Gugun Imperial Palace - Forbidden City

The complex is one of the main attractions of China and its largest museum.

The Forbidden City in Beijing is the largest and best preserved palace monument of feudal China. 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and worked here for almost 500 years. 24 emperors ascended the throne and ruled for 491 years. Now the former residence of the Chinese emperors is the main attraction of Beijing.

Preparatory work for the Forbidden City began in 1406, 15 years before the official transfer of the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, on the orders of Emperor Zhu Di. In general, it took 10 years to prepare and deliver the necessary building material to the place of work. In the future palace brought priceless "golden" brick, the production of which was engaged in Suzhou. Brick was made from the best clay in China. After the formation of the plates, the brick underwent three stages of temperature treatment, each of which lasted 30-40 days, the best tree species were used for firing. After 130 days of firing, the brick was covered with poisonous tung oil, giving the tiles a golden hue and shimmering shine.

The workers had to deliver huge blocks of stones from which sculptures were then created. The weight of one such stone, installed in front of the northern entrance of the Baohedian pavilion, is 260 tons. Transportation of such solid stone massifs could be carried out only in winter: workers flooded the road with water, and the stone was laid on special sleds, in which people were harnessed. Valuable species of wood from the southern provinces of China were delivered along the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal.

Construction began in 1417. 100,000 artisans and hundreds of workers were mobilized to work. Three years later, the entire palace complex, covering an area of 720,000 square meters and more than 1,000 buildings, was ready. According to legend, 9,999 and a half rooms there also because the heavenly king had 10 thousand rooms, and the emperor, who called himself the son of the heavenly king, could not be equal with him. So he had half a room less.

The Forbidden City was built in central Beijing on a north-south axis. The Emperor's throne is right on this axis. This symbolized that the emperor was the center of the universe and all the lands under heaven belonged to the emperor, and all the people under heaven were subjects of the emperor.

The full name of the imperial residence in Chinese sounds like Purple Forbidden City. Each character in this title has its own meaning. So the meaning of the character Tzu (“purple”) is associated with the North Star (Ziwei – Ziwei), which according to traditional Chinese astrology was the dwelling of the Heavenly Emperor. The surrounding celestial space (Ziweiyuan - Ziwei Enclosure) was the kingdom of the Heavenly Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, as the residence of the celestial emperor, was the earthly analogue of Zueiyuan. The hieroglyph Jin ("forbidden") indicated that no one could enter the palace without the emperor's permission. And finally, the character Cheng means "the city behind the wall."

The name "Gugong", meaning "Palace of Former Rulers", appeared later, but now in Beijing it has almost completely replaced the former. Since now there is a museum in the buildings of the Forbidden City, another name appeared - the Palace Museum. The Forbidden City is often referred to as the Imperial Palace.

From 1421 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the capital of the Ming dynasty. This dynasty fell under the onslaught of rebellious peasants led by Li Zicheng. The Ming dynasty was replaced by the Qing dynasty. The main buildings of the Imperial Palace changed their names, and the tablets on them became in two languages - Chinese and Manjour. In 1911, the Qing dynasty was overthrown, although the last Chinese emperor officially abdicated on February 12, 1912.

The Forbidden City is located in central Beijing north of Tiananmen Square. From the square to the main entrance to the Forbidden City, you can pass through the Gate of Heavenly Tranquility. The main entrance to the Forbidden City is the Noon Gate, located from the south. Behind these gates is a large square with a canal in the middle - Inner Golden Water. Five marble bridges leading to the Gate of Supreme Harmony are thrown across the canal. Behind these gates begins a complex of buildings called the Outer Court (Waichao - Waichao - Outer Court), designed for official ceremonies and public affairs.

Here, behind each other stand the most magnificent buildings of the Forbidden City: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserved Harmony. All these pavilions stand on marble platforms 8 m high. The most solemn events took place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where the main throne of the emperor - the Throne of the Dragon - was located. The Hall of Higher Harmony is also the largest: its width on the facade is 64 m, depth is 37 m, and height (excluding the platform) is 27 m. The roof of the pavilion is supported by 84 columns with a diameter of 1 m.

Further north beyond the Gate of Heavenly Purity is the Inner Courtyard (Nateen - Neiting - Inner Residence), which served as the residence of the emperor, his wives and concubines. Here on a common marble platform stand the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Unity and Peace and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.

In the northernmost part of the Forbidden City is the Imperial Sad Yuhuyuan, measuring only 130 m by 90 m, but very beautiful. There are many small pavilions and gazebos, pools and stones. Behind the Imperial Garden is the Gate of Divine Power, the northern exit from the Forbidden City.

Today, many of the halls in the Imperial Palace are used as galleries to exhibit artistic, cultural and historical values. The museum has more than a million objects, which is one-sixth of the national wealth. But not all halls are open to the public and used for storage of rarities or empty. Of the museum’s million items, only 70,000 are on display.