The "Three Great Halls"--the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Perfect Harmony and the Hall of Preservation of Harmony. The bronze tortoise and crane stand side by side with jia liang, a symbolic measurement instrument of stone, in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

family's prosperity. It is exactly this belief that prompted builders of the Forbidden City to dig the Golden Water River. The "river", so to speak, diverts water from the moat outside the northwest comer of the Forbidden City, passes by some important imperial structures as it flows, and empties into the moat outside the southeast comer of the Forbidden City. While mainly symbolic, it nonetheless serves as the source of water for fire fighting and drains off rainwater.

   While the main gate of the frontal part of the Forbidden City, the Gate of Supreme Harmony served as a venue where emperors worked on court affairs. In the Ming Dynasty, court ministers were obliged to gather at the gate early in the morning every day, waiting for imperial orders or audience from his majesty. If the reigning emperor happened to be hardworking, he would, intermittently, join the court ministers for discussion or to issue orders. The practice, known as "court meetings at the Imperial Gate", continued into the succeeding dynasty, the Qing, and the only difference was that the Gate of Heavenly Purity was made the venue. Emperor Kang Xi (1662-1722), one of feudal China's greatest statesmen and military strategists, was present most frequently at "court meetings at the Imperial Gate". The succeeding emperors, however, were not so hardworking - in fact each being lazier than the preceding one. The practice was dropped in 1861, after the outbreak of the Second Opium War in which China suffered a humuliating defeat.

   The Hall of Supreme Harmony: Now that we are in the frontal part of the Forbidden City, we find ourselves in a square even larger than the square in between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony. High on a pure white marble platform in the north of the 30,000-square meter square stand the "Three Great Halls" - the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Perfect Harmony and the Hall of Preservation of Harmony. Ancient Chinese buildi

Interior of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Pay attention to the dragon throne in the middle.

   In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, on the marble platform, we find a tortoise and a crane, both of bronze, a stone sundial, and a symbolic measuring instrument called jia liang. In ancient times, the tortoise and crane were symbols of long life and happiness. While telling time. the sundial was seen as symbolizing the country's long-term stability. The bronze crane and tortoise on the platform were hollow inside, and were used as s andalwood burners at ceremonies.

   Blue is the sky, and bathed in the glory of the bright sun are the red walls, the pure white platform, and the golden roofs of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Sandalwood smoke are curling upward from the crane, the tortoise and numerous incense burners. Below the platform, the guard of honor stands in full attention, their flags embroidered with dragon designs fluttering in the gentle wind. In full formal court dresses, imperial princes and court ministers gather in front of the hall, holding their breaths in awe. Suddenly, and ever so suddenly, drums and bells begin sounding. Those standing in front of the hall, except the guard of honor, instantly get down on their knees, knowing that the emperor is ascending the dragon throne for the ceremony, their shouting "long

live our emperor" resounding in the huge square.

   The Hall of Perfect Harmony and the

The three-tier stone platform on which the "Three Great Halls' stand.

Interior of Palace of Heavenly Purity.

honor of the imperial princes. As such, it has a dragon chair in the middle. But it is smaller than the Hall of Supreme Harmony and its interior decorations were not as lavish.

   The Hall of Preservation of Harmony has a nine-bay front, suggesting that in status, the structure is lower than the Hall of Supreme Harmony but higher than the Hall of Perfect Harmony that has a five-bay front. The Hall of Perfect Harmony is the smallest of the Three Great Halls. Moreover, it has a square roof. Like its size, the shape of its roof also suggests that it is lower in status than either the Hall of Supreme Harmony or the Hall of Perfect Harmony. The size, shape and interior

decoration of each suit perfectly well with its use and status under the imperial hierarchical system. Standing on the same pure white platform, the Three Great Halls, with the smallest in the middle, present a unique atheistic effect that makes the scene awe-inspiring while lively.

