During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the imperial court commissioned the production of several gold-plated bronze cauldrons, each with a diameter of 1.66 meters and weighing nearly 1.7 tons. When visiting the Forbidden City, it is easy to spot large bronze water cauldrons placed around the palace complex. Since most of the buildings in the Forbidden City were constructed from wood and contained many wooden objects, they were highly susceptible to fire. To prevent fires, large water cauldrons were strategically placed around the palaces as a precautionary measure.

 

Additionally, these water cauldrons were placed on white marble slabs. This design helped prevent the water from freezing during the winter. In ancient times, the marble slabs were heated, and since marble retains heat well, the warmth kept the cauldrons from freezing. In total, there are 308 bronze water cauldrons throughout the Forbidden City.

 

Nowadays, as they are no longer in use, the cauldrons are all empty to prevent insects.

 

Since gold cauldrons symbolize fire (the element of "Huo") in feng shui, representing the emperor's extraordinary power, Emperor Qianlong ordered 18 golden cauldrons to be placed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. However, he was unaware that the gold he intended to use had been secretly stolen by his favorite minister, Heshen. Heshen, often described as the most corrupt official in Chinese history, used an advanced gold-plating technique to coat bronze cauldrons, making them appear as if they were made entirely of gold.

 

In 1900, when Beijing was occupied by Western invaders, soldiers attempted to take the enormous golden cauldrons with them but soon realized they were too heavy to transport. As a result, they decided to break them apart—only to discover that they were not made of solid gold. Instead, they scraped off the gold plating and took it with them, leaving behind the bronze cauldrons, which remain in the Forbidden City to this day.