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2006-12-22 12:12:15
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Good morning ! My name is Can I begain?
Attention，please.Ladies and gentlement .Welcome to beautiful city ，Nanjing ，I am the guide xuyi .Today， we are going to visit *****. On the way to ****，let me introduce the beautiful city ，Nanjing .
Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu Province and the provincial political， economic and cultural center ，she is located in the lower reaches of Yangtze river，southwest of the province.The population of its urban area is about 3million.
Nanjing is one of the historical and cultural cities rectified by the state.She bears the reputation of the capital of Wu， Easter Jin， Song，Qi，Liang，Chen，Southern Tang，Ming， Taiping Kingdom， and Republic of china subsequently.Nanjing is a place of celebrities and humanities， with a splendid cultrual heritage.The attraction of Nanjing consists in the combination of rich natural and cultrual heritages.With many a relics of the Republic of china era in particluar ， Nanjing is recognized as the museum of modern Chinese history.
DR.SUN YATSEN’S MAUSOLEUM
Among al the historical and cultural attractions in Nanjing， the most favored highlight is Dr.Sun Yaten’s Mausoleum.Dr.Sun Yatsen’s Mausoleum sits on the southern slope of the pruple Mountain in the eatern subrub of the city. The construction began on March 12，1926 and was completed in 1929 when the remains of Dr.Sun Yatsen was transported from Beijing and buried at the present site on June，1.
Dr.Sun Yatsen， also named Sun Wen or Sun Zhongshan， is considered as the forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution.Dr.Sun Yatsen is a great man because he devoted 40 yeas of his life to pursuing his dream to overthrow the feudal monarchy and build a progressive， united and democratic Republic of china.
Why was Dr.Sun Yatsen buried in Nanjing instead of in his hometown or Beijing where he died?The mausoleum site was first recommended to Dr.Sun Yatsen by the abbot of Linggu Temple for its good geomantic omen.One day in April， 1912， he went hunting at the site of present mausoleum with his friends.Dr.Sun Yatsen was really so amazed by the beautiful environment that he aid to them :”I wish I could be bestowed a piece of land by people and be buried here after my death”.He once again expressed this desire in his sickbed in 1925.The architect named Lu Yanzhi .Dr.Sun Yasen’s Mausoleum is designed in the shape of a liberty bell， intending to remind people never to get self-contented. The park of mausoleum covers an area of 800000 square meters. The whole architecture ，from the gateway to the main entrance，tablet pavilion ，memorial hall and the tomb valult，lies on the north-south axis with 392 steps ans 10 platforms in between .The buildings are all constructed with natural granite and marbls and convered by blue glazed-title roofs.
Opposite to the bronze incense-burner off the quare， stands the 12-meter high gateway of three arches with Dr.Sun Yatsen’s handwriting “Fraternity” carved on its front top. The 480-meter long tomb avenue， lined wih pine ，gingko and maple trees ，leads to the main entrance tower roofed by blue-glazed tile.Under the front eave of the tower， Dr.Sun Yatsen’s motto ‘The world belongs to people ‘ can be seen .Walking through it ， the first building one will seee is the tablet pavilion which houses a huge tombstone which is engraved with ‘Premier Dr.Sun is buried here by the Chinese Koumingtang on Jone1，1929’. From there， a panoramic view of the memorial hall can be obtained. However， there are still 392 steps in 4 flight to go before tourists reach the memorial hall on the top ， and a platform with stone benches at evry flight so as not to exhaust the climbers.
The memorial hall stands 73.33 meters abov the ground. The lintel of the memorial hall is inscried with “nationalism， democratic rights and people’s livelihood” and a vertical plaque is carved with 4 characters “Hao qi chang cun ” meaning imperishable noble spirit. All these words are written in Dr.Sun’s own hand. In the center of the memorial hall sits the Italian white marble statue of Dr.Sun Yatsen mounted on a pedestal carved in bas-relief by a Polish sculptor about his revolutionary activities. The surrounding walls are inscribed with the national constitution written by Dr.Sun Yatsen. Beyond the memorial hall is the tomb vault .Standing by the side of the pool， as visitors look down， they bow to see Dr.Sun Yatsen’s reclining marble statue with his body buried 5 meters underneath. If one looks up， he will find the emblem of the nationalist Party on the ceiling.
