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Hall of Heavenly Purity

The Hall of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Gong), twenty meters (65.6 feet) in height, is the largest hall in the Inner Court. Throughout the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the earlier period of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), sixteen emperors lived in the hall. Emperor Yongzheng, the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty, moved to live in the Hall of Metal Cultivation. Hence, the hall was the place where emperors held council with his cabinet, interviewed his ministers and foreign ambassadors and read submitted documents. On festivals, family banquets and ceremonies took place in the hall. When the emperor died, his coffin was placed here for mourning for several days.



At the center of the hall sits a golden throne which is surrounded by furnishings. The couplets on the columns exhort the emperor to show solicitude for their common people and to set a good example to others. Above the throne hangs a plaque with four Chinese characters on which means 'Aboveboard'. Behind the plaque, there was a small box which was used to store a will decreeing who would be the legal heir of the crown. To avoid the evils brought by princes' contesting for the throne, Emperor Yongzheng initiated secretly selecting the next emperor in this way. The reigning emperor wrote the will in duplicate, with one hidden by himself and the other put behind the plaque. After his death, the two copies were compared to check their authenticity and to announce the designated successor.