Pavilion of Literary Profundity (Wenyuan Ge)
2 min readThe Manchurian rulers attached great importance to the function of literature in governing the nation. Many books were compiled under the reigns of Kangxi,
Yongzheng and Qianlong. The Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature(Si Ku Quan Shu) compiled in the Qianlong period was the largest project in Chinese history on the books of culture and history. It includes 36,304 volume and was edited by leading scholars of that time. Seven copies were made and stored up in the Pavilion of Literary Profundity in the Forbidden City, the Pavilion of Literary Source in Yuanmingyuan, the Pavilion of Literary Ford in the Summer Resort in Jerol and the Pavilion of Literary Origin in Shenyang Imperial Palace, etc.
The Pavilion of Literary Profundity was built in 1774 to store up the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature. It copied the Pavilion of Heaven and One(Tianyi Ge) in Zhejiang. Looking from outside, people may think there are two floorsin the building but actually there are three. There is a throne in the first floor which was reserved for Emperor Qianlong.
The roof was covered with black glazed tiles with green border. Usually, in the imperial palace, yellow glazed tiles would be used. However, according to the Five Elements Theory, the black color corresponded with North and water. Books were fear of fire. Water could drown fire and save the books. In addition to the pavilion, many places in the Forbidden City were used to store up books and archives. They areimportant documents in research of the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties. After 1949, the First National Historic Archive Center was established to take care most of the imperial archives. Some precious rare books went to the National Library. The Palace Museum also owns a library.
