The king's murder made the center of the Forbidden City clear of trees

In 1813, King Gia Khanh ordered all trees to be cut down in the center of the Forbidden City and not replanted.

Thai Hoa, Trung Hoa and Bao Hoa are three great buildings located at the beginning and center of the Forbidden City, the ancient residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City today is called the Palace, with an area of ​​720,000 square meters, including more than 90 large and small institutes and more than 8,700 rooms.

The three main halls occupy an area of ​​150,000m2, have in common that they do not plant any trees around. According to historians, the decision to "delete" the trees in this area was made to ensure the safety of the emperor after an assassination attempt on the Qing king.

In the 18th Gia Khanh year (1813), a branch of the Thien Ly Religion of the Bach Lien sect led by Ly Thanh rebelled in Henan, Shandong, and other places. On September 15, 1813, Ly Thanh led more than 200 people disguised as merchants to invade Beijing to find a way to kill King Gia Khanh.

Thai Hoa Palace in the Palace.

With the help of some eunuchs, the group of assassins split into two branches, entering from the Tay Hoa and Dong Hoa gates, but only 50 people entered the Tay Hoa gate. Unexpectedly beaten, the palace guards did not have time to turn back and fled to the gate of Long Tong. The rebels approached Can Thanh Palace, the residence of King Gia Khanh.

Imperial soldiers closed the gate of Long Tong to entrench, preventing the rebels from entering. However, discovering the tall trees outside the palace wall, the group of assassins climbed the tree and crossed the wall to find the king. Emperor Gia Khanh was away from the heat outside Beijing at that time, so he escaped.

Mien Ninh, the second son of Gia Khanh, later Emperor Dao Quang, heard the news, brought a pistol, led the soldiers to save the price. More than 1,000 soldiers with guns surrounded and destroyed dozens of rebel members, including leader Ly Thanh.

Returning to Beijing, Gia Khanh ordered an investigation of the murder, and ordered all trees to be cut down around the three great halls of the Forbidden City. Since then, trees have not continued to be replanted in this area to avoid being taken advantage of by assassins.

In addition, trees are no longer planted here to prevent fire, because the buildings in the Palace are built of wood, so it is easy to spread fire. Dien Hy Palace, one of the buildings in the emperor's backyard, was destroyed by fire.

After chopping down all the trees, the scene in the center of the Forbidden City also seemed to highlight the majesty of the emperor. From the main gate of Tiananmen entering, through Doan Mon, Ngo Mon, Thai Hoa Mon, the courtyards in the middle are all devoid of trees, seemingly to put pressure on the courtiers on the way to pay respects to the king.

Thai Hoa Palace is the central part of the Imperial Palace, where important events such as coronation ceremony, emperor's wedding, longevity celebration or Lunar New Year are celebrated. After Thai Hoa Palace is Trung Hoa Palace, where the emperor rested and received officials. Finally, there is Bao Hoa Palace, where the emperor changes his royal robes or entertains his courtiers.

Map of the Palace: from Ngo Mon (bottom center) to Thai Hoa Mon, to Thai Hoa, Trung Hoa and Bao Hoa Palaces.

Another reason why green trees are absent in these three halls is feng shui, especially the five elements. Co Cung is considered to be in the Kim par in the five elements, while the trees in the Wood par are incompatible with each other, so they are not allowed to grow here.