Access the Sanctuaries of the Qing Emperors

Within the northeast precinct of the Forbidden City, the Ningshougong complex encloses the Qianlong Garden (Ningshougong Huayuan), a four-courtyard retreat planned for the planned retirement of the fourth Qing emperor. Built across two continuous acres of stone and timber, the sector preserves rare zitan and huanghuali joinery, carved white jade screen panels, and two-sided Kesi silk tapestries. The architecture combines northern post-and-beam construction with Jiangnan water-town interior layouts, featuring bamboo-thread parquetry, lacquer-inlaid cloisonné, and interior trompe-l’œil theatrical murals executed under Jesuit court painter influence using mineral pigments on mulberry paper.

Outside public hours, access centers on the Juanqinzhai (Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service) and the unheated pavilions of the fourth courtyard. The study examines the material execution of the imperial scholar’s studio: carved stone brush-washers, Song-dynasty inkstone blocks, and calligraphic couplets on cinnabar paper set against rockeries assembled from stratified Taihu limestone boulders. Led by a conservation scholar, the walkthrough isolates joinery tolerances, mortise-and-tenon structural framing, and thermal ducting built beneath brick floors—an objective inspection of Qing palace carpentry, imperial lapidary techniques, and high-dynastic interior architecture.