Hall of Literary Glory, Forbidden City

Entering from the south main entrance of Forbidden City - Meridian Gate, you will see the Inner Golden River Bridges. To the east of the bridges is the Gate of Unified Harmony leading to the Hall of Literary Glory. To the west of the bridges is the Gate of Prosperous Harmony leading to the Hall of Martial Valor. These two halls, standing symmetrically on a west-east line, now separately serve as the Pottery Gallery and the Painting Gallery.

Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhuadian)

To the east of the Gate of Unified Harmony (Xiehemen), in the east Outer Court of the Forbidden City lies the Hall of Literary Glory. The building is a 工-shaped structure with a lobby connecting front and back halls. The front hall is the Hall of Literary Glory, facing south. Five bays wide and three bays deep, it has a single-eaved roof with yellow-glazed tiles. The back hall is the Hall of Significance and Respect (Zhujingdian), a similar structure to the Hall of Literary Glory but less deep. Additionally, there are side buildings, the Hall of Benevolence (Benrendian) in the east and the Hall of Righteousness (Jiyidian) in the west.

In terms of architectural layout, the Hall of Literary Glory is the right wing of the three grand halls of the Outer Court; in terms of function, it is a complementary to those three grand halls. Established in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it first served as the main hall of the prince and covered with green-glazed tile according to the theory of five elements of the ideology of the Taoism. However, as the prince was too young to administrate government affairs, the hall was used as one palace of the Emperor's in the fifteenth year of the reign of Ming Jiajing (1521-1567) and the tile was changed to yellow.

In the Ming Dynasty, there set a post in the Hall of Literary Glory called "Grand Scholar", whose job was tutoring the prince. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it became the cabinet system of "three halls, three cabinets", and thus the "Grand Scholar" assisted the emperor to deal with government affairs and took officials into control, power expanded largely.

The famous reading reports ceremony of the emperor was held in the Hall of Literary Glory. The emperor had to compose reports on their study of "the Four Books (the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius, and the Mencius) and Five Classics (Classic of Changes, Classic of Poetry, Classic of Rites, Classic of History, and Spring and Autumn Annals)". The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty presented their reports twice, in Chinese once and in Manchu once, during which the civil ministers listened with their knees down to the floor. Emperor Kangxi (1661-1722), Yongzheng (1722-1735) and Qianlong (1735-1796) were all highly accomplished. They may order civil ministers to debate when they felt the need. And then, everyone is offered a cup of green tea for a rest. At last, the emperor would take the civil ministers to the Pavilion of Literary Profundity (Wenyuange), lying behind the Hall of Literary Glory, to read the books as the special encouragement to those who were lucky to attend the ceremony.
 Pottery Gallery

Pottery Gallery in the Hall of Literary Glory, Forbidden City

At present, the Hall of Literary Glory serves as the Pottery Gallery of the Palace Museum. The Pottery Gallery covers an area of 1.770sqm, housing 429 pieces of pottery treasures, including almost all the important pottery breeds in its development. What's more, lights shed on each exhibit from different angle so as to stand out their unique features for the appreciation of the tourists.

Hall of Martial Valor (Wuyingdian)

To the west of the Gate of Prosperous Harmony (Xihemen), in the west Outer Court of the Forbidden City stands the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuyingdian). The building is a 工-shaped structure with a lobby connecting the main hall and the back hall. The Hall of Martial Valor is the main hall facing south. Five bays wide and three bays deep, it is a single-eaved structure with yellow glazed tiles. The back hall is the Hall for Respect and Thinking (Jingsidian) in similar architectural style as the Hall of Martial Valor. In the northeast of the complex is the Room of Lasting Longevity (Hengshouzhai) and in the northwest the Bath Room. The Hall of Martial Valor and the Hall of Literary Glory echoes from afar, one for military and the other for literary.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor lived and worked in the Hall of Martial Valor, later moved to the Hall of Literary Glory. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng, the peasant rebel leader, attacked Beijing and set up his regime here. However, the army slacked off so quickly that they couldn't fight against the Qing armies. It turned out to be a hasty enthronement in the Hall of Marital Valor on April 29 and a withdrawal from Beijing the next day. Early in the years of the Qing army's control, the regent Duoergun arrived in Beijing first and took the Hall of Martial Valor as the working place. The first several Qing emperors held small-scaled ceremonies, religious rites in this hall. In year 1669, the eighth year of the reign of Kangxi, the Emperor moved to live in the Hall of Martial Valor once due to the remodeling of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

In the reign of Kangxi (1661-1722), a book store was opened in this hall. In 1701, the fortieth year of the reign of Kangxi, a large number of books were produced here. With dry point printing method and tailor-made papers, the books were pieces of art, words exquisite and pictures delicate. In the twentieth year of the reign of Daoguang (1820-1850), few books were published and those that were not published yet stored were all moved to the Hall for Respect and Thinking. In 1814, the nineteenth year of the reign of Jiaqing (1796-1820), after a check of the stored books, the sound ones were moved back to the Hall of Martial Valor, and the deformed ones were sold. In 1869, the eighth year of Tongzhi (1861-1875), the Hall of Martial Valor was damaged by a fire, books all destroyed. In the same year it was reconstructed.
 Painting Gallery

The Hall of Martial Valor now serves as the Painting Gallery of the Palace Museum, housing plenty of ancient Chinese paintings, among which there are the rare and only works of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties and the masterpieces of the different painting groups of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Exhibitions are held each year but some top copies or works as national treasures seldom show their faces. In view of the protection of the classics, short time displays are available only if the temperature and humidity are suitable, mostly in every September and October. Tourists are not allowed to take pictures in the Painting Gallery. However, there is a slides room and several video devices for tourist to photograph yet without flash.

Painting exhibition is available from September 3 to November 1 this year 2009.

Tips: The two exhibition halls share the same opening hours with the Forbidden City, and require no entrance fee. 

Next: Gate of Supreme Harmony

 Related Link: Virtual Guide of Forbidden City