Cining Palace Review

Today, a few blue bricks were found near the gate of Cining Palace. When I looked carefully, I found that the brick was engraved with words. After I identified it, I found that it was a kiln for burning blue bricks. One left only one "bao" word, and the other had three words on it, probably: Yu (or Le?) kiln.

The Dongguan Room of Cining Palace is now the Xiude Baishi Hall, showing 64 statues of Baishi Buddha from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, unearthed from the site of Xiude Temple in Quyang, Hebei, in 1958. These statues were incomplete and destroyed during the Tang Wuzong period, the third Buddha disaster in Chinese history.

The plaque of the sculpture hall was proposed by Mr. Guo Moruo, then president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1958. On August 31, 1958, the Forbidden City built the first special sculpture hall in the history of the Chinese museum. It was praised by all walks of life and was closed for some reason. In 2015, it was moved to Cining Palace and reopened.

慈宁宫位于故宫内廷外西路隆宗门西侧，始建于明嘉靖十五年（1536年），是在仁寿宫的故址上，并撤除大善殿而建成。清沿明制，顺治十年（1653年）、康熙二十八年（1689年）、乾隆十六年（1751年）均加以修葺，将其作为皇太后居住的正宫。慈宁宫主要是为太后举行重大典礼的殿堂，凡遇皇太后圣寿节、上徽号、进册宝、公主下嫁，均在此处举行庆贺仪式。特别是太后寿辰时，皇帝亲自率众行礼，并与近支皇戚一同彩衣起舞，礼节十分隆重。

慈宁宫在故宫里的位置，在内廷外西路靠近西华门的地方，但它并不属于东西六宫的范畴。从明代开始，慈宁宫就是前代王妃的居住地，从清代开始成为太皇太后和皇太后的居所，加上历代皇帝都要以孝治国，所以这里自成一体的有着殿门、大殿、配殿、佛堂、花园等配置，形成了一个独立的院落。大殿慈宁宫也是为太后举行各种大典的殿堂。