Why are there water tanks everywhere in front of the doors of ancient buildings?

Everybody knows thatBeijing is our capital, a place full of sacredness, and a leader in the development of our country, because of the special history of Beijing, Beijing has also been a very popular tourist cityI believe that every tourist who travels to Beijing will not miss the two attractions of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, after all, these two places have witnessed the history of our country.

Today we don't talk about the Great Wall, mainly about the Forbidden City, people who pay attention to the details will find that there are big water tanks almost everywhere in the Forbidden City, whether it is at the door or in the corridor, do you know why?

The Forbidden City is an ancient building, many of the designs inside contain the wisdom of the ancestors, the water tanks placed in the Forbidden City are not traditional water tanks, these water tanks have a very thick wall outside, and the color is copper.

There is also the "ear" of the water tank is also specially engraved with the "guardian saint" at that time, which also has the meaning of warding off evil spirits, although it seems to be a bit feudal superstition now, but in feudal society, this aspect is still very important. This design is designed in the hope of preventing disasters in the palace.

In addition to the different appearance, the water tank can also hold water inside, since it is holding water, then there is also a role is to fight fires, the Forbidden City is not all modern using reinforced concrete structure.

Instead, most of the wooden materials used are used, and in the summer, when the weather is hot and a fire will occur if you are not careful, at this time, the water in the water tank will be useful, and the eunuchs and palace maids who are in charge of serving can extinguish the fire as soon as possible.

And in that period, there was no such product as air conditioning, and friends who are familiar with physics know that whether it is winter or summer, water has a good role in regulating temperature, so in the Forbidden City, the water tanks that can be seen everywhere also have the role of so-called "air conditioning".

Because the vast majority of ancient Chinese buildings are wooden structures, fire prevention is very important for buildings in areas far away from rivers, lakes and seas. The large water tank is used to store water and extinguish fires.

Beijing is our capital, is a place full of sacredness, but also the leader of our country's development, because of the special history of Beijing, Beijing has always been a very popular tourist city, I believe that every tourist to Beijing will not miss the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, these two attractions, after all, these two places have witnessed the history of our country.

Anyone who pays close attention to the details will notice that there are large water tanks almost everywhere in the Forbidden City, whether at the doorway or in the corridors.

Then another function is to fight fires, the Forbidden City is not all modern steel and concrete structures.

As the highest power center of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City has experienced 600 years. In this remarkable palace, there are countless mysteries hidden, and many people are interested in it and have been looking forward to solving the mysteries. For example, what are the golden vats that can be seen everywhere in the Forbidden City?

Why are some of them still marked with bayonets?

According to the records of the Great Qing Dynasty, there are 308 large water tanks in the Forbidden City, each of which has a large capacity and can store more than 3,000 liters of water. This kind of large water tank is generally set up in front of the palace gate, also called "Gate Sea". The sea in front of the door is the sea in front of the door, because the Forbidden City is a wooden structure, prone to fire, and the imperial city is short of water, if there is a fire is not easy to rescue, so the large water tank in front of the door is for the purpose of fighting fires.

In 1679 AD, that is, one day of the month of the eighteenth year of Kangxi, the imperial dining room in the palace caught fire. Taihe Palace, commonly known as the "Jinluan Palace", is also the place where the emperor went to court as we see in film and television dramas, and it is also a place where major ceremonies are held, and it is one of the most luxurious palaces of the emperor. The fire accident in the Taihe Hall caused Kangxi to suffer heavy losses, and he immediately ordered the 6 eunuchs who caused the fire to be hanged, and the fire also made Kangxi realize the importance of fire prevention.

The large vat in the Forbidden City, officially known as the auspicious jar or Taiping jar, is generally made of iron, copper and bronze. In the Ming Dynasty, iron vats were mainly made of iron with large ears on both sides, while in the Qing Dynasty, copper and bronze were mainly used with large cylinders and animal title rings. According to historical records, in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the number of large vats in the Forbidden City was 308, and after the changes of the years, only 231 are left.

