Menu:
Forbidden City
Positioned at the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City, referred to as Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the regal palace all through the Ming and Qing dynasties. At present identified as the Palace Museum, it is located to the north of Tiananmen Square. It is rectangular in shape; and is the world's biggest palace complex which spreads over 74 hectares. There are 9,999 buildings bordered by a moat which is six meters deep and a ten meter high wall. There is a gate on either side of the wall. To the north opposite the Tiananmen Gate is the Gate of Divine Might or Shenwumen, which faces Jingshan Park. The gates are separated by a distance of 960 meters, while 750 meters is the distance that separates the gates in the east and west walls.
On each of the four corners of the curtain wall there are exclusive and dexterously planned towers. These give view over both the palace and the city on the exterior. The Forbidden City is separated into two divisions. The southern section or the Outer Court was the place where the emperor applied his absolute authority over the nation. The northern section or the Inner Court was the area in which the emperor stayed with his royal family. When the last Chinese emperor was forced to leave the Inner Court in 1924, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty was in power here.
The imperial palace which had been the seat of power of the Chinese emperors for some five centuries accommodates many extraordinary assets and marvels. Acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is at present one of the most admired tourist destinations world wide.
Chinese skill evident in construction
- Building of the palace complex commenced in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle rule of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty.
- It was finished after a period of fourteen years in 1420. It was supposed that a million workers together with one hundred thousand artisans were forced into the long-term rigorous labor.
- Stone required for the construction was extracted from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing.
- It was believed a well was excavated every fifty meters down the road so as to put water onto the road in winter to glide massive stones on ice into the city.
- Enormous quantities of timber in addition to other materials were transported from distant provinces.
- Ancient Chinese people showed their incredibly substantial expertise in constructing the Forbidden City.
- This extraordinary skill is reflected by the grand red city wall for example.
- It has a base that is 8.6 meters wide and diminishes to 6.66 meters wide at the top.
- The angular form of the wall completely thwarts efforts to climb it.