China Popular Itineraries |
|
|
|
|
The Palace Museum is located in the center of Beijing. For centuries it has been called Forbidden City.
The building of the palace began in the 4th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It took 14 years and was finished in 1420. In 1421 Chengzu, the third Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, moved his capital to Beijing. Emperor Yongle had once been the commander of the northern frontier and the purpose of his setting up the capital here was to keep an eye on the Mon-golians who were not far from the frontier. Because it was the palace of all the imperial emperors of the Ming and the Qing dynasties, a total of 25 emperors ruled from within the Palace. Common people were not permitted to approach it, hence it was named "Forbidden City. "
The palace is an immense one covering an area of 72 hectares, which is surrounded by a wall of 10 meters high and a moat of 52 meters wide. People are deeply impressed by this impregnable fortress and by the defensive strength of its construction.
The palace has more than 9,900 rooms; the building area numbering 15 hectares. Standing side by side, the palaces and the halls are integrated with carved beams and painted rafters, looking resplendent and magnificent. It is, at present, the largest and most complete imperial emperor palace and ancient building group. The palace is divided into two main sections -- the outer court' and the inner court. The outer court is the southern section which has three main buildings known as Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Complete Harmo, ny, and Hall of Preserving Harmony. These were the places in which the em-peror formally exercised his authority, while the northern section, which is known as the inner court, was used as the living quarters for the emperor and his family. The design of the living rooms behind the offices shows the abso-lute power of the imperial emperors and it also reflects the unique style of the palace construction in ancient China.
The palace has four gates: the Meridian Gate, the Donghua Gate, the Xihua Gate, and the Shenwu Gate. The Meridian gate is topped by five tow-ers commonly known as the Phonenix Towers. It is recorded that the towers were fitted with bells and drums. Whenever the emperor went to the court to deal with official affairs, the bells and the drums would be beaten to announce the arrival to the high officials. The ministers of the monarchy who were waiting outside had to walk through the gateway on both sides, civilian and military officials on the left, and imperial clansmen on the right. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the lunar almanac for the following year was officially an-nounced from this place. It was also from here that the emperor issued orders to the armed forces before the start of military operations. After victorious battles, the captured commanders were presented to the emperor at the gate as trophies of victory. This was also the place where offending officials were beaten. This punishment was known as "court beating. "
The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest one in the entire palace. Its total building area is 2,377 square meters. Right in the center of the hall stands a wooden platform about 2 meters high. On this platform is the throne carved with nine golden dragon designs. On both sides are pillars decorated with coiled dragons. Directly above the throne is a coffered ceiling with drag-on motifs. The floor is paved with "golden bricks. " The hall was decorated in the most dignified and splendid way. Many important ceremonies were held there, and the enthronement of emperors, the proclamation of important im-perial directives, the announcement of the successful candidates in the imperial examinations, the announcement of sending the senior generals to go out to the battles were all proclaimed from this hall as well.
The Palace Heavenly Purity is the central building in the inner court where the Ming emperors and the Qing emperors of the earlier stage used to live. Right in the center of the hall stands the throne carved with nine golden dragon designs and the imperial table. Above is a horizontal inscribed board, which reads "Just and Honorable. " It continued to be a place in which to deal with everyday affairs and read over the memorials to the throne. Since the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, the Hall of Mental Cultivation took its place. When an emperor died, his coffin would be placed in this building for a 49-day period of mourning.
The Imperial Garden was built in the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It is said that Emperor Qianlong had the intention of giving up the throne and becoming an overlord at the age of 60. So he ordered a special-ly built garden to keep his older body healthy. Although the total area of the garden is less than 6,000 square meters, it has halls and pavilions, winding paths and corridors with colored drawings and carved designs. Filled with an-cient pines and rare flowers, artificial lake, hill, and rocks, it is a perfect spot, possessing the beauty of the gardens in the south of the lower reaches of the Changjiang River.
The last dynasty fell in 1911 and the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was driven out of the Palace on November 5th, 1924. It was not until 1925 that the Palace was converted into a museum. Since then the Palace has been opened to the public. |
|