At present, the oldest vat was cast in the fourth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, and was placed under the white marble steps of the Taihe Palace.

In fact, the Forbidden City has not been peaceful since it was built, and it has suffered many lightning strikes or fires one after another. In 1421, the 19th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, which had just been built, a fire broke out, which led to the destruction of the first three halls, and it was not repaired until 1459. In the 36th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the first three halls in 1557, Fengtianmen, Wenwulou and Wumen were all burned, and the losses were heavy, and all the reconstruction was completed in 1561.

In the 25th year of Wanli, the Forbidden City caught fire again, burning the last three palaces and the first three palaces until 1627.

In 1900, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China with bayonets and rushed into the Forbidden City to loot, these gilded copper cylinders were not spared, they scraped off all the gilt on the vats, and now there are still traces of their crimes on the gold sea. Their disaster did not end, and later after the Japanese entered the Forbidden City, they still did not let go of these tarnished golden seas, and after transporting them away, they made criminal bullets one after another. Now there are only more than 200 vats left.

A stone lion is a lion carved out of stone, and it is a decorative object often used in traditional Chinese architecture. The dragon and lion in art, one was created by the Chinese nation, and the other was nationalized by absorbing foreign art, they are better than many animal images, and have been used by the Chinese nation for thousands of years. The art of stone lion carving not only reflects the auspicious wishes of the working people of our country, but also shows the wisdom and high artistic attainments of the working people of our country, adding a luster to the Chinese architecture.

It can be found in Chinese palaces, temples, pagodas, bridges, mansions, gardens, mausoleums, and seals. But more often than not, "stone lions" refers specifically to a pair of lions placed on the left and right sides of the gate. In the long historical years, these stone lions have accompanied the vicissitudes of life, witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties, and have become an indispensable decoration in ancient Chinese architecture.

But there were no wild lions in ancient China, so these.

The Chinese have always regarded the stone lion as a mascot. Among the many famous gardens in China, stone lions of various shapes can be seen everywhere. In front of the gates of the ancient government temples and mansions, a pair of stone lions were placed to guard the town.

Until modern times, in front of the gates of many buildings, there is still this kind of legacy of placing the stone lion town house.

When the stone lion went to the folk and became a sacred beast guarding the gate, this custom was formed after the Tang and Song dynasties. According to Mr. Cheng Zhang's "Yuan Dynasty Shishi Fun Talk" research: the residents of the capital of the Tang Dynasty mostly lived in the "Fang", which is a residential area with a wall and a square door to facilitate fire prevention and theft prevention.

A pair of large stones are sandwiched between the bases of each pillar to protect against wind and earthquakes. Craftsmen carved lions, unicorns, sea beasts and other animals on large stones, which are both beautiful and take the auspicious meaning of Nafu Zhaorui, which is the prototype of using stone lions and other Rui beasts to guard the gate.

I've found you 5 essays on "changes in your hometown":

A large tank refers to a water tank with a larger diameter.

Generally, a large water tank is placed in front of the door of the ancient building, because most of the ancient buildings are wooden structures, in order to prevent fire, a large water tank is placed in front of the door in case of emergency.

Interpretation: (1) A tank for storing water.

Example]: Yao Xueyin's "Li Zicheng" Volume 1, Chapter 31: "The Taoist priests boiled several pots of boiling water, put them in wooden barrels and water tanks, and placed them outside the mountain gate.

Ling Li's "Star Grass" Chapter 23 2: "Xiaolan put these big carp of the Yellow River into the water tank, and Tian Zhuzi, Tieshan, and calves all came around to see the rarity. ”

2) Refers to the cylinder. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, boilers and steam engines were called water tanks.

Qing Shen Baozhen, "The machine has arrived and the shipyard is now sparse": "The steamship water tank is concave and convex, as high as a heavy building. ”