    The Palace of Heavenly Purity: Descending the platform behind the Hall of Preservation of Harmony, we find one more courtyard in front of us. This is where the frontal part of  the Forbidden City and the imperial living quarters join. Lying to the north of the courtyard is the Gate of Heavenly Purity, the main gate of the imperial living quarters. At either side of the gate there is a screen wall with glazed patterns of decoration, the two screen walls arranged in such a way as to form an inverted V. Screen walls - in most cases with carved murals -- are often seen in traditional courtyards or at either side of the gate outside. While a decoration, screen walls help protect the privacy of those living in the courtyards. The screen walls in

The Palace of Heavenly Purity, the sleeping quarters of the emperor and his queen.

   What is even more important about the Palace of Heavenly Purity is that behind the horizontal board above the dragon throne, the secret decisions in the handwriting of the Qing Dynasty's reigning emperors on appointment of their successors were hidden. Interesting enough, the board is inscribed with the four Chinese characters meaning "upright and honest", even though struggles fought desperately between imperial princes for the dragon throne were common occurrences.

    In all dynasties before the Qing, the eldest male child born of the reigning emperor's crown empress was, in most cases, made the crown prince. Even if the crown prince was an idiot, a helpless womanizer or drunkard, he would automatically succeed the throne after his father died. It was Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty who broke the tradition. Emperor Kang Xi had 35 sons, who engaged in fierce struggles, overt and covert, for the throne. The fourth son won in the end, and made himself Emperor Yong Zheng after his father died. To prevent a repetition of history, Emperor Yong Zheng decided to keep his decision on appointment of his successor a secret until after he died. He wrote the decision in two copies, one kept by himself and the other, in a locked box hidden behind the horizontal board above the dragon throne in the Hall of Heavenly Purity. After he died, a committee of most senior court ministers opened the box, and

The three main structures and other buildings in the rear part of the Forbidden City.

   The Hall of Earthly Tranquility and the Hall of Union and Peace: In the Ming Dynasty, the Hall of Earthly Tranquility was where the crown empresses lived. For this reason, it is pretty large, with a nine-bay front. After Emperor Shun Zhi, the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty, settled in the Forbidden City in the mid-1600s, the hall was renovated in following the folk customs of the Manchurians. It was partitioned into two parts, the east part reserved as the imperial nuptial chamber and the west part, as the imperial site for performing rites of shamanism.

    Though the imperial family of the Qing adopted the Taoist and Buddhist beliefs shortly after their conquest of the Ming, shamanism that characterized their religion continued to be practiced in the Forbidden City. A hog would be slaughtered at such a rite, and its meat boiled and a slice of it given to everyone present on the occasion. Through the large window we can see the stove and the big cauldron used to heat water for cleaning the slaughtered hog of its bristles.

   The three halls in the imperial living quarters stand on the same pure white platform, like the Three Great Halls in the frontal part of the Forbidden City. Moreover, the smallest hall is placed in between the two larger halls, the same way as the Three Great Halls. But these structures are much smaller in size, and the platform is much lower. The Three Great Halls are imposing, designed in such a way as to impress people with the

The Imperial Garden

The east chamber of the Hall of Moral Cultivation. At court meetings, Empress Dowager Ci Xi would sit on the chair was seated on a dragon chair, supposedly to exercise the imperial powers.

   The Imperial Garden: Lying to the north of the Hall of Union and Peace, the Imperial Garden is the last part of the Forbidden City that sits astride the axis of the imperial palace complex. Structures in the garden, however, are not arranged in order of bilateral symmetry, and the main hall, pavilions, corridors, plants and flowers are properly spaced and distributed for a visual impact of natural beauty. In addition to trees and flowers that grow in the relatively cold north, the garden

features potted plants and miniature landscapes characteristic of south China, as well as exotic rocks that local government officials sent in as tributes to the emperor.

   The Hall of Moral Cultivation: This was the private quarters of Emperor Yong Zheng and the succeeding emperors. Despite that, it does not sit astride the axis of the Forbidden City, as structures of the same status should. Instead, the hall stands in the west part of the imperial living quarters.

   The hall, with a three-bay front, is partitioned into two parts. The frontal part was where individual court ministers were summoned in for questioning by the emperor on state affairs. As such, it has a desk and a chair reserved for his majesty. There are two side chambers in the hall, where the emperor held private discussions with the members of the Council of State -- the cabinet or the collective premiership.

