Summer Imperial Palace in Beijing and Empress Cixi
The area of the Inner Court slowly gives way to the Longevity Hill (Wanshoushan). The height of the hill is 58.5 meters and it is a part of Yanshan mountain range and the continuation of the West Hills in the flat part of Beijing. Originally, the Hill was called Gold Mountain. When the Jin Dynasty emperor Wanyan Liang moved his capital to Beijing, he built a palace on this hill and called it Gold Mountain Palace. In the Yuan Dynasty, the hill was renamed from Gold Mountain to Jug Hill (Weng Shan). This name change is explained by a legend according to which a jar with a treasure inside was once found on the hill, which was later lost. The loss of the jar is said to have coincided with the fall of the Ming Dynasty as had been predicted by its finder.
Originally, the Hill area was an uninhabited territory and it took the labor of several generations to make the area around the hill into a blossoming district. It was acknowledged by the rulers as well, so in 1494 madam Loo who was the wet-nurse of the Xiaozong Emperor built a temple on the sunny side of the hill on the place of today’s Cloud Dispelling Hall and called it the Temple of Serenity. In 1751, when the 60th anniversary of the Qianlong Emperor’s mother, Empress Dowager Xiaosheng was celebrated, he changed the hills name from Jug Hill to Longevity Hill.
Originally, the Longevity Hill did not quite match the landscape architecture, because it was not symmetrical – the east slope is gentle while the west slope is steep. Then some soil was excavated from the bottom of Kunming Lake and added to the east slope. At the foot of the south part of the hill there is an old style covered walkway, which leads upstairs. On the way to the hill the visitors can see the main buildings of the Summer Palace, neatly built along north-south axis: the Cloud-Dispelling Gates, the Second Palace Gates, the Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Hall of Virtuous Glories, the Tower of Buddhist Incense, which is the symbol of the Summer Palace, and the Sea Wisdom Temple on top of the hill. The most interesting building on the west side if the hill is a Tibetan Lamasery Monastery which is considered to be the miniature of Potala Palace – the world-known sight in Lhasa, Tibet.
On the East and West sides of the hill there are: Hall for Listening Orioles, “Strolling through a Picture Scroll” Pavilion, Revolving Archives, Precious Cloud Pavilion (Bronze Pavilion). Other buildings, destroyed in 1860, are still lying in ruins – the only one remaining is the Pagoda of Many Treasures, which stands between the trees after being renovated a number of times.
At the foot of the Longevity Hill’s northern slope, Kunming Lake narrows down, forming the Back Lake (Houhu). Longevity Hill is covered with many wooden constructions, so the water surrounding it is very much needed to fight with fires in case they break out. The Back Lake is isolated and its bed is always changing its width. The middle section of the lake is famous for its Suzhou Market Street with shops stretched on both sides.
As it has been mentioned above, ¾ of the Summer Palace’s Garden is water – mostly Kunming Lake. In one of his poems the Qianlong Emperor writes, “Where is the most tranquil place at Yanshan? The views at Kunming Lake are unique.”
Where did the lake get its name? During the West Han Dynasty there was a small state – Kunming on Dianchi lake in Yunnan province. To conquer this state the Wudi Emperor of Han Dynasty dug a big pond in the capital of Chang′an to train his Navy and called this pond Kunming. During the Qing Dynasty on Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace there also was a Naval Academy established.
Before that the lake was called Lake of the Jug Hill and Great Lake. After Beijing became the capital of the Yuan Dynasty Guo Shoujing – who was an irrigation specialist at that time, arranged to supply the lake with spring waters from the Divine Mountains in Changping. These waters allowed using the lake for the transportation of grain. In the Ming Dynasty the lake was used to grow lotuses and around it temples, pavilions, and gardens were built.
For instance, Xuande – the fifth Emperor of the Ming Dynasty built a pavilion here and named it Lake Viewing Pavilion. The Jiajing Emperor built Angling Terrace on the end of the lake. The Wanli Emperor also had big fishing events here. Many members of the Royal family, noblemen and government officials built recreation gardens near the lake. That is why the lake got one more name – the West Lake, like the West Lake at the southern city of Hangzhou, famous for its scenic landscapes.
In 1749 the Qianlong Emperor began a big-scale construction of gardens. In winter around 10 000 workers started to extend Kunming lake. The lake became twice its size and much deeper. According to an ancient legend about three magic islands in the sea: Yingzhou, Penglai, and Fangzhang three islands were also created on the lake: South Lake Island, Mirror of Government Tower Island (Tuancheng), and Hall of Recognition of Talent Island (Caojiantang). After the work was done the lake looked the way it does today. In 1751, while celebrating his mother’s birthday, the Emperor, along with changing the name of the Jug Hill, changed the name of the lake also from Jug Hill Lake to Kunming Lake.
In 1949 excavation work was carried out to deepen the beds of West Lake and Back Lake. Besides that, a channel was dug in the north-west section of the lake which joined it to Beijing-Miyun Channel to supply the lake from Miyun Reservoir the whole year round. In 1900-1901 tens of thousands people were mobilized to dredge the bottom of the lake which accumulated in 240 years (it was done in winter time, when the lake was frozen). As the result, the old name of the Summer Palace – the Garden of Clear Ripples sounded true again.
People usually think that Kunming Lake is one whole but in actuality it is made of five lakes. Some also say that there are Five Lakes and Four Seas in China. Five Lakes are – Chaohu, Taihu, Boyang, Dongting, and Hongze, and the four seas are – Bohai, East Sea, Yellow Sea, and South Sea. In a like fashion many people are saying that there are five lakes and four seas in Beijing too. The lakes are – the Great Lake, Yangshui Lake, the West Lake, the Back Lake, and Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace. As for the seas, they are – Zhonghai, Beihai, Nanhai, and Shichahai in the center of Beijing. Of course these statements are far-fetched but in the days of the Emperors it was quite possible to make miniatures of the real Five Lakes and Four Seas and transfer them to the vicinity of the Forbidden City.
Along the south bank of Kunming Lake there is a 728 meters long corridor – the longest and most famous corridor in China. It serves as a link between Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. Close to 14,000 paintings on a big variety of subjects adorn the Long Corridor to make it a fantastic gallery. On the west bank there is a Marble Boat. This boat was built in 1755 to express the hope for the reign of the Qing Dynasty to last forever, come what may.
The West Dam divides the lake into two sections. Six gracious bridges as links of a chain make the dam into one whole. Among the bridges there is a Bridge of the Jaded Belt – the favorite bridge of the Qianlong Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi. Impressive Seventeen-Arch Bridge joins the east bank and the South Lake Island. 544 stone lions decorate the bridge parapet.