Residence of Gurun Princess Kejing

The Residence of Gurun Princess Kejing (Chinese: 固倫恪靖公主府; pinyin: Gùlún kèjìng gōngzhǔ fǔ) is a Qing dynasty courtyard house in Inner Mongolia, China. It currently houses the Hohhot Municipal Museum (Chinese: 呼和浩特市博物館; pinyin: Hūhéhàotè shì bówùguǎn). It is listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.[1]

Main hall of the Residence of Gurun Princess Kejing
Main entrance
Bedchamber

History

The mansion was where Gurun Princess Kejing lived after her marriage to a member of the Mongolian Borjigin clan.[2] The Dzungar–Qing Wars meant that the territory now known as Mongolia was unsafe for a Qing princess, so the Kangxi Emperor decreed that she should reside in Hohhot, then known as Guihua City (Chinese: 归化城).[3] The site for the residence was selected in 1703, and all materials and labour for its construction came from the area surrounding Hohhot.[4] The residence was completed in 1705.[3]

The residence was occupied by descendants of Gurun Princess Kejing until the 20th century. In 1923, it was taken over and used by Hohhot Municipal Normal School. The Hohhot Museum acquired the complex in 1990.[2]

In 2001, the complex was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.[1]

Structure

The residential complex measures 180m from north to south, 63m from east to west.[5] It is laid out symmetrically east-west, with the central axis from south to north featuring a spirit screen, main entrance, ceremonial entrance, main hall (called Jingyi Tang 靜宜堂), a house-style passage (Chinese: 垂花門; pinyin: chuíhuā mén), bedchamber, and a rear building (Chinese: 後罩房; pinyin: hòuzhào fáng).[5] Each of the four internal courtyards and buildings along the central axis is flanked by opposing side buildings.[5][6]

The building is only one storey high and the walls are very thick to protect against the cold winters experienced in Hohhot. The main hall has traditional latticed windows, whilst the bedchamber has windows set high into the wall that can be opened.[5]

gollark: I should make a service which just continually broadcasts the weather from a daylight sensor over modems.
gollark: Yes, you can, plethora has something, neat.
gollark: Can you actually measure that ingame? Hmmm.
gollark: For *ingame* weather?
gollark: A... weather overlay?

References

Notes
  1. Beijing Shi Wenwu Ju 北京市文物局. "全国重点文物保护单位" [Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level]. Beijing Wenbo (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  2. Hohhot Museum (2003), p. 16.
  3. Xing (2016), p. 87.
  4. Up to 100 km.
  5. Xing (2016), p. 88.
  6. Hohhot Museum (2003), p. 17.

Works cited
  • Hohhot Museum 呼和浩特博物馆 (2003). "清和硕格靖公主府地灶清理简报" [Brief report on survey of cooking pits at the residence of Heshuo Princess Kejing]. Neimenggu Wenwu Kaogu (in Chinese) (2): 16-26 & 36.
  • Xing Ruiming 邢瑞明 (2016). "固伦恪靖公主府 揭开清代早期官式建筑的面纱" [Residence of Gurun Princess Kejing: lifting the veil of formality in early Qing architecture]. Zhonghua Minju (Shangxun Ban) (in Chinese) (5): 84–91.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.