Palace of Prolonging Happiness

The Palace of Prolonging Happiness (simplified Chinese: 延禧宫; traditional Chinese: 延禧宮), or Yanxi Palace, is one of the Eastern Six Palaces in the inner court of the Forbidden City, situated behind the Hall for Ancestral Worship.[1] Described as one of the most 'exotic' looking structures in the Forbidden City, the Palace of Prolonging Happiness was built in 1420 as the Palace of Longevity.[2][3] From the Ming to the Qing dynasty, the palace was home to many imperial consorts and concubines. The palace was later destroyed by multiple fires between 1845 and 1855.[2] The Empress Dowager Longyu ordered the palace to be rebuilt in 1909 with a new three-story Western-style building included. Known as the 'Crystal Palace' (水晶宮) or Lingzhao Pavilion, the building was surrounded by a moat that was supposed to be filled with spring water from the Jade Source Mountain near Beijing. However, lack of funding and damage from a bombing raid in 1917 prevented the completion of the structure.[3] Today, only the iron cast and marbles remain. In 1931, three two-story warehouses were added to house the Palace Museum's artifacts.[1] Since 2005, the warehouses have been used for the Ceramics Laboratory, the Research Centre for Ceramics, and the Research Centre for Traditional Calligraphy and Paintings.

Palace of Prolonging Happiness
延禧宫
The Lingzhao Pavilion in the Palace of Prolonging Happiness
Former namesPalace of Longevity
Alternative namesYanxi Palace
General information
TypePalace
Town or cityForbidden City
Coordinates39.918870°N 116.392410°E / 39.918870; 116.392410
Completed1420

See also

References
  1. "Palace of Prolonging Happiness". The Palace Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  2. Dagmar, Shafer (2017). "Knowledge by Design - Architecture and Jade Models During the Qianlong Reign (1735-1799)". In Valleriani, Matteo (ed.). The Structures of Practical Knowledge. Springer. pp. 282–283. ISBN 978-3319456713.
  3. Barmé, Geremie R. (2011). The Forbidden City. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0674069091.
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