Palace of Eternal Longevity

Palace of Eternal Longevity (Chinese: 永寿宫; pinyin: Yongshougong) is one of the Six Western Palaces in the Forbidden City. It was a residence of imperial concubines since 1420.

Yongshou palace's gates

History edit

Yongshou Palace was built in 1420 as a part of Inner Court's western palaces and named "Palace of Eternal Pleasure" (长乐宫, pinyin: Changle gong). In 1535, the Jiajing Emperor renamed the palace as "Palace of Embodying Morality" (毓德宫, pinyin: yudegong). In 1616, the palace obtained its current name. Yongshou Palace was undergoing renovations in 1697 and 1897.[1] During the Qianlong period, the palace was used as a place of wedding banquets for Princess Heke of the Second Rank in 1772[2] and Gurun Princess Hexiao in 1789.[3] During the Daoguang era, rear halls of the palace became a storage of classified intelligence.

It is the closest palace to Yangxin hall, the residence of Qing dynasty emperors from 1722.

Residents edit

Ming dynasty edit

Year Emperor Imperial consort Note
1466-1475 Chenghua Empress Dowager Xiaomuji[4]
1638-1643 Chongzhen The palace was used as a shelter

from natural disasters

Qing dynasty edit

Date Emperor Imperial consort Note
25.10.1653 Shunzhi Erdeni Bumba Borjigit Erdeni Bumba was demoted to Consort Jing,

thus she moved from Kunning Palace to Yongshou Palace.

July 1657 – 1667 Consort Ke She was holding the title of Noble Lady

and was promoted to Consort in 1667[5]

28.12.1682-19.12.1694 Kangxi Noble Consort Wenxi
?-20.08.1699 Imperial Noble Consort Jingmin
1675-1711 Consort Liang
1735 Yongzheng Empress Xiaoshengxian She lived there shortly before moving

to Shoukang Palace as Empress Dowager

January 1742-4.07.1777 Qianlong Consort Shu She moved there after being promoted

to concubine and supervised lesser-ranking consorts.

1757-29.05.1784 Concubine Cheng She died during the southern tour in 1784
1766-1788 Noble Lady Shun She supervised younger consorts from 1777 to 1788
1766-1794 Consort Fang She moved out from the palace in 1794[6]
1801-1821 Jiaqing Imperial Noble Consort Gongshun[7] She moved out to Shou'an Palace in 1821

References edit

  1. ^ "永寿宫 - 故宫博物院". www.dpm.org.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  2. ^ "清會典".
  3. ^ Aisin Gioro, Zhaolian. "Continued Records of the Roaring Pavilion".
  4. ^ "History of Ming. Biographies of imperial consorts". Book 113.
  5. ^ "永平府志".
  6. ^ "乾隆至嘉慶年添減底檔"/"Archives of Qianlong and Jiaqing eras".
  7. ^ "Palace of Eternal Longevity (Yongshou gong)|The Palace Museum". en.dpm.org.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-15.