Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong)Ⅲ

The Banquet of Thousands of the Senior

There are two grand banquets held for the seniors in Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity). One was in 1722 and the other was in 1785 and was grander than the first. At the time, the officials, officers, commoners, and handcrafters at the age above 65 were invited. In total, more than three thousand participated into the banquet, and all of them were presented the royal wine and crutches. On the banquet, participators created thousands of poems and couplets.

The Place to Keep Coffin

In Qing Dynasty, Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity) was also the place to keep the coffin of the emperor. Even if the emperor died at the other place, firstly his body should be moved here, and kept for several days, and then moved to Guandedian (Hall of Observing Moral) in Jianshan Hill. Emperor Shunzhi died in Yangxindian (Hall of Mental Cultivation), Emperor Kangxi died in Changchun Garden, Emperor Yongzheng died in Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan garden) and Emperor Xianfeng died at Summer Resort in Chengde. All of their bodies were all firstly moved to Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity).