The Forbidden City ,The Heavenly Temple

In side the Forbidden City.

The Great Temple in the middle of the Forbidden City, where the Emperor gives yearly offerings.
The middle bridge for the Emperor to walk on when he visits the Forbidden City.

THE FORBIDDEN CITY.

The Forbidden City was built in 1420. Work started in 1407; it took 14 years to complete. In Chinese, it is some times called “chee kum seng” meaning ‘purple forbidden city’. Maybe because the colour purple was for royalty, so this is how it got this name.

The city is rectangular in shape and lies in the center of Beijing, north of Tianamen Square. Covering 74 hectares, it is the largest palace in the world.
A 10 meter high wall and a 6 meter deep moat surround the whole
complex.

Consisting of 9,999 buildings, there is a gate on each wall.
The City is divided into north, south, east and west sections. The south section, the Outer Court, is where the Emperor has his meetings and rules the nation. The Inner Court, the north section, is where the Emperor lives.

One section is for his concubines, heavily guarded by the eunuchs. In front of their court yards, there are different statues symbolizing the status of the concubine. There were so many of them, that many died of old age and never saw the Emperor!

Building the city took thousands and thousands of workers, crave men, painters, laborers and many more. Materials of timber, huge stones, and sand came from near and far. Some said that glutinous rice and egg white were mixed into the cement to make it extra strong.

Most of the buildings are colored red, gold and green. You can see a lot of dragon carvings along the walls and doors. There are many beautifully carved pillars and statues round the grounds of the city.

In the middle is the Heavenly Temple, in this temple, every piece have a meaning. The 12 pillars represent the 12 months, and 4 big pillars represent the 4 seasons. When the Emperor goes to give his offerings, the main events being the 4 seasons, this is done on a grand scale.

The tour to see this Forbidden City takes 3-4 hours, a quick tour, for a more detail tour even 1 day is not enough, that is how big this marvelous mysterious city is!

TIP.
There are people following you around with video cameras, if you do not want your tour on video, let them know or you’ll end up with an unhappy camera man and an unwanted video.

It is better to join in an English speaking tour to have a better understanding of the city.
There are also a lot of people trying to sell you photos and books, give them a firm ‘NO’ if you are not interested.
copyright(c)by May F.2005.