1. Geographic Position & Historical Origin
The Hall of Preserving Harmony is the northernmost building of the Three Main Halls in the Outer Court of the Forbidden City, located directly north of the Hall of Central Harmony. Along with Taihedian and Zhonghedian, it forms the core ritual architectural complex of the imperial palace.
It was originally completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty Yongle Period, initially named Jinshen Hall. It was renamed Jianji Hall in the Jiajing reign, and got its current official name Hall of Preserving Harmony in the second year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The literal meaning of "Baohe" is preserving harmony inside the country and keeping peaceful governance. The existing building was reconstructed in the Qing Dynasty after several fire disasters.
2. Architectural Features & Dimensions
Overall scale: Rectangular layout, 47.5 meters long, 29.5 meters wide, with a total height of 20.6 meters. It is smaller than the Hall of Supreme Harmony but larger than the Hall of Central Harmony.
Roof form: It adopts a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, the second-highest grade of ancient Chinese palace roof structure, paved with bright yellow glazed tiles exclusive to imperial buildings. The roof ridge is decorated with nine mythical animal statues, one less than Taihedian, reflecting strict feudal architectural hierarchy.
Platform foundation: Built on the same triple-layer white marble Xumi stone platform as the other two halls. The huge stone carving of dragon and phoenix cloud patterns at the rear of Baohedian is the largest stone relic in the Forbidden City, commonly known as the Great Stone Road.
Interior decoration: The interior is decorated with golden dragon paintings on beams, brackets and caissons. A dragon throne is placed in the center of the hall, matched with bronze sacrificial vessels, censers and stone ornaments, magnificent and solemn.
3. Primary Functions in Ming and Qing Dynasties
Functions differed noticeably between the two dynasties:
Ming Dynasty
Emperors held grand banquets for ministers and arranged pre-ceremony rehearsals for major state rituals here.
Qing Dynasty
Imperial grand feasts: On important festivals such as Lunar New Year’s Eve and the Lantern Festival, the emperor hosted banquets for imperial clansmen, civil and military senior officials, as well as ethnic minority nobles from frontier regions to consolidate ruling relations.
Final imperial examination – Palace Examination (Dian Shi): From the Qianlong reign onwards, the highest-level national civil service examination was officially held inside Baohedian. Top candidates were ranked here directly by the emperor, selecting the most outstanding literary talents for the imperial court.
Temporary resting place for emperors during sacrificial activities and occasional minor official audiences.
4. Historical & Cultural Value
Architecturally, it echoes the layout momentum of the front two halls and completes the solemn spatial rhythm of the outer court central axis. Functionally, it bears dual attributes of ritual reception and talent selection. It witnesses the ancient Chinese feudal civil examination system and royal etiquette culture, being a vital representative relic of the Palace Museum.
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