Beijing Forbidden City: Touch Imperial Relics: Touch Imperial Relics

Author: Wei Li
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The Forbidden City, also known as the Purple Forbidden City, was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ancient palaces were built "according to the heavens" to symbolize the emperor's authority "ordained by heaven." Since the emperor was the "Son of Heaven," the palace was likened to the "Purple Palace," a sacred place for the celestial deity, hence the name "Purple Forbidden City." The Forbidden City was first constructed in the fourth year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty and completed in the eighteenth year. It underwent the reign of 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City is vast, covering an area of 720,000 square meters with a building area of over 150,000 square meters, featuring 9,999 and a half halls and rooms. Surrounded by a 10-meter-high, 3,400-meter-long palace wall and a 52-meter-wide moat outside, it is the world's largest and most complete ancient palace complex. To highlight the emperor's supreme authority, the Forbidden City has a central axis running from the Meridian Gate, through the Three Great Halls and the Three Back Halls, to the Imperial Garden, connecting the northern and southern parts of the palace city. Along this axis, according to the ancient custom of "front court and rear quarters," the Three Great Halls, where emperors issued decrees and symbolized the center of power, and the Three Back Halls, where emperors and empresses resided, are arranged. The Forbidden City is divided into the Outer Court and the Inner Court. The Outer Court is centered around the Three Great Halls, with the Wenhua and Wuying Halls as its flanks. The Inner Court is centered around the Qianqing Palace, the Jiaotai Palace, and the Kunning Palace, with the East and West Six Palaces as its flanks, arranged in a strict and orderly manner. On both sides of the central axis of the Forbidden City's palaces, there are many other magnificent halls, all grand and splendid. Each of the four corners of the Forbidden City has an exquisite corner tower, known as the "nine beams and eighteen pillars," which are exceptionally beautiful. The Palace Museum houses artistic treasures from various dynasties in China, making it a richest cultural and artistic treasure trove in the country. The entire architecture of the Forbidden City is gold and vermilion, solemn, and magnificent, and it is one of the world's five great palaces, listed by UNESCO as "World Cultural Heritage." The name "Forbidden City" means the former imperial palace, which was commonly referred to as the Purple Forbidden City and is located in the center of Beijing. The Forbidden City was completed in the eighteenth year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1420), covering an area of 720,000 square meters with a building area of 160,000 square meters, featuring over 9,000 halls and rooms, making it the largest and most complete ancient palace complex in China and the world. Divided by the Qianqing Gate Square, it consists of the Outer Court and the Inner Court: the Outer Court, centered around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony, with the Wenhua and Wuying Halls as its flanks, is where emperors held grand ceremonies; the Inner Court, centered around the Qianqing Palace, the Kunning Palace, and the Jiaotai Palace, with the East and West Six Palaces as its flanks, was where emperors and empresses resided and handled daily state affairs. A total of 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and exercised their supreme authority here. The most attractive buildings in the Forbidden City are the Three Great Halls: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. They are all built on an 8-meter-high white marble platform, appearing from a distance like mythical palaces in the heavens. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is a magnificent building, commonly known as the "Golden Hall," where emperors held grand ceremonies. It is 28 meters high, 63 meters long from east to west, and 35 meters wide from north to south, with 72 pillars, each with a diameter of 1 meter. Among them, six pillars surrounding the imperial throne are gilded dragon columns with lacquered decoration. The imperial throne is placed on a 2-meter-high platform inside the hall, with beautifully designed cranes, incense burners, and tripods in front, and intricately carved screen behind. The entire hall is decorated in gold and vermilion, solemn and magnificent. The Hall of Central Harmony is where emperors took a brief rest and rehearsed rituals before attending ceremonies at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The Hall of Preserving Harmony was the venue where emperors hosted banquets for foreign vassal kings on the first day of the lunar New Year. Passing through the courtyard behind the Three Great Halls, there is a magnificent palace gate called the Qianqing Gate, the main gate of the "Inner Court," built during the Ming Dynasty. A pair of golden lions and ten golden urns are arranged in pairs in front of the gate. Sometimes, Qing emperors held audiences here. Inside the gate are the Three Back Halls: the Qianqing Palace is in the front, the emperor's, and the Kunning Palace is in the back, the empress's main residence. Between the two palaces stands a square pavilion-shaped hall called the Jiaotai Palace, the small ceremonial hall of the Inner Court. The East and West Wings of the Three Back Halls have the Duaning Hall for storing the emperor's crowns, robes, and belts, the Maoqin Hall for storing books and calligraphy, the Shangshu Study for imperial princes to study, and the Nanshu Study for Hanlin scholars. There are four gates on each side: the East has the Rijing Gate, Longguang Gate, Jinghe Gate, and Jihu Gate; the West has the Yuehua Gate, Fengcai Gate, Longfu Gate, and Duanze Gate, leading to the East Six Palaces and West Six Palaces, respectively. Historically known as the "Three Palaces and Six Courtyards," this refers to this area. Finally, one arrives at the Imperial Garden," which features lush cypress and pine trees and intricately designed rockeries, creating a uniquely elegant and tranquil atmosphere behind the magnificent and solemn halls. Emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty lived in the Qianqing Palace, with the empress residing in the Kunning Palace, and the Jiaotai Palace serving as the empress's ceremonial hall. In the late Qing Dynasty, emperors and empresses moved to the West Six Palaces and other locations, the most famous being the Youshi Palace. From the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, it became the emperor's place for governing and residing, and Empress Dowager Cixi also held court behind a screen here for over 40 years. Every plant and tree in the Forbidden City carries symbolic meaning, reflecting the essence of ancient Chinese culture. The name "Forbidden City" is related to ancient Chinese philosophy and astronomy. The Chinese believed in "harmony between heaven and man" or "unity of heaven and man," so the structure of the Forbidden City was modeled after the legendary "Heavenly Palace." Ancient astronomy divided the stars into three enclosures, surrounded by 28 constellations, with the Purple Enclosure (Polaris) at the center, the hub of all constellations. The "Purple" in the Forbidden City refers to the "center of the Purple Enclosure," meaning the imperial palace is the "center of the human world." The "Forbidden" refers to the residence of the imperial family, which is supremely dignified and strictly forbidden to disturb. The names of various places in the Forbidden City, such as Tiananmen and the Hall of Supreme Harmony, carry words like "benevolence," "harmony," "center," and "peace," which represent the core of Confucian thought in China, emphasizing "upright and harmonious" values, highlighting traditional Confucian ideals. The architecture of the Palace Museum is considered world-class, and its collection is rare in the world. Over 1 million artifacts are preserved, including gold, silver, bronze, lacquer, jade, and calligraphy, showcasing artistic treasures from all dynasties. To protect these treasures from damage and theft, the Forbidden City now has the world's most advanced underground storage facilities to ensure the safety of its collections. It also employs a rotation system, displaying only a limited number of artifacts at a time, with regular rotation and dusting to maintain their preservation. The Forbidden City is now the Palace Museum, established on October 10, 1925, as the largest comprehensive museum in China. In 1961, it was designated by the State Council as one of the first batch of "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units," and in 1987, it was listed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as "World Heritage."