The Bathing Virtue Hall

The Bathing Virtue Hall

On the northwest terrace of the Wu Ying Dian architectural complex on the western side of the Outer Court, there is a distinctive remnant of a Turkish-style "bathroom" known as the Bathing Virtue Hall. Its name originates from the phrase "bathe virtue and cleanse the body" in the Book of Rites. During the Qing Dynasty, it served as an office for literary officials tasked with proofreading books, specializing in book printing and binding.

The Bathing Virtue Hall faces south and has three bays, topped with a yellow-glazed tile hipped-gable roof. To the northwest behind the hall lies a northern room with two bays, covered by a yellow-glazed tile single-eave gabled roof. The east side bay at the rear has a door opening onto a passageway leading to the rear chamber, which twists like an L-shape. The rear chamber is square in plan and covered by a dome. Its interior walls up to the ceiling are lined with plain white glazed bricks, and the top has a window. The back wall features an iron stove used for heating water, while an outdoor hearth is located northwest of the Bathing Virtue Hall.

At the northernmost end outside the west wall of the Wu Ying Dian architectural complex, there is a well pavilion with a pyramidal roof, topped with yellow-glazed tiles, and the well opening is situated on a square stone platform.