Prince Gong’s Mansion, the largest mansion in China: A pillar is worth 2.7 billion. How luxurious is the palace?
Where is the most expensive mansion in China? How expensive is it? For those wealthy people who spend a lot of money, a mansion worth several hundred million should be quite good. But if you think this way, it can only be said that you are really just a "rich person".
There is a mansion with a pillar worth 2.7 billion. It is Prince Gong’s Mansion near Shichahai in Beijing. Prince Gong’s Mansion can be said to be the largest mansion in my country. It is the only nationally protected mansion that is publicly available and is now a 5A tourist attraction.
The predecessor of Prince Gong’s Mansion, the mansion built privately by He Shen
In fact, the earliest name of Prince Gong’s Mansion was not Prince Gong’s Mansion, but “He Di”, which was the mansion of the corrupt official He Shen. No. .
The story begins in the 41st year of Qianlong's reign. Heshen, then a bachelor of Wenhua Palace and Minister of Military Aircraft, took a fancy to this Feng Shui treasure land not far from the "Emperor's Home", so he bought it. I got this piece of land and built my own mansion here.
But evil comes with evil consequences. After more than 20 years of glory, with the death of Emperor Qianlong, the new emperor Jiaqing came to power. He Zhongtang, who had become a highly respected minister and dominated the sky with one hand, finally fell out of favor and faced downfall.
In the fourth year of Jiaqing, the day after the death of Qianlong as the Supreme Emperor, Emperor Jiaqing, who was no longer restrained, dismissed Heshen from his official position and ransacked his home. The confiscated family property was shocking, equivalent to the tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years. This time Emperor Jiaqing was really "full".
From a certain perspective, this is also the "huge legacy" that Qianlong, as a father, left to his son Jiaqing. As for Heshen, this person has been called master by his servants all his life. In fact, he just served as Qianlong's "housekeeper" for his whole life.
History is such an irony. As the steward of the "master" Qianlong, He Shen is undoubtedly competent. But looking at his identity, as a minister of Emperor Qianlong, He Shen should have been cut to pieces long ago.
The fundamental reason why the Qing Dynasty began to decline in the late Qianlong period was that He Shen had embezzled too much of the people's wealth and wealth. As the real treasury of the Qing Dynasty, this mansion also witnessed all this.
Afterwards, Emperor Jiaqing gave this house to his younger brother, the Seventeenth Prince. It is worth mentioning that Qianlong's daughter Princess Hexiao, who was married to Heshen's son, still lived in it. This house has truly become a "royal property".
In recognition of the minister's meritorious service, the mansion was given to Prince Gong
After Heshen, the prince and his descendants lived in this mansion until Emperor Xianfeng died of illness. The Empress Dowager Cixi had serious conflicts with the eight auxiliary ministers including Sushun in order to listen behind the curtain, so Cixi and Prince Gong Yi launched a coup, arrested the eight auxiliary ministers, stole the government, and began Cixi's half-century rule over China. .
In recognition of Prince Gong Yi's outstanding achievements in the coup, Cixi gave him this house as a royal residence. From then on, the house was officially renamed Prince Gong's Mansion.
After that, due to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Gong’s Mansion was converted to the church by the descendants of Yi. After that, it was used as dormitories, factories, etc. after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It was protected as a key cultural relics protection object and gradually opened to the outside world. open.
This is the origin of Prince Gong’s Mansion, which influenced and witnessed the historical changes of the Qing Dynasty. It has important historical and cultural value. In addition, where is its value in terms of structure and decoration?
Luxurious and original structure, China’s largest mansion is already a 5A tourist attraction
Judging from the wood used, why is one pillar of Prince Kung’s Mansion worth a sky-high price of 2.7 billion? ? The wood used for the pillars of Prince Gong's Mansion is called golden nanmu. This kind of wood has always been called the most high-grade and precious building wood.
It has the advantages of being antiseptic, warm in winter and cool in summer, and contains agarwood and is not easily deformed. In addition, nanmu is the first wood and is on the verge of extinction. Things are rare and expensive, and coupled with the domestic craze for furniture and real estate speculation, their value has naturally skyrocketed.
From a structural point of view, the most eye-catching building in the entire palace is the "back cover building" which He Shen called the treasure building. It is located on the boundary between the entire palace and the garden.
What is even more meaningful is the number of rooms in the back building. It consists of 99 and a half rooms, which means "fullness when full" in Taoism. In addition to the number nine, in " Four are the most commonly used numbers in the design of "Housoulou". There are 44 assorted windows on the back wall of "Houshoulou", and each window has a different pattern. It is said that He Shen wanted to distinguish various The treasure's hiding place was deliberately designed by the craftsmen.
Another highlight that must be mentioned is that it is said that there are 10,000 blessing characters hidden in the palace, distributed in every corner of the palace. Walking through the garden corridor of the palace, it is not difficult for a careful person to find that there is a word "福" hidden in every bat shape in the corridor. It is a double entendre. There are 9999 of them in total.
At this time, someone will ask, didn’t it say ten thousand? It’s a good question. There will never be one less than one out of ten thousand. The last word “福” is hidden in the stele with the character “福” in Miyun Cave. It was written by Emperor Kangxi himself. Because it is located in Miyun Cave, it is also called the "Dongtian Blessed Land".
At this point, everyone can’t help but wonder, why is the last word "福" hidden in the cave? Are you afraid of being discovered by others? He Shen may have thought this way at the time, because in ancient times only emperors were called "Long Live" and had the dignity of ten thousand chariots. When greeting the emperor in the palace, he used the expression "Wan Fu".
So in ancient times, ordinary people did not dare to use the title with ten thousand characters casually. He Shen hid the 10,000th word "Fu" in the cave because he didn't want others to discover his arrogance and rebellion. It is precisely because of this unique design that Prince Gong's Mansion also has another distinguished name, "Wanfu Garden".
The main hall of Prince Gong's Mansion is called "Yin'an Hall" and is the main building of the Prince's Mansion. It is only used during major festivals. It was later burned down due to accidental fire and is now being rebuilt. There is also Jiale Hall, whose plaque "Jialue Hall" was written by Qianlong himself.
When Prince Gong arrived, it was mainly used for sacrifices in the palace, to enshrine ancestral tablets, tablets of gods, etc. There is also the exquisite design and unique style of the back garden, with rockery caves, winding roads, pavilions, pavilions and winding paths, which are pleasing to the eye and lingering over.
There are many other gorgeous and original designs, such as partitions, doors and windows imitating Ningshou Palace; fairy towers, temples and other decorations are comparable to the imperial palace. There are also more than 20 buildings with inner eaves decoration, such as Taishi wall, throne bed, fairy tower, book pavilion and so on.
Today’s No. 1 mansion, Prince Gong’s Mansion, has long become a treasure of my country’s history, culture and art design. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit, a national first-class museum, a 5A-level tourist attraction, and has become a national publicity of history and culture. A beautiful business card attracts countless Chinese and foreign tourists every year.