The Gate of Spiritual Valor in the Forbidden City
As a smaller counterpart of the Meridian Gate, the Gate of Spiritual Valor in the Forbidden City is the north gate of the Imperial Palace. Its original name was Xuanwu (the North). As the name of Emperor Kangxi (r.1662-1722) was Xuanye, the Gate was renamed Shenwu (spiritual valor) to avoid the taboo. Bell and drum were placed in the five-bay tower on the Gate and were struck and beaten at night by ceremonial guards. When the emperor was not in the Imperial Palace, the bell would be struck 108 times at 7 p.m. Every two hours, drum would be beaten. In the early morning, bell would be struck again. When the emperor lived in the Imperial Palace, the guards would only beat the drum every two hours. The Gate of Spiritual Valor was the usual entrance and exit for imperial consorts and imperial family members. In 1644, the last Ming emperor Chongzhen (r. 1628-1644) hurried through the Gate, came to the foot of the Prospect Hill and hanged himself on a tree after the peasant insurgents entered Beijing.
In the beginning years of the Shunzhi reign (1644-1661), Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang issued a decree to stipulate that those who dared to introduce girls that had bound their feet into the Imperial Palace would be punished with decapitation. This decree was hung inside the Gate of Spiritual Valor. When the Qing emperor came back to the Imperial Palace from the Mountain Retreat or Summer Palace, he usually entered the Imperial Palace from the Gate of Spiritual Valor, which was also the gate often used by the imperial consorts and imperial family members. When the emperor went out of the Imperial Pal-ace for a tour, he would exit from the Meridian Gate. But his consorts had to go out of the Imperial Palace from the Gate of Spiritual Valor. If the emperor accompanied empress dowager for a tour, they would go out of the Imperial Palace from the gate of Spiritual Valor together.
Relevant attractions in the Forbidden City
Meridian Gate: the Gate with Five Phoenixes
Gate of Spiritual Valor
Gate of Eastern Flower
Gate of Western Flower
City Wall and Corner Tower
Moat
Golden Water River
