Hall of Preserving Harmony

The Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Hall) is one of the the three main halls in the outer palace of the Beijing Forbidden City, located behind the Hall of Central Harmony. It was built in 1420 and first named " Jinshen Hall". It was renamed " Baohe Hall" in Qing Shunzhi 2 Year, which means the single-minded consciousness and maintaining the harmony to get the happiness, longevity and peace for the country. The hall was once the place for the emperor to confer titles of nobility on the queen and the prince in the Ming Dynasty, also the living place for the Qing Emperor Shunzhi and Emperor Kangxi, the place for holding the feudal imperial examination in Qing Emperor Qianlong period.

Architectural Construction
Construction Outside The Hall
Yunlong Stone Carving: on the back step of the Hall of Preserving Harmony, there is a imperial road stone carved with clouds, dragon, seawater and cliff, known as Yunlong Stone Carving. This is the largest stone carving in the Forbidden City which has the length of 16.57 meters, the thickness of 1.7 meters, the weight of 250 ton. It was first built in Ming Dynasty and then rebuilt in the Qing Emperor Qianlong period. There are 9 dragons with treasure bead in their mouth swimming among the pattern cliff, seawater and the flowing clouds, which are dynamic and full of vitality.

Thousands of Dragons Spouting Water: thousands of dragons means the thousands of stone carvings of head of dragons under the baluster. Whenever rainy days, the rain will discharge from the mouth of the dragons, which organically combines the utilitarian function of shunting the rainwater and the viewing function of the architectural art.

Construction Inside The Hall
Outwardly, the Hall of Preserving Harmony has 9 rooms, in depth, it has more 5 rooms. It has the construction area of 1240 square meters, the height of 29.5 meters. It has double eaves and gablet roof; is covered with yellow glazed tiles. Its inner and outer eaves are both decorated with golden dragon patterns; its ceiling is embossed colour painting which is to coordinate with the deep red furnishings and appears luxury and wealthy. It has floor paved with gold bricks, and it has chasing gold lacquer throne.