History, Architecture, and Symbolic Meaning of Ming and Qing Prince Gong’s Mansion

The Architecture of Ming and Qing
Prince Gong’s Mansion Ancient Architecture
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Introduction
 This paper aims to look at the history, architecture, and symbolic meaning of the mansion and its buildings. Prince Gong’s Mansion is the most extensive and well-kept in Beijing. The mansion is a valuable architecture seen as a preservation for the classic Chinese flair. Prince Gong’s Mansion is an essential bit of history for people interested in the Chinese antique society in the past. It has a fascinating story, and it is a spot for the local people and tourists to master the Chinese Culture and heritage. The mansion consists of more than 30 group buildings in several styles and has the most significant scale in Qing Dynasty. Heshen, a magnificently corrupt official, once inhibited the mansion in 1777, and then Yong Lin, Qing Prince of the Qing Court, occupied it in 1799. The mansion was named after Yi Xin, Prince Gong in the late Qing Dynasty, who occupied it during the 1800s. The mansion witnessed the regnant of seven emperors, rulers such as Xianfeng, Qianlong, Tongzhi, Jiaqing, Xuantong, Daoguang, and Guanxu. Prince Gong’s Mansion remained throughout history due to its good preservation and constitutes half of the antiquity of the Qing Dynasty.
The History of Prince Gong Mansion
Prince Gong Mansion was constructed in 1777 in the course of the Qing dynasty, specifically for eminent court member, Heshen under Qianlong Emperor. Heshen gained favorable recognition from the emperor and moved up the ranks in his early twenties. He quickly gained high positions in the emperor’s administration and became one of the wealthiest imperial court members. Heshen was then accused of being corrupt in 1799 after Jiaqing replaced Qianlong. Qianlong emperor had Heshen killed and then impounded his mansion, which he later gave to Prince Qing, his 17th grandson. The mansion was handed down again to Prince Gong later in 1851, the 6th brother of the Xianfeng Emperor. The mansion maintained Prince Gong’s name throughout history.
The Qing dynasty crumbled in 1921, and during this time, Prince Gong’s grandson, Puwei, proffered the mansion to the catholic church as a mortgage. The catholic church received the mansion and restored it to be utilized as a University named Furen Catholic University. The church’s priests were, however, deported from China in the 1950s. The mansion was used as an air conditioning business unit in the course of the Cultural Revolution and was proclaimed to be an important historical site in the 1980s. Prince Gong’s Mansion became a significant tourist attraction in Beijing in 1996; it went through more innovations in 2008 in preparation for Beijing Olympics.
Prince Gong Mansion Architecture throughout History
The mansion went through unmatched significant renovation and conservation at the beginning of the 18th Century. Dissimilar to the previous maintenance projects, the mansion’s renovation and conservation maintained the contrasting historical information in all structures of the architectural multiplex. The multiplex historical changes for over 200 years were retrieved through research study records and historical documents. Prince Gong’s mansion renovation project is advanced, scientific, and integrated, reflecting contemporary Chinese historical building characteristics.
The renovation project insists on employing original materials, techniques, and structures in Prince Gong’s mansion. The mansion’s conservation consisted of applying various scientific measures, whereby experts recognized the missing parts of the manor through archaeological evacuation. Yangshi Lei architectural archives, old photos, and historical records further determine the mansion’s recovery design. The project also added lighting, air-conditioning, heating, fire prevention, and security facilities despite recovering the mansion’s old look and restoring its broken and missing parts. The mansion is currently serving as a museum commemorated as one of the most well-kept royal spots in Chinese history and a tourist attraction to exhibit the day-to-day living aspects of the Qing Dynasty Manchu Nobles.
Prince Gong’s Mansion Buildings Architectural Design
Prince Gongs’s building is located on the south side of the mansion, where the gardens are situated in the north, including various quadrangles, an opera house, and two-story buildings. It also has some courtyards with permanent exhibitions in the mansion’s history. In addition, there exists a 28,000 square meter garden consisting of pavilions, 20 scenic spots, and artificial hills that include rock originating from the ponds and lake Tai in Jiangsu. Initially built for Heshen, a highly favored official, it was named after Prince Gong, an influential statesman and Manchu prince in the late Qing Dynasty who lived in the mansion in the late 19th Century. The mansion consists of three luxurious treasures: Xiyangmen located in the garden, Fu Steel, meaning fortune, and the Great Drama building.
There are two lions guarding the main gate, and elaborate buildings stand in front of the mansion with a stylish garden at the back. A plaque inscribed on the main wall hangs and contains three characters that read “Bao Guang Shi” in Emperor Xianfeng’s calligraphy. The buildings in the front are built in three axes which are traditional style, apart from the two-story building with 99 rooms. On the Eastern Axis is the Duofu study with a Ming Style structure. Each two-side axis contains four courtyards, with the second courtyard on the Western side of the axis being strictly spacious. The third courtyard is known as the Xijin Studio and has seven exquisitely furnished rooms. Beams and pillars within the mansion are made of Nanmu, and their sandalwood segmentations are reminiscent of the ones found in Ningshou Palace inside the Forbidden City. There stands a 165-meter-long two-story building betwixt the buildings and the back garden.
The garden in the mansion was named Cuijin, which means concentrated cream of the utmost beautiful flowers that live up to its name. It covers 28,000 square meters, and man surrounds it made hills on its four sides. To the north is the prominent peak built from Ta...