In the eyes of the world, ancient palaces are often imagined as a paradise of gold and dust, but the real history is very different from what we dreamed of.
Looking back on the long river of history, we are surprised to find that even within the palace walls of the Forbidden City, it is impossible to escape the fate of squalor and chaos. In the case of the Forbidden City, Qi Rushan's memories paint a picture of desolation: the wide courtyard became a place where garbage piled up, and even the roads where the emperor walked were filled with a foul smell. The accumulation of excrement and household waste that cannot be disposed of in a timely manner creates a breeding ground for diseases and insects.
Cleaning was a daunting task. With the sheer size of the court, the dust, wastewater, and garbage produced every day, without the support of modern facilities at the time, the input of labor was like a drop of water into the sea, and it was often a drop in the bucket. The cleaning strike at the Palace of Versailles in France due to unpaid wages has made the palace's sanitary situation worse. And next to the Taihe Hall in China, there is even a dung field, and the decay of the empire can be seen.
In particular, the disposal of excrement has become a headache for palace administrators. Eighteenth-century technology had not yet provided an effective solution, and the imperfection of the septic tank and sewer system often caused an unbearable stench to permeate the palace and beyond. The king and his subjects had to move the palace to escape the uncontrollable natural "counterattack".
In addition, the soot from coal burning, as well as kitchen fumes, polluted the interior of the palace day after day without effective ventilation. Neither the Forbidden City in the East nor the palaces in the West are immune to these daily "encroachments".
Fast forward to 1949, after the hard work of the government and a large number of volunteers, the Palace Museum finally showed its due solemnity and cleanliness. The large-scale clean-up, which lasted nine months, gave this ancient palace a new lease of life, as if it had washed away the dust of history and re-displayed it to the world.
The contrast in history is not only recorded in words, but also through these specific events