China City Show (www.cityexplore.

net)

The Forbidden City –

an Imperial Palace with Over 500 Years’ History ,
the World’s Cultural Heritage

：
Figure 1 The Forbidden City, Beijing

The Forbidden City ，is the royal palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties , one of the world’s largest
palace, is the highest symbol of imperial power in Ming and Qing dynasties.

1
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

Figure 2 ：Versailles in France, One of the World’s Five Palace

The Forbidden City ranks top of the world’s five Palace (The Forbidden City in Beijing, Versailles in
France, Buckingham Palace of the United Kingdom, the White House of USA, and the Russian Kremlin)

Figure 3 ：Meridian Gate, the Main Entrance of the Forbidden City

2
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

The Forbidden City was built by the Emperor Zhu Di of Ming Dynasty, the construction started in 1406,

was basically completed in 1420. The Forbidden City is 753 meters wide from east to west, and 961

meters long from north to south, the area is about 723,600 square meters,and the construction area

is 155,000 square meters. The Forbidden City is surrounded by 12 meters high, 3400 meters long palace

，
walls forming a rectangular city. The outside of the wall is surrounded by 52 meters wide moat and

indestructible castle. The Palace is a wood-structure building, with Green Whitehead base and yellow glazed

tile roof, is decorated with magnificent paintings.The Forbidden City has four entrances, namely, the main

entrance Meridian Gate, the Gate of Military Prowess in the north, the Donghua Gate in the east and

the Xihua Gate in the west.

Figure 4 ：The Forbidden City , One of the World’s Largest Palace

According to its layout and function, the Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the Outer Palace and

the Inner Court. The boundary is the Gate of Heavenly Purity, the Outer Palace is on the South and

the Inner Court is on the North. The architecture layout and style of the two parts are totally different.

3
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

Figure 5 ：The Taihe Palace(the Hall of Supreme Harmony), The Forbidden City

4
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 6 The Copper Incense Burner in Front of the Taihe Palace(the Hall of Supreme Harmony)

The Outer Palace is cenered on Taihe Palace (Hall of Supreme Harmony), Zhonghe Palace

(Hall of Central Harmony), and Baohe Palace(Hall of Preserving Harmony) ,namely the famous Ôthree main

”
palaces , is the place where the emperor held grand ceremonies and handled political affairs.

Figure 7 ：the Hall of Martial Valor, the Forbidden City

5
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 8 The Brackets(Dougong) of the Hall of Martial Valor

The two wings of the Outer Palace are: the Hall of Literary Glory, the Southern Three Places , and the

Pavilion of Literary Source in the east, the Imperial Household Department and the Hall of Martial Valor in

the west.

6
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 9 the Qianqing Palace(the Palace of Heavenly Purity), the Forbidden City

7
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 10 The Plaque ÔZheng Da Guang Ming ”
in the Qianqing Palace(the Palace of Heavenly Purity)

8
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 11 the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Forbidden City

9
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 12 the Gate of the Hall of Mental Cultivation

：
Figure 13 The Front Hall in the Hall of Mental Cultivation ，
10
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)
Where the Emperor Handled State Affairs and Received His Officials

：
Figure 14 The East Warm Chamber of the Hall of Mental Cultivation,

Where the Joint Empresses Dowager Ci Xi and Ci An Supervised the Court in the Late Qing Dynasty

11
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 15 the Imperial Garden, the Forbidden City

The Inner Court takes the Qianqing Palace(the Palace of Heavenly Purity), the Jiaotai Palace(the Hall

of Union), and the Kunning Palace(the Palace of Earthly Tranquility) as the center, the Hall of Mental

Cultivation, the Six Eastern Palaces, the Six Western Palaces, the Hall of Sound Growth of the Successor,

and the Palace of Abstinence are on the two wings,the behind is the Imperial Garden. The Inner Court

is the place where feudal emperors and queens live. The Palace of Tranquil Longevity is the residence

of the Emperor Qianlong after his abdication.There are the Hall of Consolation of Mothers, the Palace

of Longevity and Peace in the west of the inner court .

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a total of 24 emperors lived here.

12
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 16 the Treasure Hall of the Forbidden City

13
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 17 Cup and Tray of Gold Inlaid with Pearls in the Treasure Hall

14
 China City Show (www.cityexplore.net)

：
Figure 18 The Clocks Displayed in the Hall of Clocks

In the Palace Museum, there are a large number of precious cultural relics, as many as 1052653 pieces

according to the statistics, accounting for 1/6 of the total cultural relics of the whole country. In some

palaces, the comprehensive painting museum, the Museum of history and art, the Bronze Museum, the

Art Museum of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Ceramics Museums, the Ôscholar ’s four jewels” Museum,
the Inscription Museum, the Treasure Hall, the Clock Museum(the Hall of Clocks), and the Qing Dynasty

Decrees Exhibition are set up. They are collections of a large number of ancient art treasures. The Palace

Museum is the most abundant Museum of Chinese cultural relics collection.

15