When one wraps up the homage tour and steps down， he will not only enjoy a bird’s eyeview of beautiful Nanjing ， but also feel toally reliveed because he does not see any more of those 392 steps ， but the platforms. Not until then， will he understand how great Dr.Sun Yatsen is.
The whole mausoleum is an architectural complex in a typical and traditional Chinese style， and the layout is harmonious and rational.All the buildings are roofed with blue-glazed tiles. With pine trees and cypresses growing around ，the mausoleum looks magnificent and dignified.Dr.Sun’s Mausoleum attracts thousands of visitors everyday.
XiaoLing Tomb of The Ming Dynasty
Xiaoling Tomb，or the tomb of filial piety， built 600 years ago ，is the mausoleum of Zhu Yuan zhang ， the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Lying at the southern foot of the Purple Mountain ，the tomb complex is one of the largest ancient mausoleums of the emperors in china.
Zhu Yuanzhang began to have his tomb built in 1381 when his wife Empress Ma died. The empress was buried in the tomb in 1383.But Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang died in 1398 and was buried here in the same year.But the construction of the mausoleum lasted 38 years or more till 1431 when ‘the Steke if Sacred Neruts abd Virtues of Great Ming’ Filial Tomb’ was erected.
The mausoleum consists of two major sections.The first section is from the Gateway of Dismounting Horse to the Lingxing Gate at the end of Sacred Way(tomb avenue)， of which the approach is 1800 meters long. The second part is the tomb itself. Historical records indicate the mausoleum had a grand red wall， 22.5 kilometers long， enclosing the whole tomb area. The tomb conple was very large with many splendid buildings. 100000 pines were planted and 1000 deer raised in the park of mausoleum. Unfortunately， this large group of buildings was ruined by the wars in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and the war in which by the Qing Dynasty army. All the wooden structures wre destroyed. However we can still see the exquisite stone carvings from the stone bases and imagine how magnificent it looked like 600 years ago.
The tomb gate known as grand golden gate was a traditional architecture and connected with the red wall. The gateway of Dismounting Horse locates about 750 meters south from here.This shows the absolute dignity of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang at that time.To the east of the gateway，there are two tablets:the holy Mountain Tablet and the Tablet of Mountain Forbidden Regulations decreeing the entrance of the ordinary people into the holy area was to be severely punished. The royal court dispatched troops here to atand as guards at the mausoleum in the years.that is why the site has been called Xiaolingwei meaning the Town of Filial guard.
Northwards from the great golden gate， a huge roofless stone tablet pavilion canbe seen ，it is the Square Castle， as local people call it . Its top is gone but the surrounding walls and four archways still remain. In the middle of the building ，there stands ans 8.78 meters high stele called :The Stele of Sacred Merits and Virtues of Great Ming’s Filial Tomb.It was built in 1413 by the third emperor ，Zhu yuanzhang ‘s fourth son.The stele is inscribed altogether with 2746 Chinese characters in praise of the merits and virtues of Emperor Zhu yuanzhang .
The sacred way is lined on both sides with 12 pairs of giant stone animals in 6 kiinds. For each kind of the animals， there are one pair standing and the other kneeling. The standing pair is working and the kneeling resting and they are on duty alternately. The real purpose of building these animals is to demonstrate the royal magnificence and the emperor’s dignity， to drive away evil spirits and guard the tomb. The first 2 pairs of animals are lions， king of the beasts symbolizing power.The second 2 pairs of animals are called Bixie， a unicorn-shaped mythical animal， said to e clever and capale of distinguishing between good and evil.The following pairs of animals include camels， elepahants， Kylins or chinese unicorns and horses. The camel is known as boat in the desert and symbol of prosperity. Each elephant ， which is the largest and heaviest sculpture， weighs 80 tons and symbolizes peace. The kylin represents good luck as well as horse loyalty.
