| At the north end of the Inner Court, next to the Gate of Earthly Tranquility 坤宁门 (Kūnníng Mén), there is a tree. It may have been a later growth that the staff of the Palace Museum simply allowed to grow, but it is a welcome sight. On the other side of the wall there are lots of trees in the Yuhua Garden, but we value what is rare. When the imperial apartments were occupied, there was lots of greenery. Flower pots are part of landscaping and decoration in Chinese architecture and decoration. Today, you can see huge displays of flowers at public buildings on special occasions. Usually they are arranged in formal patterns, or they might take the shape of characters or a symbol. The flowers are grown in green houses and match in size and color. If you have 10,000 or even 1,000 eunuchs at your command, it is easy to have fresh flower pots when the bloom fades on the old. |
