Northwest corner tower of the Forbidden City and moat, Beijing, China (photo: A_peach, CC BY 2.0)
The Forbidden City is a sizable enclosure with crimson walls and yellow-glazed roof tiles that is situated in the center of Beijing, the capital of China. The precinct is a little city, as its name suggests. The Forbidden City is made up of more than 90 palace compounds, containing 98 buildings, and is encircled by a moat that may be up to 52 meters wide. It is 961 meters long and 753 meters broad.
Aerial view of the Forbidden City, Beijing (© Google Earth 2021)
For more than 500 years, China's governmental and ceremonial hub was the Forbidden City. 24 emperors, their families, and servants lived in the Forbidden City after it was finished in 1420 during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Puyi (1906–1967), the final tenant and the final emperor of imperial China, was driven out in 1925 when the precinct was converted into the Palace Museum. With an average of 80,000 visitors each day, it is still the most popular museum in the People's Republic of China and one of the most significant cultural heritage sites despite no longer being an imperial precinct.
Construction and layout
The Ming dynasty's fourth son, Zhu Di, who has crowned the Chengzu emperor (his formal title) in 1402, orchestrated a sensational coup d'état that led to the building of the Forbidden City. The Chengzu emperor moved the capital from Nanjing in southeast China to Beijing and started constructing a new center of the empire, the Forbidden City, to consolidate his rule.
Drawn plan of the Forbidden City, Beijing
The Forbidden City maintained its central role even after the Qing dynasty came into being in 1644 because the Manchu imperial family continued to reside and rule there. Although the area has undergone numerous renovations and modest constructions well into the twenty-first century, no significant changes have been made since it was finished. The Forbidden City's architects adhered to the ideal cosmic order in Confucian thought since it is a ceremonial, ritual, and dwelling area and had held Chinese social structure together for generations. This design made sure that all activities in this micro-city were carried out in a way that suited the participants' social and familial responsibilities. Depending on the nature of the events, all activities, such as imperial court ceremonies or life-cycle rites, would take place in elegant palaces. The court similarly chose the residents of the Forbidden City solely based on their standings within the imperial family.
A sense of hierarchy may also be seen in the architecture. Each building was created in line with the Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards (Yingzao fashion), a book written in the eleventh century that laid out specific plans for structures of various social classes in China.
Public and private life
In Forbidden City, the lines between public and private life are very distinct. The southern portion, or outer court, has magnificent palace complexes that are larger than humans. Only men had access to the spaces of this outer court, which belonged to the area of state affairs. It comprised the official receiving rooms for the emperor, locations for religious rites, and the Meridian Gate (Wumen), which functioned as the primary entrance and was situated at the southern end of the central axis.
Looking at the Meridian Gate from the north (Imperial Palace Museum) (photo: inkelv112, CC BY-NC 2.0)
One instantly reaches a large courtyard laid with white marble stones in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony after passing the Meridian Gate (Taihedian). Before 3 a.m. every morning since the Ming dynasty, officials have gathered in front of the Meridian Gate in anticipation of the emperor's reception, which begins at 5 a.m.
The inner court is the domestic area, devoted to the imperial family, while the outer court is only for men. The palaces in the Forbidden City's northern region are part of the inner court. The palaces of the emperor, known as the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), and the empress, known as the Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kuninggong), are situated to the south and north, respectively, of the city's central axis. Between them is the Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union (Jiaotaidian), a more compact square structure used for imperial marriages and familial festivities.
Left: Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), Forbidden City, Beijing (photo: Xiquinho Silva, CC BY 2.0); Right: Hall of Celestial and Terrestrial Union (Jiaotaidian) and Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong) (photo: R Boed, CC BY 2.0)
The Royal of Heavenly Purity was a luxurious royal building, a symbol of the emperor's superior status, yet it was too large for private activities to be conducted in comfort. Because of this, the Palace of Heavenly Purity was only used for ceremonial purposes when the Qing emperor Yongzheng moved his home to the smaller Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxindian) to the west of the main axis in the early 18th century. The Hall of Mental Cultivation served as the residence for all future emperors.
The residences of the emperor's consorts flank the three principal palaces in the inner court. The shape of K'un, one of the eight trigrams in traditional Chinese philosophy, is formed by six comparable, walled palace compounds on either side. Because it symbolizes the mother and the soil, it serves as a metaphor for the proper feminine duties that the people who live in these palaces should adopt. The Palace of Eternal Spring (Changchungong) and the Palace of Gathered Elegance was rebuilt by the empress dowager Cixi (1835–1908)This architectural and philosophical symmetry was significantly disrupted for (Chuxiugong45th )'s and 55th birthdays in 1874 and 1884, respectively when she was given a space in the western portion of the inner court. The configuration of the six palace compounds that were original there was reduced from six to four during the restoration, breaking the trigram's symbolic structure and implying a less rigid Chinese patriarchal control at the time.
The retiring emperor and empress dowager were given exclusive use of the inner court's eastern and western sides. In the northeastern part of the Forbidden City, the emperor Qianlong (who reigned from 1735 to 1996) constructed the Hall of Pleasant Longevity (Leshoutang), his post-retirement mansion. It was the imperial precinct's final significant building. In addition to these palace complexes for the older generation, the east and west sides of the inner court also contain buildings for the royal family's religious activities, such as Buddhist and Daoist temples constructed during the Ming dynasty. The majority of these buildings were kept by the Manchus, who also constructed areas for their shamanic practices.
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| Temple, Forbidden City, Beijing (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) |
The Forbidden City now
The Forbidden City is still evolving today. The museum achieves a compromise between being a contemporary museum and a historical site by preserving the palace complexes' buildings and interiors, and in certain cases turning smaller palace buildings and corridors into display rooms showcasing the priceless artwork from the imperial collections. The Forbidden City is viewed by many as a time capsule for China's past as well as a place where the general people may learn about and enjoy the history and beauty of this ancient culture.
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