In ancient times ，it was rather difficult to move these heavy stone animals. The fact is that workers splashed water on the ground in cold winter， and pushed the stone animals to the present locations on the surface of frozen ice.
Two 6.25 meter-high stone pillars serve as alters for the sacrificial offerings. Both the hexagonal pillars are carved with the patterns of clouds and dragons arousing visitors’sreverence and worship to the emperor . The sacred avenue makes a right turn here just because the Plum Blossom Hill stands in the way. The hill is the tomb for Sun Quan ， The first emperor of Eastern Wu kingdom. It is said that when the tomb was constructed，some ministers suggested that Sun Quan’s tomb should be moved away. But Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang commented that Sun Quan was a good fellow and should stay there to be the concierge of his tomb. The Plum Blossom hill now is popular excursion site for the local people in spring when the plum trees are in full blossom.
Beyond the memorial pollars there are 4 pairs of stone WenZhongs，2 pairs each of court officials and warriors. Legend has it that there was a giant about 10meters tall of Qin Dynasty.The warriors，3.26meters high， are in armor with weapons in hands while court officials are in court ceremonial robe with writing board in hans to take notes of the emperor’s edict.
Behind the statue， there used to be a gate named Lingxing Gate.About 270 meters away from the gate is the stone bridge spanning over a small stream， yet it is called the Imperial Moat Bridge.The bridge used to have 5 arches ， but was renovated into 3 arches later in the Qing Dynasty. The bridge foundation and stone dykes are the original except the rail.
About 200 meters north of the Imperial Moat Bridge is the front gate to the tomb. This area is the rear section of the tomb.The arch gate has 5 doorways， with yellow glazed tiles， red walls and doors . The lintel of the middle gate is engraved with 3 Chinese characters Meaning ‘Xiaoling Tomb of Ming Dynasty’. Or “Ming’s Filial Tomb” given by the emperor himself but Ming was added actually later in the Qing timees. It reflects the emperor’s idea to administer the country with filial piety which is the very instruction of Confucius， the most influential Chinese philosopher.At the right of the gate， there is a table stone on which is inscribed with ‘The Special Notice’ written in 6 foreign languages of Japanese，German， English， French， Italian and Russian respectivel to reaffirm the attention to the protection of the filial tomb in the late Qing years.
Inside the gate is an entrance hall， of which in the middle is ‘the Stele of Administering the ountry well as the Tang and Song dynasties’. The tablet stone is engraved with the handwriting of Emperor Kangxi when he was paying his homage to the entombed emperor during his third inspection tour to the area in 1699.
Standing behind the hall is the Filial Hall or Sacrificial hall ，which is one of the major buildings in the mausoleum employed to enshrine Emperor Zhun Yuanzhang and his empress.But the original was destroyed in the wars， and the present one was rebuilt and twice restored in the Qing Dynasty.
The citadel of Treasures is the last building on the ground， 16.25meters high， 75 meters wide and 31 meters in depth. Ascending a flight of 54 stone stairs from an archway of the citadel is the tomb proper covered by a large earthen mound 400 meters in diameter. Under the mound rest the emperor and his consorts ， and as the records testify， 50 or more concubines and maids of honor were buried alive for company. Their families were ensured holy titles， but these young lives became the eternal victims of feudal sacrifice system.
The tomb is at the foot of Purple Mountain. It has not been excavated because of the technical reasons of preservation.
