Forbidden City Ming Dynasty It was built in the Song Dynasty. What are you talking about about the Song Dynasty? But the word "door" in Chinese characters did not appear in the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that before Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the word "men" was written with a hook. Whether it was for common people or the royal family, it was very formal. However, after that incident, the "men" of the royal family was changed from then on. The tick has been removed. After the Song Dynasty moved south, the capital of the country was chosen in Lin'an. Once, the Jade Butterfly Hall of the imperial palace caught fire and suffered heavy losses. Unlike other palaces, the Jade Butterfly Hall was a place dedicated to storing the emperor's edicts. This was not a good sign. Therefore, Song Gaozong He became furious and ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire. No official in the Southern Song Dynasty wanted to take this responsibility. In the end, the prime minister had the bright idea. He wrote: "Your Majesty, the cause of the fire has been found. It is all because of the word "men" on the plaque. From the five elements, the end of the word "men" Pens with hooks are fire signs and can easily lead to fires."

Song Emperor Gaozong was a religious believer. When he heard what the other party said made sense, he asked the other party to burn all the plaques with hooks on them. From then on, everyone The "door" on the palace can only be seen as straight strokes without hooks. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had Jixian Gate rebuilt. After the repair, he placed a plaque with the words "Jixian Gate" originally written by Zhan Xi, a scholar. This great scholar wanted to show off his calligraphy in front of Zhu Yuanzhang. , with a slight hook at the end of the word "door".

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he saw it. The other party was busy because he didn't study well. I wonder if the word "door" with the hook on it was "fire pen"? What's more, Jixianmen, Jixianmen, as its name sounds, is the gate to recruit talented people. This road should be smooth and smooth, wouldn't adding a hook make it a stumbling block? This person is simply asking for death! Poor Zhan Xiyuan was killed in such a confused way. Zhu Di moved the capital to the capital. Due to previous Chinese reasons, when building the Forbidden City, the hook on the "men" was simply removed and written in straight strokes. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the hooked word "men" appeared again for a while.

When Emperor Qianlong was Emperor Qianlong, he was always unhappy with the hook on the "door". He felt that this stroke was too violent and he was afraid that this hook would take away the Qing Dynasty, so the Forbidden City On the plaque, the word "men" no longer has that hook, and it continues to this day.