Palace of Earthly Tranquility
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- Ming empress quarters, later used for Manchu shamanist rituals and imperial weddings.
The Palace of Earthly Tranquility was the empress's residence during the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, it was dramatically transformed: the western rooms became a shamanist shrine where daily rituals involved boiling pork as offerings, while the eastern room served as the bridal chamber for imperial weddings. The last emperor, Puyi, spent his wedding night here in 1922, though he reportedly fled to his own quarters before dawn.
Image: N509FZ (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)