    Pay attention to the curtain hung in front of the side chamber in the east. That curtain is historic. In 1861, Emperor Xian Feng died and his only son, then six years old, ascended the throne as Emperor Tong Zhi. The child emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Ci Xi, became the de facto ruler of China. At court meetings in the hall, she would sit behind the screen giving instructions while her son, the child emperor, sat on the dragon chair, supposedly to exercise the imperial power. The

Empress, known in the West as "China's fire-spitting dragon lady" for her viciousness and greed for power, reigned supreme until she died in 1908.

    The Gate of Divine Prowess: This was the north gate of the Forbidden City. In the Ming Dynasty, it was called the "Xuan Wu Gate", "Xuan

The Gate of Divine Prowess, the north gate of the Forbidden City, with the Imperial Moat flowing past. Courtyard gates in the Forbidden City.

elder. The Gate of Divine Prowess, so to speak, is in fact a section of the wall surrounding the Forbidden City, with three openings dug through it. A huge hall, not a watchtower, sits atop that section, distinguishing the gate from an ordinary city gate.

   We are now outside the Gate of Divine Prowess, having seen those magnificent palace structures and felt the might and power of the monarchs. But, beside what is visible and what can instantly be felt, is there anything else that we should know about the Forbidden City?

   The answer is that the Forbidden City, in itself, is the highest embodiment of China's traditional philosophical approach, the concepts of yin-yang and wu xing that for more than 2,000 years, influenced China and her people in all aspects of life.

   Ancient Chinese thinkers held that the universe is formed with two kinds of qi called yin and yang, that exist as a unity of the opposites, and that it is the interplay of these two opposing principles of nature that sparks all changes and movements in the universe. The concept of

yin-yang was originally used to refer to how the two sides of the same subject faces the sun - the side facing the sun is yang and the opposite side, yin. As time went by, the yin-yang concept became increasingly broad in meaning - yin referring to things static, cold, dark, descending

or inward while yang, to things dynamic, warm, bright, ascending or outward.

   Yellow is the color of earth, and ancient Chinese believed that life stems from earth. Because of this belief, yellow was regarded as the most important or the most sacred color and, as such, it came to be reserved for the emperor. That explains why bright yellow glazed tiles were used to construct the roofs of those imperial structures. The Hall of Literary Profundity, the emperor's private library, is one of the few exceptions. It has a black roof. Believe it or not, ancient Chinese paired the black color and the water together. As the water overwhelms the fire, the builders thought that the hall, full of books that were easy to burn, would be free from fire by having a black roof. Red was the color of power. In the Ming Dynasty, reports submitted to the emperor must

be written on bright red paper. In the Qing Dynasty, documents for circulation by the cabinet on order of the emperors must be copied in red ink. Moreover, red is the auspicious color, the color of happiness.

The Gate of Moral Cultivation.

    Visitors are invariably curious about the stud-studded gates of the Forbidden City. These studs, as a matter of fact, are also symbols of the imperial power and status. In the Ming Dynasty, the gates of the Forbidden City were painted in bright red with 81 golden studs in nine

rows. Nine is the greatest of the single numbers, and was therefore reserved for the emperor. Officials, however, must have their gates painted in green or black according to their rankings, with up to 25 studs of bronze or iron. Imperial princes living outside the Forbidden City may have their gates painted in red and the studs in golden yellow. But the number of the studs on a gate must not exceed 49, arranged in seven rows.

   While decorative, those small figurines on the roof ridges also indicate the status of their occupiers. These are always in single numbers, with an immortal taking the lead while the others are legendary animals supposedly to guard the structure. Under the patriarchal system, the

most important structures in the Forbidden City may have nine figurines on their roof ridges. The only exception is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, on whose roof ridge there are ten.

   1. Que is a pavilion-like structure on a raised platform. Such structures are seen in front of palace buildings or imperial mausoleums, one at either side of the front gate.

   2. The "Palace City", as the name suggests, is where the emperor and his family lived. Beyond it was the "Imperial City", which was reserved for residences of the nobility and offices of the various ministries. Ordinary people, or commoners, lived in the "Capital City" beyond the "Imperial City".