Text by Zhao Min Compiled by Madeline Translation by Madeline, Leo Photos by Chen He, Mr. Lion

故宮隱香 倦勤齋揭紗

Text by Zhao Min Compiled by Madeline Translation by Madeline, Leo Photos by Chen He, Mr. Lion

AN IMPERIAL SECRET UNVEILED

When Emperor Qianlong was in power he had a dream to retreat into an easeful old age after 60 years of ruling the country. At the time, with the best engineers, craftsmen, and building materials, the Imperial Palace had all it needed to build a grand palace garden, later known as “the Qianlong Garden”.

The world's only surviving big ensemble of trompe-l'ceil paintings (with a size of 170 sqm)

These drawings, in the typical perspective drawing style of the time in Europe, were first introduced to the Qing palace by Italian Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione who borrowed the style from the panoramic pictures of the exquisite ceilings of European churches.

墻面和天花板上是世界上僅存的巨幅通景畫——著名的倦勤齋170平米“通景畫”，采用了當時歐洲流行的一點透視畫法，使觀者身在屋內，卻如同置身宮外的庭園。最早由歐洲傳教士畫家郎世寧借鑒歐洲教堂中天頂畫和全景畫的形式移植于清代宮廷中。

乾隆皇帝在位的時候有個愿望——做60年皇帝，然后歸政養(yǎng)老做太上皇。

乾隆盛世國力強盛，園內集中了當時國內頂尖的建筑技藝和材料，擁有『乾隆花園』建成的一切條件。

于是，在18世紀，這個屬于皇帝個人的夢想，都在這座花園里實現(xiàn)了。

1. Paintings of pergolas on the ceiling頂部紫藤架手繪

2. Near the moon gate there are two cranes and a pair of magpies. In Chinese culture, cranes are a symbol of longevity and magpies auspiciousness.在月亮門外的庭園有一對仙鶴和一對喜鵲；仙鶴象征長壽，喜鵲象征吉祥。

3. A view toward the west from the second floor of the fifth eastside room

東五間二層西視

4. The lounge in the east side-room on the first floor of the fifth east-side room

東五間一層東次間座塌

5.An upturned roofridge

戲臺翼角

Qianlong Garden was built between 1771 and

1776, and the construction started 20 years

before Emperor Qianlong's eventual retirement.

The garden is also called “the Palace of Tranquil Longevity”. Designed by the emperor himself, the garden ref l ects the emperor's broad cultural tastes.

While most buildings in the Imperial Palace have

been open to the public for more than 60 years,

Juanqin Zhai retirement suite at the far back of

Qianlong Garden was largely abandoned after the last emperor left the Forbidden City in 1924. Not

until two decades ago was Juanqin Zhai finally

discovered and brought to light by a reconstruction team. This private resting place was mainly used as

a theatre for the emperor, where he was entertained.

Although its name takes after the meaning of “to

retreat into an easeful old age”, Emperor Qianlong never really lived there. Even when he retired, he

never completely relinquished his power to his son. Therefore, to him, Juanqin Zhai functioned more like a theatre house, where he came once in a while just to be entertained.

The interiors of Juanqin Zhai are of extravagant

design, using the finest materials and exceptional Chinese craftsmanship, and incorporating

European artistic techniques such as trompe l'oeil.

3. A view toward the west from the second floor of the fifth eastside room東五間二層西視

4. The lounge in the east side-room on the first floor of the fifth east-side room東五間一層東次間座塌

5.An upturned roofridge戲臺翼角

Wang Shiwei, leader of the SINO-US Qianlong Garden Conservation Project, toldNihao∶“People come here to see old palaces, but a lot of them can only be appreciated from the outside. Besides, the Forbidden City has gradually changed throughout the years.”

Fortunately, Juanqin Zhai has survived relatively unaltered from the time it was constructed. “This is why we need to start protecting it as soon as we can, so as to keep it the way it was 240 years ago,”said Wang.