Linggu Temple
Linggu Temple park lies about one and half kilometers to the east of Dr.Sun Yatsen’s Mausoleum. It was called Jiangshan Temple in ancient time and its original site was in Dulongfu at the foot of the purple Mountain. However， in the early days of the Ming Dynast(1368-1644)，Emperor Zhun Yuanzhang chose that place to build his tomb， thus the temple had to be moved and rebuilt at the present site and was renamed as the Linggu Temple with an inscription “The Fist Buddhist Forest” at the entrance there is a secluded footpath with thousands of pine trees， verdant and luxuriant ， so it is called the “Valley of Spirit Deep in Pines”. It is one of the 48 attractions in Nanjing . Main attractions in the park include LInggu Temple ， the gateway of officers and men killed in action， Beamless hall，Pine and Wind Pavilion， Linggu Pagoda， Monk Baogong Pagoda and Table of three Great Artists， etc.
The first major attracton is the gate way of officials and men killed in action. In November 1928， when Chiang Kaishek’s Kuomintang government made a decision to turn the Linggu temple into a crmetery of officials and men killed in battles， the original entrance to the temple was rebuilt into a three-arch gateway for the dead officials and men. The gateway has 5 principle colums made of concrete cement. The gate has its foundation inlaid with granite on surface and roofed by blue-glazed tile. The lintel of the middle door is carved with 4 Chinese characters “great Justice and Virtue” in front face and “Salvation of the Nation and People” on the back. The side lintels of the gate are decorated with the emblems of the Kmt party.
Inside the park there is the Beamless Hall built in 1381 in the Ming dynast. The hall，53.8 meters long， 37.85 meters wide and 22meters high， was built entirely of bricks and stones from top to bottom without a piece of wood， hence the name. There are nine ouverlapping redges and three dagobas decorating the top reges. In terms of size， the Beamless Hall stands first and formost of its kind in china. It was built more than 200 years earlier than the other same kind Hall in other ares.No wonder it is considered a masterpiece of Chinese stone-brick buildings. The diffculty involved in its construction and the complexity of techniques adopted testify the wisdom of the architects of that time in china.
In 1928， the KMT government turned the hall into a sacrificial memorial hall to hold memorial ceremony for the martyrs， and a stand in the main lobby of the hall for worshipping the Boundless Longevity Buddha was turned into sacrificial platform. The middle of the three tablets on the hall is engraved with characters reading “The Bier of the National Revolutionary Martys”.”Dying Words of the State father” inscribed on the right and national antem of the Republic of china on left.The names of 33000 officials and men died in the North Expedition War against Warlords and the War of Resistance against Japan are carved on the black marble tablets inlaid in the walls. All these remain intact as they were in the 1930s.
An irregular and zigzag enclosure wall is built between the Beamless Hall and the Pine and Wind Pavilion， symbolizing the rim of KMT Blussky and Dayright Flag. A tree planted in the middle of a circle symbolizes the Sun with brick made halo around.No.1 cemetery is in between the two sacrificial pillars standing near the hall. The other two cemeteries locate on both west and east of the Beamless Hall.The whole design seems that the cemetery is under the bluesky and Daybright Flag.
The Pine and Wind Pavilion was built in 1929， as the memorial hall of the officials and men killed in the action with the things left behind by the martyrs.The pavilion was damaged in the war of Resistance against Japan and restored agter 1949. The present name Pine and wind Pavilion was given after its restoration. Beyond the Pavilion is and ancient two-layered tripod ， on which is inscribed 4 characters “Engraved Trepod for Memory of Merits”
Linggu Pagoda was built in 1933 as a memorial pagoda for the officials and men killed in wars. The ninestoreyed ovtagonal， is over sixty-meter-high， with a corridor encircled by stone rails on each story. The pagoda was designed by the famous architects Mao Fei and Dong Dayou . 3 characters “Linggupagoda” are inscribed on the lintel of the front door and “where there is a will there’s a way” on the lintel of the back door. On the exterior wall there are 4 characters “Faithful Dedication to the Service of the nation” which is the handwriting of Chiang Kaishek. Inside the pagoda a spiral staircase of 252 steps winds to the top through the nine stories. The inner walls from the second floor to the forth are inlaid with Dr.Sun’s farewell speech made in Whangpoa Military Academy on November 30，1924 just before the starting of the North Expedition War. The inner walls from fifth to the eighth are inlaid with Dr.Sun’s opening speech for Whangpoa Militray Academy made on June 16，1924. When one gets to the top story and gazes into the distance， one can get panoramic view of the entire area with fantastic scenery.
