The Summer Palace, Spring 2006

 


Here is the entrance to the Summer Palace. This was the favorite residence of Empress Dowager Cixi "The Dragon Lady." The Dragon Lady was the daughter of an official. She came from a Manchurian family. Her father died early in her life and her family was very poor.
A decorative ceiling near the entrance to the palace. When the emperor turns 18 he selects a woman to be his empress. Then every 3 years he chooses additional women (usually ages 14-17) to be his concubines. Many parents did not want their daughters chosen because once they entered the Forbidden City they had to break off ties with the outside world and they would never see them again. Some parents even made temporary engagements for their daughters to prevent them from being taken.
Here is a gate inside the Summer Palace. The Dragon Lady was unlike a lot of other women of her time. She could read and write. She decided she wanted to become one of the emperor's concubines because she wanted to help support her poor family.
Inside the Summer Palace is another Qiling (we saw one along the Sacred Way too). Supposedly a Qiling could tell if someone was lying to the emperor.

Here is a courtyard in the summer palace. There are several ranks for women in the palace. The empress is at the top, next would be the imperial concubines, then there were 2 other ranks of concubines, and finally palace maids. Maids could move up to concubines if the emperor fell in love with them.
Here is a phoenix in one of the courtyards. The phoenix statue stands tall and is walking over the land. Women were often identified with the phoenix, men with dragons.
A Close up of the phoenix. When Empress Cixi had this phoenix sculpted she made sure that it looked strong and proud next to the weaker, sadder looking dragon statue on the right.
Here is the dragon statue next to the phoenix. He isn't standing on any territory like the phoenix is and his facial expression is sad compared to the proud, confident, phoenix.

Here is a closeup of the dragon.
This is the hall of Benevolence and Longevity. The Dragon Lady started out as a palace maid. She paid off the head maid so that she would ensure her daily duties kept her close to the emperor. Her plan worked and the emperor soon fell in love with this unusual, educated, maid. He then took her as a concubine.
Here is the throne in the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. Behind the throne is a mirror. On the mirror is written the character for "happiness." It can be written in many different ways. "Happiness" in China isn't just feeling good, it's the fullness of happiness, happiness in every aspect of your life- happiness for your family, your children in your daily work and so on. So, it means much more than just good feelings.
Here is a photo of a man practicing calligraphy in the dust using a long stick with a water soaked sponge on the end.

A close up of the man practicing his calligraphy.
This is Kunming Lake, a large lage that is part of the summer Palace. I believe that's Longevity Hill in the distance.
A slightly closer version of the last photo. Like happiness, longevity does not just mean long life in China. It's more like "eternal life."
A photo of a small piece of land on Kunming Lake.

This is the entrance to the Hall of Jade Ripples. The Dragon Lady eventually had a son who was appointed the new emperor. He was too young to take the throne when his father died (he was only 6), so his mother Empress Dowager Cixi (The Dragon Lady) ruled in his place until he was old enough. She shared this power with the Emperor's first wife, the real Empress, but the Dragon Lady was mainly in charge. They think the Dragon Lady might have later poisoned the Empress with cookies.
Here is part of the courtyard in the Hall of Jade Ripples. The Summer Palace was called at one time The Garden of Clear Ripples. The Dragon Lady loved the summer palace much more than the Forbidden City and spent most of her time there instead. In 1860 the Anglo-French Allied Forces burned the Summer Palace down. It was rebuilt in 1886 by The Dragon Lady despite a shortage in money. This hall was reconstructed as the Emperor's living quarters.
The Hall of Jade Ripples courtyard. Following the failure of the Reform Movement in 1898 Cixi ordered that the courtyard be sealed off and that her son the emperor be put under house arrest. She kept him locked in this courtyard for 10 years.
This was a fixture for something that would hang down (perhaps a jade ornament). Bats represent "happiness" in China because the word for bat "fu" sounds like "happiness," also pronounced "fu."

The hall had many beautiful and colorful paintings adorning the wood work.
Despite the beauty of this courtyard, which was perhaps one of the prettiest we saw, I don't think that I would enjoy being confined to this place for 10 years.
A wonderful corner of the courtyard with lots of beautiful wood carvings and paintings.
Here is a picture of me and our guide Carol in the corner.

Beyond the Hall of Jade Ripples were more buildings built along the lake.
Here is the statue of a deer in another courtyard.
Here is a picture my Aunt Alice took of Carol our guide under a blossoming magnolia tree.
Across the lake more buildings could be seen. A bridge with 17 arches connected this island with the land. The bridge had 17 arches because the 9th arch would be in the middle of the bridge. Nine was considered a heavenly number. Odd numbers were considered to be in harmony, while even numbers were not considered harmonious.

Here was another hall near the end of the Summer Palace. The Dragon Lady was very smart and knew how to confuse her enemies. She had 128 dishes prepared for each meal. The dishes far away from her were for color, the middle ones were for smelling and the ones closest to her she ate from. She also never used the same dishes or chopsitcks in order to keep people from poisoning her.
Here is a detail of a brightly painted decorative arch.
A marble boat sits on the water in the Summer Palace. It is said that The Dragon Lady liked to sit on the upper deck where a large mirror was (visible in this picture). She would sit and gaze at the lake through the mirror while having tea.
Here are some beautiful bridges over the water near the end of The Summer Palace tour.