Beijing's real 'Forbidden City'

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Beijing's real 'Forbidden City'
       
By David Pan
GUANGZHOU - The Chinese government recently named Zhongnanhai in Beijing, the complex of residences and offices adjacent to the Forbidden City on its west side, one of the nation's cultural relics deserving preservation and protection. This has fueled anticipation that this historic yet mysterious place might soon be partially opened to the public.
Zhongnanhai, headquarters of the Communist Party and China's central government, is well known as "the capital within the capital". It is so famous that some savvy business people have thought of using Zhongnanhai as a brand name to sell their products. In Japan, Beijing-made Zhongnanhai cigarettes became the best known Chinese brand name last year, even eclipsing the Chinese computer brand Lenovo or home appliance brand Haier.
However, the vast majority of people, Chinese and foreigners alike, know nothing about Zhongnanhai except that it is the home and workplace of top party and state leaders. Apart from this, the ancient compound in the Chinese capital has remained mysterious, except for the few who have access to it, ever since 1949 when it was taken over by the party to become its headquarters.
Apparently for security reasons, and perhaps for architectural-aesthetical concerns as well, the Chinese government has forbidden the construction of tall buildings around Zhongnanhai and the Forbidden City. The farther away from this center of Beijing, the taller the buildings get. Therefore, Chinese architects describe the architectural structure of Beijing as a "Chinese cooking wok" with Tiananmen, the vast open square in front of the Forbidden City, at the bottom.
After satellite pictures become available on the Internet, many people tried to have a peek inside Zhongnanhai. According to Chinese media reports, over the past few months, "Zhongnanhai" has been among the hottest words in top search engines, as people look for the bird's-eye view of Zhongnanhai, including buildings, roads and even motor vehicles rolling inside the compound.
In early June, Zhongnanhai officially became a cultural site, with its publication among the Sixth Major National Relics Preservation List of China. Specialists in Chinese cultural relics consider the listing in the national preservation scheme to be a sure sign of China's determination to preserve its cultural legacies and to make them a good example to the whole country.
This historically famous royal retreat is distinguished by its high scarlet separating walls topped with golden glazed tiles alongside a green, shaded area, Its walls run parallel to the broad Chang'an Avenue, which is itself decorated with magnificent street lamps.
The word Zhongnanhai consists of three Chinese characters: zhong means center or central, nan south or southern and hai the sea. And the Central Sea and South Sea complex used to be part of the former Three Seas district in Beijing. The North Sea, or Beihai, to the north of Zhongnanhai now is a public park.
In fact, the Three Seas are three sections of a big lake in the heart of Beijing. They were given the names during the Yuan Dynasty when China was ruled by the Mongols. The Mongol word for "water" is "sea", hence the name "sea" instead of "lake".
Initiated in the Liao Dynasty (916-1125), the construction and expansion of Zhongnanhai went through the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911) in Chinese history.
Occupying a total area of 100 hectares, nearly half of which is covered by water, Zhongnanhai is sometimes known as the Water Palace. It was originally built mainly as a short-stay imperial palace for the royal families to feast and carouse.
In the early days of the Republic of China (1911-1949), it was the site of the Presidential Palace of the notorious usurper, Yuan Shikai, and later the Generalissimo Palace of the bandit upstart, Zhang Zuolin, then nickmamed the "King of the Northeast China".
After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the place became the seat of the Central Committee of the party and the State Council. It was also the residence of China's former top leaders, such as chairman Mao Zedong, premier Zhou Enlai, Marshal Zhu De and president Liu Shaoqi.
Deng Xiaoping also lived in Zhongnanhai until the late 1960s, when he was purged as a victim of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). When he made his second political comeback, after Mao's death, he refused to move back into Zhongnanhai. Perhaps he did not want to be reminded of his bitter experiences there.
Some of the notable buildings in Zhongnanhai include the "Water and Cloud Pavilion", the "Ying Terrace", the "Purple Light Pavilion", the "Feng Ze Garden" and the "Huairen Hall".
Among them, the Ying Terrace, or yingtai, an ornament on the South Sea also known as "Autumn wind in the Tai Yi Pool", is one of the well-known "Eight Scenes of the [China's] North Capital". It was once the summer resort of the emperors and their concubines.
It was in Ying Terrace where the second to last Qing emperor, the reform-minded Guang Xu, was imprisoned by Empress Ci Xi. Guang Xu was punished after he launched the short-lived Hundred Days of Reform in 1889. Ten years after his imprisonment, Guang Xu died in Yingtai. Ci Xi only outlived the ill-fated emperor by one day.
The Purple Light Pavilion is located on the northwest shore of the Central Sea. It was originally built as a platform for reviewing troops in the Ming Dynasty and for choosing the best warriors under the auspices of the emperor. In 1760, it was rebuilt by the Qing emperor, Qian Long, for displaying the battle drawings and fighting heroes to boast his "Ten Perfect Military Feats".
Later, it became the feasting and reception hall for the Qing emperors. In 1873, the Emperor Tong Zhi used the place to receive the credentials of ambassadors from Japan, Russia, the United States, France, Holland and Britain, the first such occasion of the diplomatic ritual. But when the Eight Power Allied troops occupied and sacked Beijing after the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 20th century, they used Zhongnanhai as their headquarters.
After the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, the place went into a steady decline, and, as if to add sorrow to woe, one corner of one of its roofs was blown away during a thunder storm. The Purple Light Pavilion was revived when the Central Committee of the Communist Party moved in and it again became a place for receiving foreign VIPs.
On February 21, 1972, Mao met visiting US president Richard Nixon in Zhongnanhai. In normal cases, Mao would meet foreign guests only the day before they left. The sudden decision to meet Nixon on the same day of his arrival outpaced the notification to the presidential guards. The time when Nixon and Henry Kissinger arrived at Zhongnanhai was also a horrifying moment for the American officers who found their president and secretary of state were "lost".
The Huairen Hall is another famous place where Mao convened many important national meetings and conferences and met various heroes and model laborers. It was the place where the "Ten Marshals" of the People's Liberation Army were conferred their ranks. It was also the very spot where some top veterans of the party and the army banged the table to repudiate the reactionary policies of the "Gang of Four" headed by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, during the Cultural Revolution.
To this day, the central committee of the party and the State Council frequently hold meetings there to discuss important national affairs and make decisions.
Zhongnanhai had been a public park during the period of the Republic of China before 1949. In 1980 it was once again partially opened to the public. On weekends, the common people could go in an organized manner to visit some of the important spots, including Mao's residence and the Ying Terrace.
With Zhongnanhai's being accommodated in the scheme of National Cultural Relics Preservation, people are beginning to conjecture the possibility of its being partially opened to the public again, as China now spares no efforts in promoting the 2008 Summer Olympic Games as the "Humanistic and Cultural Olympics".
David Pan is a Guangzhou-based freelancer.