Hall of Imperial Ancestors

Hall of Imperial Ancestors

The Hall of Imperial Ancestors is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Hall of Imperial Ancestors, located on the eastern side of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City, was the imperial family’s ancestral temple for worshipping their forebears during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first built in the early Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty followed the Ming system, reconstructing it in the 14th year of the Shunzhi reign (1657) and carrying out multiple renovations thereafter.

The Hall of Imperial Ancestors is an H-shaped structure built atop a white Sumeru pedestal, surrounded by high walls. The front section is the main hall, and the rear is the bedroom hall. The front hall is nine bays wide and four bays deep, with a floor area of 1,225 square meters. It features a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof covered with yellow glazed tiles, with golden outline color paintings and large golden-dotted spiral patterns under the eaves. The central five bays of the front eaves have doors, with three intersecting six-leaf lattice windows, while the rest are fitted with lattice windows. There is an indirect passageway between the side bays.

The interior houses dragon and phoenix thrones of successive emperors and empresses, as well as offering tables for ritual utensils, silk, incense, prayers, and wine vessels.

The rear hall is nine bays wide and two bays deep, with a floor area of 755 square meters. It has a single-eaved hip-and-gable roof covered with yellow glazed tiles, and the exterior eave paintings are also golden outline color paintings with large golden-dotted spiral patterns. The central five bays of the front eaves have an indirect passageway, while the rest are fitted with lattice windows. The interior is divided into nine chambers along the rear eaves, each housing the spirit tablets of successive emperors and empresses, following the “same hall, separate chambers” layout. Each chamber is equipped with a shrine, ceremonial bed, ceremonial chair, and other furnishings, including incense burners and candlesticks.

The front and rear halls are connected by a passageway, forming an internal corridor.

The floors are all paved with golden bricks, and the ceilings feature lotus and aquatic plant patterns in gold. The front terrace is 40 meters wide and 12 meters deep, covering a total area of 500 square meters, and displays a sundial and measuring vessel. The Sumeru pedestal and terrace are surrounded by railings and dragon-and-phoenix-patterned column bases. There are no side halls or wing rooms, except for 13 rooms directly south of the Hall of Imperial Ancestors’ main gate, which serve as divine storage and kitchen facilities.

To the east lies a small courtyard containing a three-bay hall built by the Ming Emperor Jiajing (Zhu Houcong) for worshipping his biological mother.

According to Qing regulations, major ceremonies were held in the front hall on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the Emperor’s birthday, New Year’s Day, and other national celebrations. Incense offerings and ceremonies were conducted in the rear hall on the birthdays and death anniversaries of emperors and empresses, as well as during festivals like the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival, Frost’s Descent, and New Year’s Eve. Events such as bestowing imperial titles, enthronements, conferments, imperial study sessions, plowing ceremonies, mausoleum visits, imperial tours, returns to the capital, and other celebrations were announced in the rear hall.

The rear hall of the Hall of Imperial Ancestors was originally divided into compartments, each enshrining the spirit tablet of an emperor and empress of a particular reign. Each shrine held a gold-lacquered throne, upon which the spirit tablet was placed, and each tablet was accompanied by a silk quilt and pillow. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 33 such tablets.

The Clocks and Watches Gallery is housed in the Hall of Imperial Ancestors outside the Jingyun Gate, displaying 123 timepieces of various types made in China and abroad during the 18th century.

By the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, mechanical clocks powered by springs were already widely used in the imperial court. The collection of timepieces in the imperial palace mainly comprised those made in Guangzhou, Suzhou, and the palace workshops during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, with some imported from Britain, France, Switzerland, and other countries. Chinese-made clocks were often decorated with gold, pearls, jade, and gemstones, and modeled after pavilions, pagodas, flowers, fruits, and potted plants. Timepieces from Britain, France, and other countries were designed to resemble Western architecture, carriages, horses, and figures.

These timepieces employed a variety of methods to indicate the time, such as automatically opening and closing doors with robots striking the bell, chiming bells and drums to play melodious tunes, or featuring blooming flowers, dancing butterflies, flowing water, and birdsong—all using vibrant colors, pleasant music, and auspicious symbolism to delight the emperors and empresses.

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