In the bushes west of Pine and Pavilion there lies a tomb pagoda “Baogong Pagoda” named after the eminent Monk Baozhi of the southern Dynasties.
The linggu Temple was relocated to the present site in the Ming dynasty and Linggu Buddhist Monastery by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The present temple is much small than it used to be .In the temple there is the Treasure Hll of the Great Sage. In the east of the hall ， there is a chamber ， which used to be called the Goddesso fo mercy Hall. But it is turned to bhe memorial hll of Master Xuan zang， who went on a pilgrimage to India in the 7th century and brought back with him large quantities of Buddhist sutras. Then he devoted to the translation of these sutras and greatly enriched the Chinese Buddhist culture in the Tang Dynasty.
City wall of Ming Dynasty
The building of the wall began in 1366， ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang who adopted the suggestion of “building the high wall” by one of his staff and founded the Ming Dynasty two years later.More than 200000 people were employed on the project and many of them died befor the wall was completed in 1386.
The wall was 33.678 kilomters in circumference and 14.21 meters high on average. The base of the wall is 14meters wide and the top of the wall is 7meters wide.It was the ongest city wall in the world and the city enclosed by it remained the world’s largest until the 17th century. Great part of the wall base is made of granite or rectangular slabs of lime stone，and both sides of the wall are laid with huge bricks. Each brick is 45 centimeters long， 20 centimeters wide and 10 centimeters thick with a weight of 15 kilograms. The bricks were cemented in with a mortar of lime mixed with tung oil and glutinous rice gruel. In order to guarantee the quality of the wall， Zhu Yuanzhang had tight control over the making of all bricks. The brick-makeers and the officials were responsible for overseeing the quality. In case a brick was found not up to the standard， all of them were supposed to be punished. Therefore many parts of the wall are still in good condition.
Different from the square-shaped city walls of most ancient Chinese cities ， the wall of Nanjing followed the natural topography and formed an irregular shape. By this construction， natural barriers， such as mountains， rivers， and lake were all employed to strengthen the fortification of the city. The city wall has 24 gates， among which only 13gates were the original ones from Ming time and the rest were built or added for traffic purpose later on.
Among all the gates， Zhonghua Gate is the largest. The gate was formerly called the Treasure Bowl Gate， which is connected with an interesting story popular among the local people. In the early Ming dynasty when Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang stared to build a city wall around Nanjing ， everything was well done， except that this gate failed to be built after many attempts. From his prime minister，the emperor heard of a poor fisherman named shen wanshan， who got a treasure bowl and became very rich. The imperial court dispatched people to cheat him out of the reassure bowl and buried it into the ground as the foundation of the gate. The gate was finally built up. From the time the gate was given the name Jubao in Chinese which means treasure bowl .
Covering an area of 15168 square meters， 20 meters high， the gate has 4 entrances with 4 doors. Behind the first conventional double panel wooden door， there are 3 other 23-centimeter-thick vertically sliding stone doors. The heavy stone doors are lifted and dropped with the help of a mechanical winch. If enemy troops broke through the first wooden door， they could be separated and trapped inside by the dropping of the other 3 stone doors. This strategy is known in china as “beating dogs behind bolted door.”
