Forbidden City's Hall of Rectitude restored to former glory

The Palace Museum and the Hong Kong-based China Heritage Fund, co-hosted a ceremony on Nov 27 to announce the completion of the restoration of the Hall of Rectitude complex.

Situated in the northwest part of the Forbidden City, south of the Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness, the Hall of Rectitude complex is composed of 10 Tibetan Buddhist Buildings, and is the only complex consisting exclusively of Buddhist architecture. It once served as a place to conduct rituals of Tibetan Buddhist worship, and was first open in 1697.

In 1923 a fire that started in the Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness spread to the complex and destroyed all but the Pavilion of the Rain of Flowers, a section of the Hall of Precious Prosperity and two other smaller structures.

In 2006 after the Palace Museum and China Heritage Fund successfully rebuilt the Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness, the two continued to cooperate to starting rebuilding the Hall of Rectitude complex based on historic documents, file photos and paintings.

The restored complex will be used as the Palace Museum's Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Heritage Research Center as well as the exhibiting space for Tibetan Buddhist statues, thangkas and musical instruments. An ongoing exhibition featuring more than 100 Tibetan cultural relics will be located within the complex.

"The restoration brought an exquisite imperial pleasure ground back to life. A blemish from the devastation of the previous century was smoothed out, allowing the Palace Museum a great stride forward in making the Forbidden City whole again," said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum.

"The destruction of a nation's cultural heritage reflects the country's decline and turmoil, yet its restoration is a sure sign of the country's rise and prosperity," said Ronnie C. Chan, founding chairman of China Heritage Fund.