THE FORBIDDEN CITY(紫禁城)
(Infront of the meridian gate)
This is the palace museum; also know as the Purple Forbidden City. It isthe largest and most well reserved imperial residence inChinatoday. Under MingEmperor Yongle, construction began in 1406. It took 14 years to build theForbidden City. The first ruler who actually lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi.For five centuries thereafter,it continued to be the residence of 23 successiveemperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne .In1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizationrecognized the Forbidden City was a world cultural legacy.
It is believed that the Palace Museum, orZi Jin Cheng (Purple ForbiddenCity), got its name from astronomy folklore, The ancient astronomers divided theconstellations into groups and centered them around the Ziwei Yuan(North Star).The constellation containing the North Starwas called the Constellation ofHeavenly God and star itself was called the purple palace. Because the emperorwas supposedly the son of the heavenly gods,his central and dominant positionwould be further highlighted the use of theword purple in the name of hisresidence. In folklore, the term ”an eastern purple cloud is drifting” became ametaphor for auspicious events after apurple cloud was seen drifting eastwardimmediately before the arrival of anancient philosopher, LaoZi, to the HanghuPass. Here, purple isassociated with auspicious developments. The word jin(forbidden) isself-explanatory as the imperial palace was heavily guarded andoff-explanatoryas the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-limits toordinary people.
The red and yellow used on the palace wallsand roofs are also symbolic. Redrepresents happiness, good fortune and wealth.Yellow is the color of the earthon the Loess Plateau, the original home of the Chinese people. Yellow became animperial color during the Tang dynasty, whenonly members of the royal familywere allowed to wear it and use it in their architecture.
The Forbidden Cityis rectangular in shape. It is 960 meters long from northto south and 750meter wide from east west. It has 9,900 rooms under a total roofarea 150,000square meters .A 52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9-meter―high wallwhich enclosesthe complex. Octagon ―shaped turrets rest on the four corners ofthe wall.There are four entrances into the city: the MeridianGate to the south,the Shenwu Gate(Gate of Military Prowess) to the north, andthe Xihua Gate(Gateof military Prowess) to the north, and the Xihua Gate(Western Flowery Gate )tothe west ,the Donghua (Eastern Flowery Gate) tothe east.
Manpower and materials throughout thecountry were used to build theForbidden City.A total of 230,000 artisans and one million laborers wereemployed. Marble wasquarried from fangshan Country Mount Pan in Jixian County inHebei Province.Granite was quarried in Quyang County in Hebei Province. Pavingblockswere fired in kilns in Suzhou in southernChina. Bricksand scarletpigmentation used on the palatial walls came from linqing in Shandong Province.Timber was cut ,processed and hauled from the northwestern and southernregions.
The structure in front of us is the Meridian Gate. It is the main entranceto the forbidden City. It is also knowsas Wufenglou(Five-Phoenix Tower). Mingemperorsheld lavish banquets here on the 15th day of the first month of theChinese lunar year in hornor of their counties .They also used this place forpunishingofficals by flogging them with sticks.
Qing emperors used this building toannounce the beginning of the new year.Qing Emperor Qianglong changed the original name of this announcement ceremonyfrom ban li(announcement ofcalendar)to ban shou(announcement of new moon )toavoid coincidentalassociation with another Emperor` s name, Hongli, which wasconsidered a tabooat that time. Qing Dynasty emperors also used this place tohold audience andfor other important ceremonies. For example,when the imperialarmy returnedvictoriously from the battlefield ,it was here that the Emperorpresided overthe ceremony to accept prisoners of war.
(After entering the Meridian Gate andstanding in front of the Five MarbleBridges on Golden Water River)
now we are inside the Forbidden City.Beforewe start our tour, I would liketo briefly introduce you to the architectural patterns befour us .To completethis solemn, magnificent and palatial complex,a variety of buildings werearranged on a north-south axis, and8-kilometer-long invisible line that hasbecome an inseparable part of the Cityof Beijing. The Forbidden City coversroughly one ?third of this central axis. Most of the important building in theForbidden City weree arranged along this line. The designand arrangement of thepalaces reflect the solemn dignity of the royal courtand rigidly ?stratifiedfeudal system.
The Forbidden Cityis divided into an outer and an inner count.We are nowstanding on the southern most part of the outer count. In front of us lies theGate of supreme Harmony .The gate is guarded by a pair of bronze lions,symbolizing imperial power and dignity. The lions were the most exquisite andbiggest of its kind.The one on the east playing with a ball is a male, and ballis said to represent state unity. The other one is a female. Underneath one ofits foreclaws is a cub that is considered to be a symbol of perpetual imperialsuccession. The winding brook before us is the Golden Water River. It functionsbothas decoration and fire control .The five bridges spanning the riverrepresentthe five virtues preached by Confucius :benevolence, righteousness,rites,intellence and fidelity. The river takes the shape of a bow and thenorth-southaxis is its arrow. This was meant to show that the Emperors ruled thecountryon behalf of God.