The fist entrance is in a three-tier building in which 27 tunnels are built. These tunnels are spacious enough to quarter more than 3000 soldiers and store large quantities of food and ammunitions. There are wide horse ramps on both sides. At the top， there used to be a rostrum allowing a commanding view. Unfortunately ， the rostrum together with other parts of the wall was destroyed by the Japanese invaders in the Anti-Japanese war.
Nowdays， 21.35-kilometer city wall survives and is among the preservation list of monuments and historical sites approved by the state council . The nanjing municipal Government plans to have part of the city wall repaired and some of the city gates renovated.
CONFUCIUS TEMPLE
The qinhuai scenic spot includes the Qinhuai River， Confucius Temple， the Examination Museum(Gong yuan)， the street of local delicacies， Former Residence of Wang’s and Xie’s at Wuyi Lane， and Nanjing Oriental Art Gallery and the former residence of Li Xiangjun， etc. Most of the buildings in Confucius Temple area were rebuilt and renovated in the mid-1980s and 1990s and the area becomes a tourist site of culture and commerce. It is an ideal place for tourists to understand traditional Chinese culture as well as enjoy shoping.
The Confucius Temple sits at the south of Nanjing on the bank of the Qinhuai River.The Qinhuai River is a branch of the Yangtze River totaling 110 kilometers long. It has nurtured the city of Nanjing and added an illustrious chapter to the local history. It finds its source in Mt.Baohua，Jrong County. When the river reaches the city， the river is divided into two streams. One goes around the city walls， which is outer Qinhuai， and was exploited as part of the city moat. The other goes into the urban area of the city through East Sluice， and goes out of the city from the west Sluice， then joins the outer Qinhuai and empties into the Yangtze. This is the inner Qinhuai or the well-known Qinhuai river. Tradition has it that Qinshihuang， the emperor of the Qin Dynasty， made an inspection tour eastwards to the area， he heard “the area has an influence on the fortune of producing emperor” and was afraid that the son of the Heaven could take over his power some day in future. Therefor he ordered to cut Fangshan Hill open and break the ridge into the stream so as to do away with the influence on the fortune. Later generations thought the river was dug by the emperor ， hence he name.
The Confucius Temple was first build in the Song Dynasty for people to pay worship to Donfucius. It was gradually renovated and expanded to a place with a group of the Ming and Qing style buildings. The Confucius Temple people often talk about should include three great building complexes: Confucius Temple， Palace of learning and Imperial Examination Yard. The present Confucius Temple was extended on the basis of the Palace of Learning.
The natural stream of the QInhuai River was taken as the Pan Pool of the Temple. On the southern bank of the pool is the screen wall， 110 meters long， which was built in the Ming and is the biggest still preserved in China. The Screen Wall in front of the Confucius is to show that Confucian learning is too profound to be understood completely and the common folks (ordinary people) could not see the learning inside. Another saying : The wall is the frontal project of the temple for the purpose of covering and decoration ， so as to give people an impression of its grandeur and magnificence.
The Gateway of All Scholars is the first entrance to the temple. It was built in 1586 in an imitation of the Gateway in QUfu， the hometown of Confucius. The three doors of the gateway are the passage to the main temple ， where the emperor and courtiers were to dismount to show respect for the great Saint. The highest central door was reserved for for the emperor when he paid worship to Confucius and organized memorial ceremony during his tour inspection . The two side doors wre the passages for the princes and high courtiers， which common people and lower ranking officials were forbidden to pass.
At the eastern corner of the square in front of the temple is a three-storeyed building named KuixingPavilion (Top Star Pavilion). Kuixing means the top candidate in the imperial examination in Chinese. The pavilion was a tea house for the ancient exam candidates to make friends with tea drinking as well as pray for the good luck. Tourists coming here may best enjoy tea and the beauty of the Qinhuai River， and do the same as the ancient Scholars did. At the western corner lies the Juxing Pavilion ( or Multiple Stars). As all the men of letters or literati were regarded as the stars in the sky， this Multiple Star Pavilion was specially built for their meetings.