The suite numbers among the finest extant examples of eighteenth-century imperial interiors in China, and among all the other buildings that have been repaired in the Forbidden City, Juanqin Zhai is the luckiest one in terms of complete protective restoration.

The project leader said∶“ Originally, to better store and protect the antiques, we would rather keep the items in storage. But we decided to bring them back into the light, after a series of careful research projects. This way, we help the visitors get a better taste of the past, while giving the relics the dignity they deserve.”

Juanqin Zhai has a rather simple layout∶ it is split into nine rooms, including five rooms in the two floors in the east and four rooms in the west. Those in the west were designed to be a graceful indoor theatre, showing great contrast to the stately vibe of the rest of the imperial palace倦勤齋面南向，北靠紅墻，其布局形式是簡單的九間房的格局。

AUTHOR: ZHAO MINArchitectural critic Architectural Society of China (ASC)作者：趙敏建筑評論人中國建筑學會資深會員

PHOTOGRAPHER: CHEN HEPhotographer of architectural culture heritage攝影：陳鶴建筑文化遺產(chǎn)攝影師

Juan Qin Studio's green glazed tile roof倦勤齋綠瓦黃剪邊屋面

“The qianlong Garden Conservation Project” is expected to finish in 2020, and will be opened to the public by then.乾隆花園保護項目預計在2020年完成并對外開放參觀。Map by Haolun Zhang

建于1771—1776年，乾隆花園又稱寧壽宮花園，是清朝乾隆皇帝退位前20多年就開始為自己修建的太上皇宮。這座相傳由乾隆親自設計的皇家園林融入了乾隆下江南后的靈感和感悟，將中國古典造園的精髓和故宮景致融會貫通，是清朝留存下來的歷史瑰寶。

當大多數(shù)故宮殿宇都已為人們所熟悉，乾隆花園最北側的院子里卻有一座皇家寢宮被隱藏了200年之久，直到上個世紀末才被發(fā)現(xiàn)。這個私人空間正是太上皇的棲息之所——“倦勤齋”。在逾十年緊鑼密鼓的修復之后，這個皇帝寢宮的神秘面紗終于被緩緩揭下，展現(xiàn)在人們眼前，接受世人傾羨的目光。

雖然“倦勤齋”取“耄期倦于勤”之意，然而，乾隆卻并未在這里居住過。即使他做了太上皇，也并沒有真正交出過手中的權力。因此，倦勤齋當時的作用更接近于乾隆聽戲消遣的場所。

據(jù)中美合作故宮乾隆花園保護項目總負責人王時偉介紹，倦勤齋的室內空間及平面被分為多個小空間，比如進門就可見的明間寶座、靠東邊五間的兩層仙樓等。西邊四間則被設計成一座室內戲臺，非但沒有皇宮威嚴的氣勢，反而頗有小橋流水的雅趣。

“故宮博物院幾經(jīng)興衰，歷史上經(jīng)歷過多次修復，但是這樣完整而全面地對其中一個建筑的室內外做保護性修復研究還是首次?！蓖鯐r偉說道。

作為整個紫禁城內受后代擾動較少的大片園區(qū)，倦勤齋基本上維持著1776年竣工后的風貌，因此修復后可達到較高的還原度?！坝^眾來故宮首先想看的還是舊存皇宮的面貌，實際上現(xiàn)在很多故宮博物院的殿宇只能看外殼，整體性的故宮建筑已經(jīng)逐漸隨著歷史的推移悄然演變。倦勤齋的保存相對較好，所以我們想把它盡量完整地搶救和保護下來。”王時偉如是說。

“原先，為了防盜和保存，我們寧可把室內陳設物擱在庫房里。但是按照倦勤齋保護修繕的原則，我們對皇家文化進行了整體性地研究和展示，讓擱置庫房的各種擺設件重新進入室內環(huán)境復原系統(tǒng)——通過修復讓原先室內的陳設物和過去擺放在私人活動場所的原狀文物回到原位——此舉不僅能讓參觀者更加真實立體地解讀故宮的歷史，還使文物重獲尊嚴?！?/p>