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Forbidden City
1. The Forbidden City 故宮 - 紫禁
城
All rights reserved. Available free for non-commercial and non-profit use only. First created 20 Feb 2011. Version 1.0 Jerry Tse. London.
2. Plan
The Inner Court
The palace was divided into two
parts. The Outer Court was used
for state ceremonies.
The Inner Court was the residence
of the Emperor and his family. It
was also used for running the
day-to-day affairs of state. It was
run by eunuchs. The Outer Court
In early Ming Dynasty, there were
about 1630 halls. In early Qing
there were 1800 halls. Currently
the palace has 2631 halls and 90
courtyards.
3. The Ming Zhudi was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He
decided to move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. He
Builders 明
was a megalomaniac. Not only did he built the Forbidden
City In Beijing, he also restored the Great Wall & the
Grand Canal and sent his armada of ships into the Indian
Ocean reaching Saudi Arabia and Africa.
In 1406, he started building the Forbidden City, which
took 15 years to complete in 1421, employing 200,000
craftsmen and million of labourers to build. It created an
architectural complex unmatched in history. It is the
biggest palace the world have even seen, with some 1630
halls.
Unfortunately, it was burned down 3 times by major fires
during the 273 years of the Ming Dynasty and had to be
rebuilt again.
Zhu Di 朱
棣
A late 15C to early 16C painting depicting
the Heavenly Succession Gate 承天門
and the Outer Five Dragons Bridge 外
五龍橋 near today’s Tiananmen.
4. Construction Materials
Glazed Roof Tile – By far the most common roof tiles are the
yellow glazed tiles. Yellow being the colour of the emperor. A
few houses are covered with green tiles for the princes.
Marble 漢白玉石 – The main buildings of the palaces were
build on marble terraces. There is a huge inclined slab, with
carved dragons, weighs 300 tons. These were transported on
sheets of ice pulled by 20000 men and horses and took a
month to travel the 50km journey.
Bricks and Golden Bricks 金磚 – Bricks were used for paving
and for the external walls. Floor tiles are known as Golden
Bricks, made in Suzhou. These were made of clay and took two
months firing in kilns. A floor tile took two years to made, and
can last for centuries. They are called Golden Bricks because
they are expensive to made.
Timber – All palace buildings used timber frame structures. The
most important of timber are the pillars of Nanwu wood 楠木
(Phoebe Zhennan). These logs were transported from south
western China and took 4 years for the journey. Some 100,000
Nanwu pillars were used in the construction. The wood work
were covered by a secret formulated paste, mixed with pig’s
blood, flour and earth for preservation.
5. During the Qing dynasty, the palace was rebuilt many times after
Qing 清 fires. Many buildings were also added to the palace. Below is a
view of the palace on the wedding of the Qing Emperor Guangxu.
6. Qianlong 乾
隆 (1711-95)
The longest reigning emperor
(1736-95) of Qing Dynasty. He
started a 60 years major
upgrade of the palaces.
He was a highly cultured
emperor, with a diverse range of
interests – from collecting jade
to calligraphy etc. It was his
collection more than any other
emperors that form the
backbone of the collection of
the Qugong Museum in Beijing
and of the Palace Museum of
Taipei.
Under him, imperial China
reached the zenith of her
power.
7. Moat The palace is surrounded by a 52 m wide moat.
8. The exterior walls is 10m high, 8.6m thick at the base. The core of the
Walls wall is filled with earth, surfaced with three layers of special bricks
10. Gates
There are some 10,000 gates in the palace.
11. Meridian Gate 午門
This is the grandest of all the palace gates. It is nearly 38m high. This marks
the beginning of the palace complex.
12. Decorative Glazed Tiles 琉璃
Apart from the distinctive yellow glazed tiles used for
the roofs, tiles were also used as decorations on
screens and walls.
13. Roof
Mythical creatures
on the roof ridges
showing the status
of the building.
Distinctive yellow glazed tiles make
the palace stand out from the rest of
the city.
Because most Chinese roofs were curved,
the timber frame that supported the roof
became more complicated.
14. Wooden Construction
Timber Frame 梁架
Traditional large Chinese buildings were mainly built of wood. All
the weight of the building are supported by a wooden frame.
Thus the wall are light and not weight bearing.
Bracketing Dougongs are brackets that lock
beams together with pillars together.
斗栱 The technique dated back to two Chinese carpenters developed
thousand years. some of the most complicated
wooden joints used in buildings
(see diagram on the right). One
of these complicated joint is the
Luban Locking Joints 魯班
鎖, which is a joint used for
three perpendicular beams.
16. Terraces 台
The use of terraces in Chinese architecture dated back to over 3000
years. The three main buildings of the outer court were built on a three
tiers of marble terraces decorated with beautiful carved balustrades.
基
17. Carved Slab The carved slab on the central staircase of the main terrace. Only
the emperors were allowed to be carried over it.
18. Outer Court 外
朝During the Ming Dynasty, the Outer Court is used by the emperor to attend the daily affairs of the state.
During the Qing Dynasty, this usage was moved to the Inner Court. However, the Outer Court was
always used for the special state occasions and ceremonies.
The three most important buildings lies on the central north-south axis. They are the Hall of Supreme
Harmony 太 和 殿 (first building on the photo), the Hall of Central Harmony 中和殿 (the small
building behind) and the Hall of Preserving Harmony 保和殿 .
19. The original Ming building was twice as large as the current hall. It is one
Supreme of the largest wooden structure within China. The building is the focal
Harmony
太和殿 point of the palace. It was used in Ming Dynasty to administration state
affairs. In Qing Dynasty it was used only for ceremonial occasions.