The first gate to the temple is Lingxing gate， which is decorated with the magnificent carvings in relief. The gate was built in 1480 and rebuilt in 1870， and the present one was restored in 1983.
Dacheng gate， or the gate of Agglomeration of Merits and virtues， is the front gate of the temple. Beyond the gate， there are four tablets. “the Tablet of Confucius Social and Moral Stand” recorded the Confucius stand of administrating the country. Confucius proposed to the power of the ducal king of the Lu state a number of policies and methods to stabilize the country and to consolidate the ducal power after he had made investigations on the system of institutions in Luoyang， the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. “jiqing Confucius Temple Tablet” was erected here in 1309 ， after the Yuan emperor had issued an imperial edict of “ taking education as the state administration of the empire” in 1308. “Four Saints Tablet” was erected in 1331， Yanhui， Zengshen， KOngji and mengke . “madame Super Great Saint Tablet” was erected in 1331， together with the “Four Saints Tablet” to commermorate the wife of Confucius.
Dacheng Hall， or the Hall of Agglomeration of Confucius Merits and Virtues， was employed to enshrine and worship Confucius. In the middle of the hall is the seat of the Super great Saint Confucius， with 4 saints of Yan hui， Zeng shen， Mengke and Kongji on bothsides. In addition， the tablets of 72 persons of virtue are also enshrined. Confucius is regard as a great philosopher， a great sage as well as a great educator of China.
Jiangnan Imperial Examination Center was located to the east of Confucius Temple. It was first built during the Song Dynasty in a grand scale. It was called Jiangnan Examination Center because there was Jiangnan Province in the Qing Dynasty. Chinese emperors began to select officials through imperial examination from Sui Dynasty in the 7th century. The imperial examination system opened a door for all to rise from the bottom of the society to power and fame.
Predidential Residence
The history of the place dates back to 600 years ago， and the site was the mansion of Prince of Han during the Ming dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty it became the office of the Viceroy of Jiangnan and Jiangxi . In march 1853， the Taiping peasant army conquered Nanjing and established their regime known as “the Kingdom of Heavenly peace”. Hong xiuquan ， the Heavenly King of the regime， claimed the former palace and ordered it enlarged. In 1864， Zeng Guofan ， the military commander of the Qing empire， attacked and cracked down the Taiping army. IN1912， Dr.Sunyat-sen was elected the provisional president of the republic， and changed the west garden of the palace into the Presidential Residence. In 1928， the palace became the administration office of the republic government. The occupation of the palace by the Pla on April 23，1949 marked the end of the KMT regime.
Opposite to the gate of the palace across the street is the Screen Wall. By the side of the wall， there is a tablet， which is engraved with an inscription of Guo Moruo’s autograph that reads “ the 100th anniversary of Taiping Uprising”. Built in 1930， the gate tower is a two-storeyed building with three arch-gates in an imitation of ancient Rome style. It used to be the guardroom during the period of the Republic of China.
In 1864， when the Qing Dynasty army overran the Heavenly Kingdom capital ， most of its buildings were destroyed. But fortunately， the garden west of the main hall， predecessor of the present day Xuyuan Garden， survived. The palace is newly restored， including the study， throne and imperial harem. In addition， the history of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is on exhibition here.
The complex in the east of the court was the yamen of governorgeneral of Multi-province.Yamen is the government office in feudal china. There is a newly restored Grand Hall in the yamen. Displayed in the hall are “the bearers of the imperial insignia in processions”， the imperial insignia of the Qing government official _birds for officials and beasts for warriors， former governor-generals as well as supreme commanders since the Opium War.
The presidential palace is a three-storeyed building .The first floor was the office of secretariat. The second floor was the president’s office， vice president’s office and the secretary-general’s office. The third floor was the State conference Hall， in which the most important meetings were held once two weeks. Attended at the meetings were president ，vice president， chiefs of five bureaus_legislation， justice， personnel evaluation， supervision and e x e cutive administration， which was regarded as the five-power constitution. In addition， 16special council members were also present at these meetings.
