The famous scenic spot Prince Gong’s Mansion, who once lived here?
Prince Gong’s Mansion is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a national first-class museum. It is the largest palace in the Qing Dynasty. Both He Shen and Yong Lin once lived here.
Prince Gong’s Mansion has experienced the historical process of the Qing Dynasty from its peak to its decline, and carries extremely rich historical and cultural information. Therefore, there is a proverb that "a Prince Gong's Mansion is half the history of the Qing Dynasty". With the care of three generations of leaders of the State Council, Zhou Enlai, Gu Mu and Li Lanqing, Gong Zizhen's palace was built within 28 years and became the only Qing Dynasty palace open to the public in China at that time.
The residence of Prince Gong was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It was originally the private residence of the great scholar He Shen. Around the 40th year of Qianlong's reign, Heshen, who was very popular in front of the emperor, fell in love with this geomantic treasure land and built the famous "Hedi". In the fourth year of Jiaqing, Heshen was sentenced to death for his crimes, so Emperor Jiaqing gave this mansion to his younger brother Yonglin, Prince of Qingjun. Yong Lin is probably the most fond of this mansion among the previous owners. In the first year of Xianfeng, Prince Gong Yi?, an important political figure in the late Qing Dynasty, became the third generation owner of this house and changed its name to Prince Gong's Mansion. With his great power and prestige as the king of state affairs, chief minister of military aircraft and other important positions, he built a mansion garden and also repaired and rebuilt some parts of the mansion. The architectural scale and layout of Prince Gong's Mansion we see was finally formed at that time.
It is said that many royal palaces have back gardens. But after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, it has long been changed beyond recognition. Only Prince Gong's Mansion is the most complete and elaborately decorated Qing Dynasty palace in Beijing. The famous scholar Mr. Hou Renzhi even said that "a Prince Gong's Mansion is half the history of the Qing Dynasty", which shows that he has a high evaluation of the status and significance of Prince Gong's Mansion.