The Manshion Of Prince Kung: Ancient Luxury Life

#chinatrip Prince Gong's Mansion is located in the central part of Beijing to the west of Qianhai Lake. Of the more than sixty princely mansions of the Qing Dynasty that have survived to our time, this one has been preserved the best. The total area of the estate is 60,000 square meters, of which 32,000 are given over to the buildings of the mansion, and 28,000 are occupied by the garden. The mansion of Prince Gong was built in 1776 for He Shen, a minister at the court of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Thanks to the emperor's trust, this influential official quickly rose through the ranks and became a very wealthy man. He lived in this mansion from 1776 to 1799. It all ended after the emperor's death. He Shen was accused of corruption, imprisoned, and then executed on the orders of the Jiaqing Emperor, the successor of the Qianlong Emperor. In 1799, the mansion was confiscated and handed over to Prince Qing Jun, the seventeenth youngest son of the Qianlong Emperor. Then, in 1851, Emperor Xianfeng presented it to his sixth younger brother Yixin, Prince Gong. Thus, the residence got its real name the Mansion of Prince Gong. In 1980, renovation work began on Prince Gong's mansion. In 1982, the mansion was listed as a Chinese Cultural Heritage in Beijing, and in November 1996, the estate was opened to the public. In 2005, large-scale restoration work began here again, costing about 200 million yuan. They lasted three years, and on August 24, 2008, the mansion reopened as the Prince Gong Mansion Museum. The museum tells about the life of imperial families during the Qing Dynasty. In Beijing, such mansions and large private houses were often built together with gardens located behind or on the sides of the main buildings. The beautiful and elegant garden in the northern part of the estate occupies 2.8 hectares and is divided into central, eastern and western parts.