Zhongcui Palace

Zhongcui Palace

Zhongcui Palace, an architectural complex on the eastern side of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City in Beijing, is one of the Eastern Six Palaces. It is located west of Jingyang Palace and north of Chengqian Palace. Built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420), it was initially named Xianyang Palace. In the 14th year of the Jiajing reign (1535), it was renamed Zhongcui Palace. In the 5th year of the Longqing reign (1571), the front hall of Zhongcui Palace was renamed Xinglong Hall, and the rear hall was renamed Shengzhe Hall, serving as the residence of the crown prince. Later, it reverted to the name Zhongcui Palace.

"Zhongcui" shares the meaning with "Zhongcui" (also translated as "Zhongcui"), which in ancient times referred to gathering essence or the finest elements. The Qing Dynasty retained the Ming name, and the palace was renovated in the 12th year of the Shunzhi reign. Further repairs were carried out in the 11th year of the Daoguang reign (1831), the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign (1874), the 16th year of the Guangxu reign (1890), and the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign (1897). In the late Qing period, a screen wall gate and corridors were added inside the palace gate.

Zhongcui Palace is a two-courtyard complex with its main gate facing south, known as Zhongcui Gate. The front courtyard’s main hall is Zhongcui Palace itself, featuring five bays, a yellow glazed tile hip-and-gable roof, front corridors, five decorative ridge beasts, and single-eave, single-ang roof brackets under the eaves adorned with Suzhou-style paintings. The central bay has doors, while the side and end bays feature lattice windows with ice crack and step-pattern designs. Originally open-beamed overhead, the interior was later fitted with a ceiling, laid with square bricks, and displays an imperial plaque inscribed with “Shushen Wenhe” (Gentle and Mild) personally written by Emperor Qianlong in the central bay. Flanking the hall are three-bay east and west side halls, also with front corridors, central bay doors, yellow glazed tile flush-gable roofs, and Suzhou-style painted eaves.

The rear courtyard features a five-bay main hall with central bay doors, a yellow glazed tile flush-gable roof, and Suzhou-style painted eaves, along with side rooms on both sides. There are also three-bay east and west side halls, all with central bay doors and yellow glazed tile flush-gable roofs. A well pavilion stands in the southwest corner of the courtyard. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhongcui Palace housed imperial concubines and was once temporarily used as the crown prince’s residence. In the Qing Dynasty, it served as living quarters for empresses and consorts. When the Xianfeng Emperor, Yizhu, lived here as a child, the Dowager Gonggui (then Jing Guifei, later Empress Xiaojingcheng), mother of Prince Gong Yixin, also resided in the palace to care for him. Empress Xiaozhenxian (the Eastern Empress Dowager Cixi) lived in Zhongcui Palace from the time she entered the palace until her death in the 7th year of the Guangxu reign (1881). After the Guangxu Emperor’s marriage, Empress Longyu also resided here. The last emperor, Puyi, also lived in this palace after entering the Forbidden City.

Today, the palace regularly hosts exhibitions of jade artifacts from the Forbidden City collection. Zhongcui Palace was initially named Xianyang Palace. Historical records indicate that in the 14th year of the Jiajing reign (1535), Xianyang Palace was renamed Zhongcui Palace, and Xianyang Gate became Zhongcui Gate. In the 5th year of the Longqing reign (1571), it was renamed again, with the front hall called Xulong Hall and the rear hall called Shengzhe Hall. In the early Qing Dynasty, it reverted to the name Zhongcui Palace, which has been used ever since. In the early Ming Dynasty, the palace housed imperial concubines, then served as the crown prince’s residence during the Longqing era, and later became the living quarters for dowager empresses and consorts in the Qing Dynasty.

Zhongcui Palace is a courtyard among the Eastern Six Palaces of the Inner Court, measuring 47.38 meters north-south and 47.9 meters east-west, with an almost square layout divided into front and rear courtyards—public area in the front, private quarters in the back. The front courtyard’s main hall is Zhongcui Palace, facing south, a five-bay hall with front corridors and a hip-and-gable roof. Each side has a three-bay side hall with a single-eave flush-gable roof and front corridor. Corner corridors connect the main hall to the side hall front corridors. The main gate, Zhongcui Gate, faces south, a single-eave hip-and-gable glazed gate with bracket sets, flanked by glazed floral screen walls. Inside the gate is a hanging mountain-style reverse-facing screen door with four operable panels. Corridors along the south wall connect to the screen door and side hall front corridors, forming a three-sided courtyard with enclosing corridors. The rear courtyard is also a three-sided layout with a main hall and two wings, but slightly less grand, with lower-grade flush-gable roofs. A raised central north-south pathway connects the front and rear halls. The rear hall has lower side rooms and partition walls, forming a small courtyard. A well pavilion stands on the west side of the rear courtyard pathway. This architectural ensemble is a typical imperial residential compound.

On-site investigation shows that Zhongcui Palace’s main hall has undergone only partial maintenance from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, preserving its early Ming structural framework.

The main hall’s floor plan features gradually decreasing dimensions from the central central bay outward to the side and end bays, clearly distinguishing primary and secondary spaces. This layout is more pronounced than in the Song and Yuan periods and continued into the Qing Dynasty. Early Ming official architecture employed strictly symmetrical column-grid layouts, with the four-pillar bay as the basic unit. Columns show distinct slanting and upward curves, maintaining Song Dynasty practices.

The main hall’s interior roof framework is simple yet structurally rigorous, with sturdy joints and high-quality materials (beams, purlins, brackets all made of golden-thread nanmu wood), all finely crafted. Beam-to-beam and beam-to-column joints commonly use crossed brackets to reduce shear force on beam ends and purlins. Though uncarved, the five-rafter beams employ an arched design with narrower, lower ends and a wider, higher middle—balancing load-bearing function without appearing bulky. Edge contours of beam ends, column tops, bracket arms, rafter tails, and flying rafters mostly feature subtle curves, skillfully utilizing the wood’s workability for artistic effect and enhancing decorative appeal.

As the main hall originally featured exposed beams, its beams, purlins, rafters, and brackets were fully painted with colorful designs. Over time, as residents or usage needs changed, the ceiling was modified multiple times. The ceiling was lowered three times during the mid-Ming, early Qing, and mid-Qing periods, preserving the overlying paintings each time. Thus, Zhongcui Palace retains early and mid-Ming green-toned spiral-patterned paintings, dragon-phoenix imperial-seal murals, and exterior purlin Suzhou-style paintings. Few palaces preserve such diverse, historically layered murals, making it an invaluable resource for studying Ming and Qing official mural development.

Scenic Spot Location

No. 4, Jingshan Front Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China

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