Target Free Thursday Talk: The Palace of Established Happiness

Emperor Qianlong considered gardens essential to a ruler’s mental and emotional well-being. He built his first private garden in 1742 at the Palace of Established Happiness (Jianfu Gong) located in the northwest quarter of the Forbidden City. Filled with exquisite pavilions, weathered rocks, sunken courtyards and winding galleries, this Garden became Qianlong’s favorite retreat where he kept his most precious art collection. In 1923, when the deposed emperor Puyi still lived in the Forbidden City, the Garden burnt down. For three-quarters of a century, the devastated Garden laid unattended beneath a pile of rubble.

In 1998, the Hong Kong-based China Heritage Fund (CHF) offered to support a complete restoration. The restoration was to become the first large-scale reconstruction project inside the Forbidden City since the early 20th century. Ms. Happy Harun, project director of Hong Kong-based China Heritage Fund (CHF) will discuss CHF’s efforts to reconstruct the Garden, and the many challenges along the way.

The Palace of Established Happiness: Restoring a Garden in the Forbidden City, a book by May Holdsworth documenting the restoration process will be available for purchase at the program.

Speaker Bio

Happy Harun is the project director of the Hong Kong-based not for profit entity - China Heritage Fund (CHF). CHF’s inaugural project is the Jianfu Palace Garden Reconstruction Project in the Forbidden City, Beijing. CHF’s second project – Reconstruction of the Hall of Rectitude Complex, also inside the Forbidden City, is due for completion at the end of this year. Harun is a graduate of Stanford University and has been involved with this restoration project from the outset.

 
This program is free and open to the public, courtesy of Target. RSVP to education@mocanyc.org.