The Kunning Palace is one of the three imperial harems, initially built in the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty in 1420, rebuilt and repaired multiple times in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The name “Kunning” means “peaceful universe”. The palace has 9 corridors crosswise and 3 rooms lengthwise with yellow glazed tiles and double-eaves hipped roofing.

This is the main harem of the empresses in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The first resident of the Kunning Palace was Majesty Xu, the empress of Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty. Later, every empress of the Ming Dynasty took the Kunning Palace as their resting place. When Li Zicheng occupied Beijing, the last empress of Ming hung herself in the palace.

In the Qing Dynasty, although the Kunning Palace was still called the “main harem”, it was only used on the wedding night and the empress no longer lived here later. Emperors Kangxi, Tongzhi and Guangxu as well as Puyi all stayed in the palace for two days during their weddings and then moved to the Qianqing Palace or the Yangxin Palace.

Another major function of the Kunning Palace in the Qing Dynasty was Shamanistic worship. The internal layout of the hall was changed into the form of “pocket house, wanzi kang and chimney sitting on the ground” based on the customs of Manchu in northeast China. Every day, two pure black pigs were killed and cooked here to worship gods and the pork was given out to princes, ministers and guards. It is said that the sacrificial pork had no salt and was not tasty, but it was an honor to eat meat in the Kunning Palace, an experience worth being inscribed on tombstones.