Rainstorm accumulated water in Cining Palace, which led netizens to question： No water accumulated in 600 years？ The forbidden city rumors!

　　A few days ago, some netizens photographed the picture of water accumulated during the rainstorm in Cining Palace of the Palace Museum, questioning the function of the drainage system of the Palace Museum.

　　On July 31, Beijing was hit by heavy rain. What was the state of the drainage system of the Forbidden City? Was there serious water accumulation in the video? How does the drainage system used in the Forbidden City for more than 600 years work?

　　Di Yajing, director of the World Heritage Monitoring Department of the Palace Museum, said that the drainage system of the Palace Museum is a very complicated system.

　　First of all, the rain falls on the roof and leads from the roof to the abutment. The whole courtyard is high in the north and low in the south, and the middle is high and the two sides are low, so the water will be led to the open ditch through the middle of the courtyard and then converge to the Jinshui River. Some courtyards will directly fall into the culvert below through the "money eye", and then go to the branch ditch outside the courtyard, and the branch ditch will merge into the main ditch and finally flow to Jinshui River.

　　So, is there serious water accumulation in the video in the Forbidden City? Is it caused by modern technology?

　　It is reported that the Ming and Qing dynasties will open the culvert for dredging in March every year. At present, the Forbidden City carries out dredging three times a year in spring, summer and autumn, and there are quite a few times of dredging. Why is there still water in Cining Palace? It's not that modern science and technology can't clear the mud, but that the staff found products only available in modern society in the culvert: plastic bottles, plastic bags, towels and even clothes, which blocked the drainage of the culvert. After dredging, it has been drained smoothly.

　　Source: Video screenshot

　　Is it true that the Forbidden City has been built for more than 600 years without water?

　　In historical documents, it is often found that there are some records of roof leakage, wall collapse and courtyard water accumulation in the whole area of the Forbidden City. For example, in April of the eleventh year of Guangxu, the water accumulation from Donghuamen to Xihuamen was "several feet", but after the water accumulation appeared, everyone's practice was to find the blocking point as soon as possible and clean it up, so that its drainage function could be quickly restored.

　　Source: Beijing News Broadcasting

　　Editor: Guo Qiangzai

　　Editor: Thaung Myint and Zhang Juxin

　　Producer: Huang Bailin