20. Hall of Supreme Harmony - Interior 太和殿
Richly decorated with
beautiful carvings, the
Dragon Throne stands on
a raised platform,
surrounding with urns,
incense burners, carved
dragons, cranes and
elephants.
Envoys were required to
kneel and kowtow to the
floor nine times on
approach to the emperor.
21. It is the largest timber frame building in China. The building was
Supreme Harmony destroyed 7 times. The last rebuilt was in 1695-1697.
太和殿
22. Central Harmony It is small square hall, serving as a rest room. It was a stop over room for
the emperor for last minute preparations before conducting state or
中和殿 ceremony affairs.
23. Throne
A beautifully carved dragon standing on the
back of the throne. There are several
thrones in the palace. They are all
beautifully carved. Some are in gold colour
and others with natural wood colours.
24. Hall of Preserving
Harmony
保和殿
The hall was used for the ‘imperial examination’,
as well as banquets on Lunar New Year’s Eve to
entertain ministers, generals, as well as
Mongolian and Tibetan nobles.
25. Musical
Instruments
A rack of gilded musical
bronze bells used
during ceremonial and
state occasions. The
bells are similar in size
and different notes are
produced using bells
with different thickness.
26. Inner Court 內朝
The Inner Court was the home of the Emperor and his family. In Qing Dynasty the some halls within the
Inner Court were used by for administering state affairs.
The Gate of Heavenly Purity (above) leading into the Inner Court. The three most important buildings in
the Inner Court echoes the group of the three buildings in the Outer Court. They are the Hall of Heavenly
Purity 乾清宫 (first building on the photo), the Hall of Union 交泰殿 (the small building behind) and
the Hall of Earthly Tranquillity 坤宁宫 .
27. The Gate of
Heavenly
Purity
乾清門
Entrance to the private
world of the emperor.
28. Palace of Heavenly Purity 乾清宫
In early Qing Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, it is
here that the emperor conducted the day-to-
day affairs. In late Qing, it was used as an
audience hall to receive foreign envoys and
high ranked officials.
29. Hall of Union 交泰殿
The building was used as the empress’
dressing room or celebrations of her birthdays.
The imperial seals were also kept in here in
Qing.
30. Clepsydra
(Water clock)
The main mechanism of the
water clock consists of three
copper containers filled with
water. Water drips from the top
container to containers below in
turn. The amount of water
collected at the bottom is used to
tell the time.
31. Hall of Earthly Tranquillity 坤寧宫 The last of the Inner Court halls.
32. Hall of Earthly Tranquillity
坤寧宫
In Ming Dynasty, the
building was used as
the residence of the
empress.
In Qing it was
converted into several
rooms and set out in
Manchurian style for
religious services. The
building included a
kitchen for preparing
food for worship. It
also has a bridal room
and a study for the
emperor.
33. 雍正
Hall of Mental The Qing emperor Yongzhen moved the emperor
Cultivation 養心殿 residence here. The empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧 (reign
1861-1908) used the place to received state officials and
ruled China.
34. Hall of Mental The main reception room where later Qing emperors
Cultivation 養心殿 attended state affairs.
35. Hall of Mental This is the Cixi 慈禧 throne room. Behind the screen of
Cultivation 養心殿 the throne was another throne, on which the Dowager
Empress ruled China.
36. Hall of Mental This was the emperor’s bedroom behind the reception
Cultivation 養心殿 room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
37. Imperial Garden 御花園
There are four gardens in the Inner Court
of the palace. The Imperial Garden being
the largest of them all.
A giant incense burner in the
38. 御景
Imperial Garden Pavilion of Imperial Prospect overlooking the garden.
亭
御花園
41. Court Life
To maintain the palace during the Qing
Dynasty, 280,000 taels of silver were
needed each year or approximately
340,000 troy ounces of silver.
Last emperor and empress of China.
Emperor Qianlong watching princes playing in snow.
42. Theatre – Pavillion of Pleasant Sounds, 暢音閣 .
The largest stage of the three stories theatre in the palace.
44. Bronze Animal sculptures
Bronze lion at the Gate of Supreme Harmony.
Gilt bronze lion.
Gilt bronze
elephant in the
garden.
Bronze tortoise incense burner.
45. Doors decorations
Carved panel
on the doors
at the Hall of
Imperial
Hall of Union. Supremacy
Gate of Martial Spirit. Hall of Mental Cultivation
46. Qugong Museum The Forbidden City is also the home to the Palace Museum, Beijing.
47. The End
Advance to next slide to see brief
Music – Flying Dragons and Jumping Tiger 龍騰虎跃
notes on Chinese architecture. composed by Li Minxiong 李民進 and performed by
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
48. Chinese Traditional Palatial (Dian 殿 ) Architecture
Chinese architecture uses modular architectural plan. Buildings are connected by
corridors or unified by courtyards. Buildings are not integrated to form a larger
building.
Using timber as primary building material, this is the most important single
characteristics of Chinese architectural approach. Transportation costs can be very
high. Using timber also put a limit on the size, the height and the age of buildings.
The availability of large hard wood timber is also a limitation.
Chinese Dian buildings are based on a timber frame. The walls of the buildings are not
weight bearing. This allows more light and airy interior. Buildings are cool in summer
but difficult to keep warm in winter. Buildings are inherent ‘earthquake proof’.
To give the timber frame strength, interlocking joints were developed to a very high
level of sophistication. This can be seen in the Dougong bracketing techniques. The
basic principles and architectural design did not changed much for centuries.
Chinese buildings are very colourful and timber does not preserved well. The
maintenance costs are very high. Finally Chinese buildings are very vulnerable to
fire. The Hall of Supreme Harmony was rebuilt 7 times, in 500 years.
