The construction of three seas by Yangshi Lei

All the projects constructed by Yangshi Lei are complex, a fact that can be confirmed by the construction of the North Sea, Middle Sea and South Sea during the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing Dynasty. Lei Siqi recorded all the details of the projects including even the various sources of all kinds of costly wood, and sought all the materials himself. He purchased them in the market, took down the old materials from the royal palaces and gardens or carried them fromTianjin, a strenuous walk. In the end he died from fatigue at an early age.

During the Guangxu Reign, the project of the three seas went, among which the construction of the Yiluandian Palace for Cixi queen mother was the biggest. Lei Tingchang, the son of Lei Siqi, undertook this project. After three years of fastidious construction, Yiluandian Palace was finished, eventually becoming the real political center of the Qing Dynasty. After the Revolution of 1911, it was renamedHuairentang.