1900年(光绪庚子年)，八国联军攻占北京，一些外国摄影师随即前往中国进行拍摄活动，日本摄影师小川一真便是其中一员，他曾于明治三十四年(1901年)作为摄影师随同伊东忠太、土屋纯一、奥山恒五郎到北京考察，拍摄了紫禁城及其他一些宫殿楼阁的建筑照片。小川一真在北京考察期间，有幸拍摄了一组紫禁城宫殿建筑的照片，堪称首次真实地记录了皇城原貌的难能可贵的影像资料。紫禁城是明、清两代的皇宫，它始建于明永乐四年(1406年)，建成于永乐十八年(1420年)。从永乐皇帝开始，先后有24位皇帝在这座金碧辉煌的宫殿里执政、居住。在小川一真来中国前，至今我们还未发现有外国摄影师随意进入紫禁城拍摄的影像资料。小川一真来中国时，正值八国联军侵华之时，慈禧和光绪及皇室成员仓皇出逃，宫中混乱不堪，更无人按常规清扫管理，有些宫殿院落中草深过膝，小川一真就是在如此苍凉的时刻来到紫禁城，拍摄了一批文献价值非同寻常的帝京旧影，从而将中国神秘的紫禁城九重宫殿呈现给了世人。他所拍摄的照片，显出紫禁城苍凉的一面，与我们平日所见华丽气派的宫殿有天壤之别。有些当年照片上的景致已成绝迹，其历史文化价值则更高。如皇城建筑最南面的一道门，明代为大明门，清代保持原貌，只将门额改为大清门。民国建立后改为中华门，现在该建筑已不复存在。小川一真拍摄的大清门仍为清代原貌，门前的棋盘街、天安门前两旁的长安左、右门都还存在，门额是满汉文并列的“大清门”。在宫中的太和殿，殿内原挂有“建极绥猷”匾额，后柱上有一对楹联，小川一真进入皇宫拍摄时，殿内还保持着原样。在袁世凯洪宪帝制的丑剧中，紫禁城前三殿所有宫殿和宫门上的匾额被拆除，剔除满文，镶上单一的汉文悬挂。更有甚者，是将清代皇帝上朝用的宝座换掉，取而代之的是一把不中不西的为“中华帝国”皇帝准备的高背龙椅。此外，御花园内的竹篱墙、神武门外的朝房等诸多景致，今天我们也只有借助小川一真当年拍摄的反映紫禁城面貌的老照片略窥端倪。
In 1900 (the year of Guangxu Gengzi), when the Eight Power Allied Forces captured Beijing, some foreign photographers immediately went to China to take photos. Japanese photographer Ichikawa was one of them. In the 34th year of the Meiji era (1901), he went to Beijing as a photographer with Tadao Ito, Junichi Tuwu and Hengwulang Aoshan, and took architectural photos of the Forbidden City and other palaces and pavilions. During his investigation in Beijing, Ichizen Ogawa had the honor to take a group of photos of the Forbidden City palace buildings, which can be regarded as the first precious image data to truly record the original appearance of the imperial city. The Forbidden City is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built in the fourth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1406) and the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420). Since Emperor Yongle, 24 emperors have ruled and lived in this magnificent palace. Before Ichizen Ogawa came to China, so far we have not found any foreign photographers randomly entering the Forbidden City to take photos. When Ichikawa came to China, it was at the time of the invasion of China by the Eight Nation Allied Forces. Cixi, Guangxu and members of the royal family fled in a hurry. The palace was in chaos, and no one was cleaning and managing it according to the usual rules. Some palace courtyards were overknee deep in grass. Ichikawa came to the Forbidden City at such a bleak time, and took a number of old imperial films with extraordinary literature value, thus presenting the mysterious nine palace of the Forbidden City in China to the world. The photos he took show the bleak side of the Forbidden City, which is very different from the magnificent palaces we usually see. Some of the scenes in those photos have become extinct, and their historical and cultural values are higher. For example, the southernmost gate of the Imperial City was the Daming Gate in the Ming Dynasty, while the Qing Dynasty kept its original appearance and only changed its forehead to the Daming Gate. After the establishment of the Republic of China, it was renamed Zhonghua Gate, and now the building no longer exists. The Daqingmen Gate photographed by Ogawa Yizhen is still the original appearance of the Qing Dynasty. The Qipan Street in front of the gate and the left and right gates of Chang’an on both sides of the Tian’an Gate still exist. The gate forehead is the “Daqingmen Gate” in both Manchu and Chinese. In the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the palace, there was a plaque of “Jianji Suiyou”, and a pair of couplets on the back column. When Ichikawa entered the palace for shooting, the hall remained the same. In the farce of Yuan Shikai’s Hongxian imperial system, the plaques on all palaces and palace gates in the first three halls of the Forbidden City were removed, Manchu characters were removed, and single Chinese characters were inlaid. What’s more, the throne used by the Qing Dynasty emperor to go to court was replaced by a high backed dragon chair for the “Chinese Empire” emperor. In addition, the bamboo fence in the imperial garden, the court house outside the Shenwu Gate and many other sceneries can only be seen today with the help of the old photos taken by Ogawa Yizhen that reflect the face of the Forbidden City.

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