(In front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony)
The Forbidden Cityconsists of an outer countyard and an inner enclosure.The out count yardcovers a vast space lying between the Meridian Gate and theGate of HeavenlyPurity. The “three big halls” of Supreme Harmony, CompleteHarmony and Preserving Harmony constitute the center of this building group.Flanking themin bilateral symmetry are two groups of palaces: Wenhua (ProminentScholars)and Wuying (Brave Warriors) . The three great halls are built on aspacious“H”-shaped, 8-meter-high, triple marble terrace, Each level of thetripleterrace is taller than the on below and all are encircled by marblebalustradescarved with dragon and phoenix designs. There are three carved stonestaircases linking the three architectures .The hall of supreme Harmony is alsothetallest and most exquisite ancient wooden-structured mansion in all ofChina.From thepalace of Heavenly Purith northward is what isknown as the inner court,which is also built in bilaterally symmetrical patterns. In the center are thePalaceof Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Unionand Peace and Palace of EarthlyTranquility, aplace where the Emperors lived with their families and attended tostateaffairs. Flanking these structures are palaces and halls in whichconcubinesand princes lived. There are also three botanical gardens within theinnercount, namely, the imperial Garden, Caning garden and Quailing garden. Aninner Golden Water Riverflows eastwardly within the inner court. The brook windsthrough three minorhalls or palaces and leads out of the Forbidden City.It isspanned by the White Jade Bridge.The river is lined with winding, marble ?carvedbalustrades.
Most of thestructures within the Forbidden City haveyellow glazed tileroofs.
Aside from giving prominence to thenorth-south axis, other architecturalmethods were applied to make every groupof palatial structures unique in termsof terraces, roofs, mythical monstersperching on the roofs and colored, drawingpatterns. With these, the grandcontour and different hierarchic spectrum of thecomplex were strengthened.Folklore has it that there are altogether 9,999room-units in the Forbidden City. Since Paradiseonly has 10,000 rooms, the Sonof Heaven on earth cut the number by half aroom. It is also rumoured that thishalf ?room is located to the west of the Wenyuange Pavilion (imperial library).As a matter of fact, although the Forbidden City has more than 9,000 room-units,this half-room is nonexistent.The Wenyuange Pavilion is a library where “Si KuQuan Shu”- China `s first comprehensive anthology-was stored.
(After walking past the Gate of SupremeHarmony)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the great hall we are approaching is the Hall ofSupreme Harmony, the biggest and tallest of its kingin the Forbidden City. Thisstructure covers a total building space of 2,377 square meters, and is know forits upturned,multiple counterpart eaves . The Hall of Supreme Harmony sits on atriple“H”-shaped marble terrace the is 8 meters high and linked by staircases.The staircase on the ground floor has 21 steps while the middle and upperstairways each have 9.
The construction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony began in 1406. It burneddown three times and was severely damaged onceduring a mutiny. The existingarchitecture was built during the Qing Dynasty.On the corners of the eaves aline of animal-nails were usually fastened to thetiles. These animal-nails werelater replace with mythical animals to ward offevil spirits. There arealtogether 9 such fasteners on top of this hall. The number nine was regarded bythe ancients to be the largest numeral accessibleto man and to which only theemperors were entitled.
There was a total of 24 successive emperorsduring the Ming and Qingdynasties who were enthroned here. The ball was alsoused for ceremonies whichmarked other great occasions: the Winter Solstice,The Chinese Lunar New Year,the Emperor` s birthday, conferral of the title ofempress, the announcement ofnew laws and policies, and dispatches of generalsto war .On such occasions, theEmperor would hold audience for his courtofficials and receive theirtributes.
This area is called the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, which covers atotal of 30,000 square meters, Without a single tree or plant growing here, thisplace inspires visitors to feel its solemnity and grandeur. In themiddle of thesquare there is a carriageway that was reserved for the Emperor.On both sides ofthe road the groud bricks were laid in a special way sevenlayers lengthwise andeight layers crosswise, making up fifteen layers in all.The purpose of this wasto prevent anyone from tunneling his way into thepalace. In the count yard thereare iron vats for storing water to fight fires.In the whole complex there arealtogher 308 water vats. In winter time, charcoal was burned underneath the vatsto keep the water from freezing .
Why so vast asquare? It was designed to impress people with the hall` sgrandeur andvastness. Imagine the following scene. Under the clear blue sky, theyellowglazed tiles shimmered as the cloud-like layers of terrace, coupled withthecurling veil of burning incense, transformed the hall of supreme Harmony intoafairyland. Whenever major ceremonies were held, the glazed,crane-shapedcandleholders inside the hall would be it, and incense and pinebranches burntin front of the hall. When the Emperor appeared, drums were beatenand musicalinstrument played. Civilian officials and generals would kneel knowinsubmission.
The last Qing emperor Puyi assumed the throne in 1908, at the age of three,His father carried him to the throne. At the start of the coronation, thesuddendrum-beating and loud music caught the young emperor unprepared .He wassoscared that he kept crying and shouting,"I don’t want to stay here."