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Article: Life in the forbidden city.
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- February 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hongli, the Qianlong emperor, spent relatively little time in the Forbidden City. After the court audiences and banquets that marked the New Year were completed, he moved to Yuanmingyuan, his villa about five miles northwest of Beijing. Except for a trek north to his summer capital, Chengde, and the annual hunt at Mulan each autumn, it was at Yuanmingyuan that the emperor lived for the greater part of the year. In 1762, for example, he spent about half of his time in his villa at Yuanmingyuan or at Chengde, a little more than a quarter of his time in the Forbidden City, and the rest of his days on the road.
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Further, the time he did ...