Hall of Mental Cultivation

A relatively modest compound in the western inner court that became the working and living quarters of Qing emperors from the eighteenth century. Behind its unassuming facade lie small studies, a bedchamber, and the screened chamber from which two dowager empresses conducted state affairs from behind a curtain. The intimate scale and preserved furnishings give a sharper sense of daily court life than the towering ceremonial halls. Its side rooms held the emperor's private library and a jade-carving studio.