Forbidden City
It took Emperor Zhudi only 14 years (1406-1420) to build his royal palace in Beijing. The royal palace, popularly known as the Forbidden City, was the permanent residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). It covers over 720,000 square meters of floor space, with more than 8,700 rooms, surrounded by city wall as high as ten meters and a city moat as wide as 52 meters.
By this way, the city of Beijing shapes as Fobidden City in the core, then Royal City, then Inner City, and with the Outer City located at the very south. Even today this structure still effects modern Beijing city planning mainly in 2 ways, firstly Beijing is still growing in this pan-frying pattern, 2nd Ring, 3rd Ring, 4th Ring, 5th Ring and the 6th Ring, and secondly the central axis of the Forbidden City is still the central line of Beijing, the 2008 Olympic Games Village was built exactly on the extension of this line.
The Forbidden City can be divided into the Outer Court and Inner Court. The Outer Court where emperors held important ceremonies consists of the three great halls of Tai He Dian (太和殿), Zhong He Dian (中和殿) and Bao He Dian (保和殿), which form the main body, and Wenhua Hall (文华殿) and Wuying Hall (武英殿), which are arrayed like wings on the sides.
The Inner Court, where emperors handled routine state affairs and lived with their wives and concubines, consists of Qian Qing Gong (乾清宫), Jiao Tai Dian (交泰殿), Kun Ning Gong (坤宁宫), Yangxin Hall (养心殿), literally as “the Hall of Mental Cultivation” as well as six east and west palaces and the imperial garden–Yu Hua Yuan (御花园).
The Imperial Palace is the largest and most complete ancient imperial complex so well preserved in China. It embodies collectively ancient Chinese traditions and architectural art. In 1961, it was proclaimed an important cultural site under state protection, and was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1987.
Of the total of 24 emperors lived here, 14 were from the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) and 10 from of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). For a short time at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Palace was occupied by peasant rebels led by Li Zichen (李自成). It ended its historical mission as the imperial palace after the revolution of 1911 when the Qing Dynasty–the last dynasty in China–was overthrown. The front part or the Outer Court of the Imperial Palace was opened to the public as the Museum of Antiquities in 1914, and the Palace Museum was established in 1925.
Visit
Today, most of the halls and palaces have been opened to the public in their original state with their former ornamentation and daily-use utensils on display; others exhibit special art treasures, such as jewelry, ancient paintings, bronzes, ceramics, handicrafts, clocks and watches, presenting the age-old and splendid historical civilization of China.
It roughly takes about 1.5 hours to go through along with the axis, but for a more detailed tour it may take 3-4 hours, for example you can try the east route, where locates the Emperor Qianlong’s retirement garden, or you may try a little west as well.
A view of Forbidden City from north to south.
- Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/
- Ticket: RMB 60 Yuan in Summer, RMB 40 Yuan in Winter
Below is a map showing part that is opened inside the Forbidden City.
[...] is bigger compared with the west and east side room, that is the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden City in the family. So you can figure out, this type of house is in the same idea with the [...]
Hi Bai. Just took a look at the website. Very impressive. Thanks again for the tour today. Don Carpenter.
Thank you! Looking forwards to seeing you in Beijing again, by the way, the camera lens is quite interesting.
Tang3D is making the palace museum and he has submit some to 3dwarehouse which is quite a good job. I’ve checked your model,Beijing Exhibition hall. Much room to improve. As google says, real photo textures are more welcomed. Your model just take much room and not very realistic.
ok, thank you, I will improve it.