Architectural Structure Of Chinese Three-Tiered Stage Pleasant Sound Pavillion

Abstract

In the outer perimeter of northeastern quadrant of the Forbidden City (now known as " the Old Palace" Gu Gong 故宮) is a palatial compound named the "Palace of Living Out My Years in Peace" (Ningshou Gong 寜壽宮 ), a place where the Qianlong Emperor乾龍 (1736-1796) intended to celebrate his sixtieth birthday and to which he would be able to retire after abdication. Within the ample grounds of this palace, constructed around 1770, is situated a majestic "three-tiered stage" (chongtai sanceng 崇臺三層) (or the "linked performance stage" lian xitai 連戲臺) named the Pleasant Sound Pavilion (Changyin Ge 暢音閣). This innovative theater is the only extant three-tiered stage commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor. Its construction was begun on this three-tiered stage in the thirty-sixth year of his reign (1771) and finished in the forty-first year (1776). It was renovated later in 1802 and again in 1891. This court theater reflected the heyday of Chinese architecture during the Qianlong reign. It synthesizes an unusually-majestic exterior architecture and intricately-designed interior structure. This scope of this article will cover an analysis of exteriors and interior architecture of the Pleasant Sound Pavillion Theater. My goal is to use this extant three-tiered stage as a way to understand theatrical architecture during the Qianlong reign.