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Jingshan Park
 The Jingshan Park, to the north of the Palace Museum,
is located in the center of Beijing on the north to south axis. It
used to be a private garden of the imperial families in the Yuan, Ming
and Qing Dynasties.
According to the legend, the four constellations the
Green Dragon, the white Dragon, the Scarlet Bird, and the Black
Warrior, stand in their own respective territories. The northern part
of the Forbidden City is just within the Black Warrior's territory,
where a hill is indispensable. So the earth from the digging of the
moat around the Forbidden City was piled up into a hill called
Jingshan. Jingshan, first named "Longevity Hill", became the "Hill of
Safeguard" for the Forbidden City.
The central pavilion, Wanchunting (Everlasting Spring
Pavilion) with 3 eaves, 4 upturned roof corners and golden glazed-tile
roof is the highest of Jingshan. To the east and west of Wanchunting
are Zhoushangting (Pavilion of Surrounding Views) and Fulanting
(Panoramic View Pavilion) respectively. Both of them have double eaves
and 8 upturned roof corners and a green glazed-tile roof. To the east
of Zhoushangting is Guanmiaoting (Pavilion of Wonderful Views), while
to the west of Fulanting, is Jifangting (Fragrance Pavilion). They are
small round pavilions with double-eaves and a roof of blue
glazed-tiles.
On the northern part of Jingshan, there are buildings
such as Shouhuangdian (Hall of Imperial Longevity) where the portraits
of ancestors were housed, Yongsidian (Hall of Everlasting Memory) and
Guandedian (Hall of Morals Observation), which were used as mourning
place for deceased emperors and queens in the Qing Dynasty. At
present, Shouhuangdian and Guandedian are opened as children's Palace
and Library.
On the eastern side of Jingshan there used to be an old
locust tree upon which Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty
hanged himself, when the peasant army led by Li Zicheng stormed into
Beijing. Unfortunately, the old tree was gone, in its place, a new
tree of similar appearance has been planted.
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