Why did Qianlong build Zhou Shi in the Summer Palace?

The Summer Palace is a famous protected area, but there is a stone boat in the corner of the Summer Palace. It is said that this stone boat was built by Qianlong. So, what is the intention of Qianlong to build this stone boat? Located in the northwest suburb of Beijing, the Summer Palace, formerly known as Qingyi Garden, was founded in A.D. 1750. Qingyi Garden, completed on 15, is a famous "three mountains and five gardens" in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty, namely, Xiangshan Jingyi Garden, Yuquan Mountain Jingming Garden, Wanshou Mountain Qingyi Garden, Yuanmingyuan Garden and Changchun Garden Boat. It is the most distinctive aquatic building in traditional gardens in China, and its appearance and internal structure are very similar to those of a ship, so it is called a "ship". This boat building can not only enrich the landscape in the garden, but also provide people with opportunities to play and feast on the boat and enjoy the surrounding lakes and mountains. The lower hull of a ship is usually made of stone and the upper hull is made of wood. The whole boat is generally composed of three parts, and the first cabin accounts for about half of the captain. The middle cabin often has a compartment, which is divided into an inner cabin and an outer cabin. The stern cabin has two floors, and you can overlook it when you go upstairs. Stone strips are usually placed on one side of the bow to imitate the springboard for people to board the ship from the pool shore. The "stone boat" in the Summer Palace can be called the "treasure in the boat" in China garden architecture. Its hull is carved from huge stones, with a total length of 36 meters. The white wooden buildings on the second floor of the ship are all decorated with marble patterns with paint, and the top is engraved with brick carvings. The whole Zhou Shi is exquisite and gorgeous. But Emperor Qianlong built a big "stone boat" by the lake in Kunming, not only because he had a special liking for "boats", but also because he had other plans. This can be seen in his "The Story of the Imperial Boat": "The husband keeps the precept of carrying a boat, strengthens the foundation of the rock, and is open-minded and thinks about his job." In order to build a stone boat, he also wrote a poem: "Why is snow and smoke cold?" The spring breeze and autumn moon are calm, the boat is used to being cautious, and the rock is offered to Yong' an. "It can be seen that the original intention of Emperor Qianlong's shipbuilding was actually to warn future generations that' water can carry a boat and also overturn it' with the allusion of' water can carry a boat' in the old adage, so as to show that the Qing Dynasty is as firm as a rock.

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it." "Xunzi's old adage? Mourning for the Duke is a dialogue between Confucius and Lu Aigong. In Xunzi? There is another passage in Wang Zhi: "Shu Ren is in power, and then the gentleman is in power. Chuan said:' the monarch, the boat is also; Shu Ren, water also; The knife cuts bread and fingers. "It means that you are like a boat and people are like water. Water can make the ship sail safely and capsize in the water. In the early years of Zhenguan, Wei Zhi, a politician in the Tang Dynasty, repeatedly advised Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, to learn lessons from the demise of the Sui Dynasty, and quoted Xunzi as saying that a monarch was like a boatman. Regrettably, this big "stone ship" was built less than a hundred years ago, and it was burned by the British and French invaders who came all the way with strong ships and guns. When Guangxu rebuilt Zhou Shi in the 19th year, according to Cixi's intention, the upper cabin of the ship, which was originally in the form of an ancient building, was converted into a western-style cabin, named Qingyan Boat, which meant that all rivers run into the sea, and Zhou Shi became a place for Empress Dowager Cixi to enjoy the scenery and hold a banquet. The Summer Palace, a big ship, not only witnessed the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the great changes in history, but also proved that only political clarity, honesty and people's support are the foundation of the country's eternal life and the immortal cornerstone of the Chinese nation's sustainable prosperity.