The tallest hall in the Forbidden City in Beijing is barely
recognizable behind the mesh of scaffolding.
Renovation works on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, China's tallest
timber palace building, are expected to restore the hall's former
glory during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), according to Jin
Hongkui, the palace's deputy curator.
Some of the things that need repairing include eaves that are
beginning to hang, rotting wood columns, broken glass tiles, and
ceramic tiles that need re-glazing.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, China's tallest ancient timber
palace building, was closed to the public in January. Workers are
overhauling the outer and inner portions of the hall. A
work-in-progress review will be conducted by experts in June, Jin
said.
The renovations are scheduled for completion in two
years.?
Located strategically along the vertical axis of the Forbidden
City, the hall was used for grand ceremonies such as enthronements,
weddings, birthdays and the Chinese Lunar New Year among other
important festivals.
The hall was originally completed in 1420, but has been rebuilt
several times over the years due to damage caused by fire.
Examination and planning works for the hall's renovation began
in 2004, according to Jin, which included literature research and
collecting. Professionals combined manual mapping,
three-dimensional laser scanning and wood survey technologies to
analyze the structure and condition of the hall.
Experts from the Italian Cultural Heritage Department also
contributed to the work of pollutant analysis and tested
refurbishment materials, using their experience of renovating
ancient architectures in Europe, Jin said.
He said the main structure of the hall is basically stable. But
parts of the wood frame, ornaments, walls, roof tiles and the
unique brackets that stand atop columns are damaged to varying
degrees.
Further, the paintings on the outer eaves were not done in line
with the original design during previous renovations, he added.
The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, in central
Beijing, was the power center of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) dynasties from 1420 to 1912.
The labyrinthine complex, formerly home to 24 emperors, their
families and courtesans, and reputed to have 9,999 rooms, is one of
China's best known icons and most popular tourist attractions.
Seven to eight million tourists visit it every year.
UNESCO listed the Forbidden City as a World Cultural Heritage
Site in 1987.
General renovations, which started in 2002, will take more than
10 years to complete and will cost of over 2 billion yuan (US$250
million).
As at the end of 2005, about 38,000 square meters of ancient
architecture had been repaired, at a cost of more than 200 million
yuan (US$25 million).?
(Xinhua New Agency March 29, 2006)