Forbidden City

Overview
 

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 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 by the UNESCO.

The Forbidden City covers an area of about 150, 000 square meters. 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) where the emperors attended the grand ceremonies and conducted the state affairs. The inner palace is composed of the rear three main structure of the City, that is, Qian Qing Gong(Palace of Heavenly Purity), Jiao Tai Dian(he Palace of the Union and Peace) and Kun Ning Gong(the Palace of Earthly Tranquility). Besides, there 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, 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.

Features
Demonstration of traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment A house of Chinese cultural and historical relics 70 halls and palaces, totaling 9,999 rooms comprise the palace which spans a north-south axis Multiple galleries displaying portions of the imperial treasure trove