Xihua Gate

　　Xihua Gate is the west gate of the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420). It faces west and stands opposite Donghua Gate, with a "dismount stele" placed outside the gate. The structure of Xihua Gate is largely identical to that of Donghua Gate: it has a rectangular plan, a red city platform, a white marble Sumeru pedestal, and three arched gateways set in the center of the platform. The arches are square outside and round inside, with door studs arranged in nine vertical and nine horizontal lines. A gate tower is built on the platform, featuring double-eave hip-and-gable roofs covered with yellow glazed tiles and surrounded by a white marble balustrade. The gate tower has five bays in width and three in depth, with corridors extending around all sides. The beams and brackets are decorated with ink-line large golden dot-swirl patterns. The gate tower was used to store cotton armor and nailed helmets for military reviews.

　　The location of Xihua Gate is not in the exact middle of the western wall of the Forbidden City but slightly toward the side of the Meridian Gate (Wu Men), which is closely related to the overall planning of the palace complex. The Forbidden City is divided into the Outer Court and the Inner Court. The Hall of Martial Valor (Wu Ying Dian), the Meridian Gate (Wu Men), and the Hall of Literary Glory (Wen Hua Dian) form the horizontal axis that runs through the Outer Court, with Xihua and Donghua Gates positioned at either end of this axis. This layout facilitates the use of the Outer Court while also reducing the disturbance of people entering and exiting to the life within the Inner Court. Extending this horizontal axis further east and west to the Imperial City leads directly to Dong'an Gate and Xi'an Gate. Clearly, Xihua and Donghua Gates serve as important connectors between the Imperial and Forbidden Cities.

　　During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Grand Council (Junji Chu) was established inside Longzong Gate, which lies just within Xihua Gate. Those coming to the palace for official duties or audiences would enter and exit through Xihua Gate. Except for those specially granted the privilege of "riding a horse (or being carried in a sedan chair) within the Forbidden City," everyone from princes to ranked officials had to dismount or alight from their sedan chairs and walk on foot once they reached the outside of Xihua Gate.

　　Exiting Xihua Gate, one faces the imperial garden known as the Western Garden (Xi Yuan). During the Qing Dynasty, emperors and empresses often departed through this gate when visiting the Western Garden or gardens in the western suburbs. In the 16th year of Qianlong’s reign (1751), for the 60th birthday celebration of the Empress Dowager, and again in the 55th year of Qianlong’s reign (1790) during the Emperor’s 80th birthday celebrations, the area outside Xihua Gate—extending through Xizhimen all the way to Haidian—was elaborately decorated with lanterns, colored tents, music, and performances to mark the grand occasions. In the late Qing Dynasty, during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance in the year of Gengzi (1900), Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled the Forbidden City in haste through Xihua Gate, escaping westward.

　　The plaque under the eaves on the west side of the gate originally bore inscriptions in Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese, later reduced to Manchu and Chinese, and after the Xinhai Revolution, only the bronze Chinese characters remained. Compared to the many exquisitely ornate palaces within the Forbidden City, the tall and imposing Xihua Gate exudes a uniquely regal, rugged strength and dominance. It seems that this architectural expression better reflects the dignity and might of its former masters.

Palace Museum

Palace of Purity and Harmony (Zhongcui Gong)

Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian)

Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwu Men)

Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Dian)

Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huangji Dian)

Hall of Martial Valor (Wu Ying Dian)

Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Gong)

Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunning Gong)

Palace of Compassion and Tranquility (Cining Gong)

Studio of the Three Rarities (Sanxitang)

Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian)

Palace of Longevity and Peace (Shou’an Gong)

Imperial Garden (Yu Huayuan)

Palace of Eternal Longevity (Yongshou Gong)