The Hall of the supreme harmony, commonly known as the “Golden Temple”, is located at the prominent position of the north-south axis of the Forbidden city. It has a height of 35. 05 meters and an area of 2,377 square meters. It has a total of 55 rooms and 72 pillars. It is the tallest building in the Forbidden City. It is the largest of the three halls and the tallest building in the Forbidden City. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is also the largest existing wooden structure in China. It is a typical classical building.
The interior and exterior structure of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the crystallization of the ancient wisdom of the Chinese nation. Here, in addition to the singular sculpt, the unique design layout and the fascinating treasures, It’s firmness is also amazing. Since the completion of the Hall, it has suffered many major earthquakes. She still stands proudly like a strong giant and stay unaffected.
There is a wide platform in front of the Hall of supreme, commonly known as the moon terrace. On the platform, there are copper sculptures of sundial, grain measure, turtles ,cranes, and dragons. The sundial is an ancient timer, and the grain measure is the ancient standard gauge, both of which are symbols of imperial power. In front of the temple, there is a stone pavement with design of double dragon playing with pearl, symbolizing auspicious and good wish, among the double dragons, one represents the heavenly king and the other represents the emperor; the temple has three layers of white marble stone carving base, surrounded by railings. Under the railing, there is many stone faucet for drainage and they were built in the shape of dragon. During the rainy season, it can present the wonders of 1000 dragons spurts out water.
It turns more magnificent and beautiful when walking into the hall. The indoor and outdoor beams are decorated with the highest level of enamel paintings. The upper part of the door and window is embedded with a rhomboid plaid, the lower part is embossed with a dragon and cloud pattern, and the enamel copper leaf of the engraved dragon pattern is attached to the joint. In the temple, there are seventy-two rare nanmu wooden pillars supporting the entire hall. The golden paint throne of nine dragons is located in the middle of the hall. On both sides of the throne, there are six giant pillars with a pattern of golden dragons. The gold foil is decorated with two colors, which make the pattern stand out. There are four pairs of furnishings on the front sides of the throne: Treasure elephant, Shuduan, crane and incense pavilion.
