The Inner Sanctum and Imperial Consorts

We are entering the inner court of the Forbidden City. This big yellow wall was the first sight we saw.
The 'Hall of Mental Cultivation'. This is the place where the Emperor conducted his state affairs and private meetings. See the picture (Yang Xin Dian) below explaining the history behind this hall.
Another huge vat, this one was made of iron.
The buildings here were rather poorly maintained. The paint work hasn't been touched up for a long time.
Roof architecture. This was the place where the Emperor held private meetings.

Ancient furnitures, taken through a glass pane (that's why there are reflections)


The throne. Notice another larger throne behind the first smaller one? The two thrones were separated by a piece of cloth. Because the Emperor (Qing Dynasty) was so young, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Ci An sat behind him on the larger throne, properly veiled. From there she conducted the affairs of the state by proxy. They were known as the "Power behind the Throne".




A peculiar piece of bronze work placed outside the entrance.
The 'Room of 3 Rarities'. See the next few pics below.

Ancient manuscripts in the Room of 3 Rarities.




We left the Hall of Mental Cultivation to enter another much smaller courtyard. Here we encountered a large crystal placed in the middle of the court yard by the Empress Dowager. This area was inhabited by the Empress and the Emperor's favourite consorts. It was said that some of his concubines only had one chance of being with him before being relegated to live elsewhere. So, competition was fierce! This place was called the 'Hall of Consolation'.
The giant crystal. It was put there to 'remind' the imperial consorts of the virtues of purity, trust and loyalty. In short, 'don't even think of having an affair if you know what's good for you!"

One of the many bedrooms in the Hall of Consolation.

Another bedroom
Yet another bedroom. You can imagine how many concubines stayed here!



Ancient clocks. The place was just full of clocks!
And still another bedroom!
The Emperor's bed!
Furnishings in the Emperor's bedroom
Ancient game of chess


We left the Hall of Consolation, to enter a small alley. Here were numerous giant door ways. All of them were unfortunately locked. I think on that day we barely saw 5% of the entire Forbidden City!




From here we exited through another large doorway to enter the Imperial Garden.