Xuyuan Garden was first built for Chen li as his mansion in the Ming Dynasty， some 600years ago. Later， in 1404， the succeeded emperor Zhu Di made his second son Zhu Gaoxu the prince of Han and he live in this garden， so the garden has been called Xu garden since that time. The garden is also called the west garden because it lies in the west of the presidential palace.
The west garden came into being in the late Qing Dynasty， hence was deeply stamped with the brand of Taiping heavenly Kingdom. The garden covers an area of 1.4hectares， consisting of 3 parts-a small courtyard in front of the garden， the east part with a rocky hill， and the west part a vase-like water pond.
The courtyard is a bit too small， but yet well worth seeing because it’s the only passage to the west garden. The outer gate of the yard used to be the palace for sedan chair carriers taking the load off their shoulders for rest. On the lintel of the gate is inlaid a carved brick with two Chinese characters “xuyuan”. On the top of the inner gate there is also a carved brick with two Chinese characters “Feihuang”. Both of the carved bricks with the characters mean “take rapid advances in one’s career”. These brick pieces are the originals left by the Governor-general of the multi-province of the late Qing. As a works of art ， a garden like literary works has its “preface， development， climax and epilogue”. Therefore， this small yard is the “preface” of the whole garden.
When tourists go out of the moon gate ， they come to the main body of the west garden， of which the layout is like a painting and a piece of real art of Chinese garden， therefore gradual appreciation and artistic taste are necessary. The rockery is the fist attraction when visitors enter the main body of the garden from the yard. In a Chinese garden， a rockery hill， which is made of the rocks washed in taihu lake， is an artistic imitation of the nature to indicate the harmony between human and the nature.
Northeast to the rockery is Tongyin Hall. Tongyin implies the connotation of bosom friend-zhiyin in Chinese pinyin. Tongyin Hall was the place for the host to entertain his intimate friends in ancient China.
The fangsheng pavilion ， also called “mandarin duck pavilion”， has two roofs lined like two mandarin ducks sleeping with their necks together. The lake is shaped like a porcelain vase. A vase in Chinese is pronounced as “ping”， which has a number of the connotations as “peace， safety， harmony， serenity， repose， ease， or tranquility’.
The greatest attraction in the lake is a marble boat called unmoored boat –a miniature of the famous one in Beijing’s summer palace. As the boat is made of marble in water， there is no need to moor it， hence the name “unmoored boat”. Opposite to the boat， across the lake， lies the pavilion of ripples， which is a complex of architectures of Chinese ancient style， including terrace， pavilion and bridge. And the palace is wonderful for people to enjoy the scenery of full moon as well as the pleasant music on the evening of traditional Chinese Mid-autumn festival.
There are several interesting buildings worth lingering a while， for example ， the sunset Pavilion with a three-piece tablet of Eastern wu Emperor Sun Hao’s writing， the Outlook Pavilion with a tablet of Chinese painting and carving， the imperial tablet pavilion with the handwriting of emperor Qianlong. Nevertheless， what the visitors long to visit most is undoubtedly the office of Dr.Sunyatsen. When Dr.Sun Yatsen was elected provisional president of the Republic of china in 1912 after the 1911 revolution ， he had a western style office building put up near the garden where he held important meetings and met friends. At present， the building is preserved and has been converted into an exhibition hall of Dr.Sun’s office work and daily life.
In the eastern bank of the lake， a number of pavilions and arbors are to be found. The whole garden is surrounded by the delicately decorated wall， on the top of which is carved with a curling dragon running along the top. The eastern wall of the garden has a long corridor with colorful beams. Murals and steles with inscriptions by famous calligraphers and carvers can be seen every where . the ingenuity， originality， details ， subtlety， and craftsmanship are all reflected in thia tiny yet creatively designed garden.
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