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Forbidden City China
After the republican revolution in 1911, the youngest and last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, then still a child, abdicated the next year. But he, his family and their entire entourage were allowed to stay in the palaces. They were finally expelled by republican troops in 1924. It has been the Palace Museum to the public since 1950. The Forbidden City is one of the largest and best-preserved palace complexes in the world. There are over a million rare and valuable objects in the Museum.
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In the early 1400s, the third Ming Emperor, YongLe, moved the capital of China to Beijing. In 1406, he began construction of a new 'Forbidden City' that would include the imperial palace complex.
The Forbidden City, located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, was the home and center of power for 24 emperors during the mid to latter Ming and Qing dynasties.
Today, the Forbidden City is a public museum, drawing the attention of millions of travellers and tourists from around the world. At the Forbidden City you can see the traditional architecture up close and marvel at the treasures of the imperial family and its court.
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| Forbidden City History |
 The Meridian Gate :The Meridian Gate as viewed from inside the Forbidden City. Built in 1420, it is 37.95 metres high and is the main gate of the Forbidden City. The bells and drums in the gate tower were sounded to accompany important ceremonies presided over by the emperor.
During important ceremonies presided over by the emperor, guards of honour lined up on the square between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the largest square in the palace complex
- Watch Tower: This is one of the watchtowers on the four corners of the wall surrounding the Forbidden City. Each watchtower is supported by nine beams and 18 Pillars and has three layers of eaves. There are 72 ridges on the roof with a gilded spire in the centre.
- Gate of Supreme Harmony:This is the square between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony, just ahead. Guards of honor would line up in this square (the largest in the palace complex) before important ceremonies.
- Hall of Supreme Harmony:
Built from south to north on an eight-metre-high marble foundation, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Medium Harmony and the Hall of Protective Harmony form the Outer Court of the Forbidden City together with the Hall of Literary Glory on their east side and the Hall of Military Prowess on their west side.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, also referred to as the throne, is 35 metres high, the highest of the halls in the Forbidden City. It was used for important ceremonies like the enthronement of the crown prince, the emperor's birthday celebrations, and the initiation of military expeditions.
- Hall of Medium Harmony:The Hall of Medium Harmony is where the emperors rested before major ceremonies or receiving officials.
- Hall of Protective Harmony:
The Hall of Protective Harmony is where the emperors gave banquets and interviewed those who had successfully passed the gruelling imperial examinations. This is the emperor's throne.
- Hall of Celestial Purity : The front chamber of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, where the emperor attended to state affairs almost everyday.
- Hall of Union and Peace :Lying between the Palace of Heavenly Purity and the Hall of Earthly Peace, the Hall of Union and Peace was used for the safekeeping of 25 jade seals of the imperial court. Representing monarchial authority, they were placed in golden boxes covered with yellow silk.
- Hall of Earthly Peace :
The Hall of Earthly Peace was the residence of the empress and contained her bed chamber The picture shows the east side chamber of the hall, which served as the bridal chamber for the emperor and empress during their wedding. As a rule, they stayed here only for three days before returning to their respective residences.
- The Imperial Garden:
This would be the emperor's view upon entering the Imperial Garden, built in 1417. The large urn ahead is an incense burner.
- Pavillion of 10,000 Spring Seasons:One of the eight pavillions in the middle of the garden.
- Hill of Accumulated Elegance:
Every year, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Emperor
and Empress would climb the hill to view the distant scenery.
- Gate of Divine Prowess:
The north gate of the Imperial Garden viewed at dusk. It leads
to the Gate of Divine Might, the rear gate of the Forbidden City.
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Forbidden City COnstruction
Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces. Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.
Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow by a special process. However, there is one exception. Wenyuange, the royal library, has a black roof. The reason is that it was believed black represented water then and could extinguish fire.
Nowadays, the Forbidden City, or the Palace Museum is open to tourists from home and abroad. Splendid painted decoration on these royal architectural wonders, the grand and deluxe halls, with their surprisingly magnificent treasures will certainly satisfy 'modern civilians'. |
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| Interesting Facts Forbidden City |
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- Once the number of rooms in the Forbidden City was 9,999. The Chinese considered 9 a lucky number.
- Ringed by a 10 meter (33 foot) high protective wall. The defense was strengthened by a moat as wide as a river.
- The Forbidden City occupies 720,000 square metres of land, which is equivalent to twenty plus football fields.
- The colossal complex was home of some six thousand people, including the imperial family.
- Puyi, the last resident emperor of the Forbidden City, was permanently evicted in 1924. He was depicted in Bertolucci's 1987 epic movie 'The Last Emperor'.
- The British are the only power who succeeded in capturing the Forbidden City. They did so during the Second Anglo-Chinese Opium War, in 1860.
- The earth excavated during the construction of the moat was piled up at a single place. The result was Jingshan Hill, an artificial hill.
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| Getting There
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You can take taxis/cabs from Beijing Airport and Railway Station. Local buses also ferry passengers to the area. Qianmen is the nearest underground local train station.
Jinshan Hill is the best place to watch the splendid layout of the palace.
Not forget to view the Tiananmen Square from rostrum of the front gate.
You could end up paying much more than you should for your souvenirs. So be careful.
The Forbidden City is open daily all year.
October 16th - April 15th 8:30 - 16:30 Last Entry at 15:30
(including the Clock Gallery and Treasure Gallery)
April 16th - October 15th 8:30 - 17:00 Last Entry at 16:00
(including the Clock Gallery and Treasure Gallery) |
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