Forbidden City
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The Forbidden City also known as Palace Museum, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406) and ended in 1420. In the ancient time, the emperor claimed to be the son of the heaven and therefore their supreme power was conferred upon them from the heaven. Their residence on the earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where the God lived in the Heaven. Such divine place was certain forbidden for the ordinary people and it is why the Forbidden City is so called. The museum is a real treasures house of Chinese cultural and historical relics, recognized as one of the most important five palaces in the world (the other four are the Palace of Versailles in France, the Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the US and the Kremlin in Russia.). The splendid architecture of the Forbidden City represents the essence and culmination of the traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment. In 1961 the Palace Museum was listed as one of the important historical monuments under the special preservation by the Chinese central government and in 1987, it was nominated as the world cultural heritage b y the UNESCO.
The Forbidden City is the best preserved imperial palace in China and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. Because the emperor believed that, his palace was in the center of the earth, so the palace was symmetrically built along the north-south central axis of the capital city of Beijing. The whole imperial city extends from the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower in the north to Yong Ding Men, or the gate of Permanent Peace and Stability in the south. Despite of countless complex structures and buildings, the imperial city is know for its harmonious layout and deemed to be the summit that the ancient Chinese architecture had ever reached.
The Forbidden City covers an area of about 72 hectares with a total floor space of approximately 150, 000 square meters. It is claimed that the Forbidden City has a total of 9,999 rooms, just one less than the Purple Palace in the heaven. However, the fact is that according to the statistics in 1973, it consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms. To represent the supreme power of the emperor from the God and the place where the he lived being the center of the world, all the gates, palace and other structures of the Forbidden City were arranged on both sides of the south-north central axis. The City falls into two parts: the outer court and the inner palace. The outer court is made up of three main buildings (Tai He Dian, or the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhong He Dian, or the Hall of Middle Harmony and Bao He Dian or the Hall of Preserving Harmony) were the emperors attended the grand ceremonies and conducted the state affairs with the annex halls on either side. While the inner palace is composed of the rear three main structure of the City, namely, Qian Qing Gong, or the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Jiao Tai Dian, or the Palace of the Union and Peace and Kun Ning Gong, or the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Besides the three rear main buildings are the six eastern palaces and six western palaces, where the emperor used to handle every day affairs and was the living quarters for the emperor, expresses and concubines. For security the Forbidden City is enclosed by a 10 meters high city wall, which has a circumference of 3, 430 meters. At each corner of the rectangular Forbidden City, there stands a magnificent watchtower, which was heavily guarded in the past. And around the outskirt of the city a moat goes as the last defense work.
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There are 6 comments about Forbidden City:
docee Says:2009-2-1 23:37:00
A large palace complex. It is the essence of the art of Chinese traditional architecture.
great traveler Says:2009-1-21 20:08:00
It’s a good idea to ensure you have a pair of good walking shoes as the visit can involve plenty of walking. The Forbidden City has many large open spaces.
There are 2 questions about Forbidden City:
tracy0114 asked at 2008-7-28 11:48:00
Is it open to the tourists now? Or is it open partly or completely to the tourists? (723 views, 2 answers.)Answer this question
harry asked at 2008-3-13 4:44:00
Is the forbidden city under construction yet? (903 views, 0 answers.)Answer this question
My tour to the Forbidden City is really an unforgettable experience. I become really curious about Chinese history and I make up my mind to read many books on Chinese history to learn more.
Before entering the Forbidden City, I rent an audio tour which can interpret the attractions while I am walking. The main buildings of the Forbidden City are divided into two sections: the outer court and the inner court. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony form the outer court of Forbidden City. Walking forward, there are the Gate of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Hall of Union and Peace, the Palace of Earthly Tranquility and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Among them, the Hall of Supreme Harmony where the emperors attended court affairs is the most magnificent.
Fortunately, we have seen the photographs of Emperor Xuantong and Empress Wanrong. Emperor Xuantong was very thin while Empress Wanrong was really glamorous.
It is impossible to cover the numerous attractions in the Forbidden City in a day trip. We leave the Forbidden City reluctantly at 3 p.m.