Prince Gong's Mansion, also known as the Prince Kung Mansion, is a museum and tourist attraction located in

Xicheng District Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitants (2000 Census). Its postal ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, just north of the Shichahai Lake. It consists of large

siheyuan A ''siheyuan'' (; IPA: ɹ̩̂.xɤ̌.ɥɛ̂n is a historical type of residence that was commonly found throughout China, most famously in Beijing and rural Shanxi. Throughout Chinese history, the siheyuan composition was the basic pattern used ...

-style mansions and

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

. Originally constructed for

Heshen Heshen (; ; 1 July 1750 – 22 February 1799) of the Manchu Niohuru clan, was an official of the Qing dynasty favored by the Qianlong Emperor and called the most corrupt official in Chinese history. After the death of Qianlong, the Jiaqing ...

, an official highly favoured by the Qianlong Emperor, it was later renamed after

Prince Gong Yixin (11January 1833– 29May 1898), better known in English as PrinceKung or Gong, was an imperial prince of the Aisin Gioro clan and an important statesman of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. He was a regent of the empire from 1861 to 18 ...

, a Manchu prince and influential statesman of the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, who inhabited the mansion in the late 19th century.

Name

"Kung" is the older, Wade-Giles

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

of the same

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanj ...

spelled "gong" in

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

. It was not Yixin's personal name, but a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

meaning the "Respectful Prince" or "King".

History

Prince Gong's Mansion was constructed in 1777 during the

for

, a prominent court official in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor infamous for being the most corrupt official in Chinese history. From a young age, Heshen earned the favor of the Qianlong Emperor and rose swiftly through the ranks in the imperial administration to become one of the top and wealthiest officials in the imperial court. In 1799, the

Jiaqing Emperor The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, born Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from ...

, successor to the Qianlong Emperor, accused Heshen of corruption and had him executed and his property confiscated. The mansion was given to

Prince Qing Prince Qing of the First Rank ( Manchu: ; ''hošoi fengšen cin wang''), or simply Prince Qing, was the title of a princely peerage used in China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1636–1912). It was also one of the 12 "iron-cap" princely p ...

, the 17th and youngest son of the Qianlong Emperor. In 1851, the

Xianfeng Emperor The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), or by temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing (), given name Yizhu (), was the eighth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigned from 1850 t ...

gave the mansion to his sixth brother,

, whom the mansion is named after. In 1921, after the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Prince Gong's grandson, Puwei, offered the property as a mortgage to the

Order of Saint Benedict , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The Benedictines invested significant resources into restoring the dilapidated mansion for use as a university. It was then known as Furen Catholic University until the priests were deported from China in 1951. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, the mansion was used by the Beijing Air Conditioning Factory until it experienced a revival in the 1980s. In 1982, it was declared a

Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level A Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National LevelEnglish translation for "全国重点文物保护单位" varies, it includes Major Site (to Be) Protected for Its Historical and Cultural Value at the National Level, Major Histo ...

in Beijing. Since November 1996, the buildings and the gardens have become a tourist attraction. Renovation works on the mansion were completed on 24 August 2008 during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Structure of the compound

Prince Gong's Mansion is one of the most exquisite and best-preserved imperial mansions in Beijing and used to house several families, and has a total area of 60,000 square metres. The mansion buildings are located in the south; the gardens are in the north. The buildings include several

courtyards, two-story buildings, and a grand

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

house. Some of the courtyards house permanent exhibitions on the history of the mansion as well as temporary art exhibitions. In addition to the mansion, there is a 28,000-square-metre garden with 20 scenic spots, pavilions, artificial hills including rock originating from the

Lake Tai Taihu (), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and one of the largest freshwater lakes in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. Wi ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

, and ponds. There is an eight-meter-long stele which bears the Chinese character 福 (fú: lit "fortune") based on the calligraphy of the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...

Restoration works and future

Since 2005, the mansion has undergone renovation worth 200 million yuan. In November 2006, restoration works started on the buildings. The mansion reopened as "Prince Kung's Mansion" on 24 August 2008. It showcases the lives of Manchu nobles and aspects of the Qing dynasty. The Beijing opera house inside the mansion not only stages Beijing operas, but also other prominent forms of Chinese opera. In August 2008, the

kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

performance group from the " Jiangsu Kunqu House" performed their program ''Floating Dreams'' at Prince Gong's Mansion for a week. It is included on the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

's 2018 list of monuments at risk.

Gallery

Image:Gongwangfu2.jpg, Prince Kung's Mansion Image:PrinceGongM4.jpg, The walls surrounding the mansion Image:Gongwangfu4.jpg, One of the many halls in the mansion Image:PrinceGongM3.jpg, One of the gates File:Prince Gong 3.jpg, File:Prince Gong 1.jpg, File:Prince Gong 5.jpg, Image:Gongwangfu8.jpg,

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Official website

Geographic data related to Prince Kung's Mansion on OpenStreetMap
{{Coord, 39, 56, 11.52, N, 116, 22, 45.53, E, display=title, region:CN_type:landmark Historic house museums in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing Museums in Beijing Gardens in Beijing Xicheng District Houses completed in 1777 National first-grade museums of China