THE FORBIDDEN CITY
The history of Asia is amazing, I am so excited to share information about one of the places that took my breath away when I visited China.
For nearly 500 years, from the early 15th century to the early 20th, 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled China from a sweeping palace complex at the heart of Beijing-China. Built like a treasure box of walls within walls, the Forbidden City was a cloistered imperial residence, a scene of ceremonial grandeur, and also the bustling apex of China’s huge and complicated bureaucracy.
The Ming builders laid out Beijing as three nested walled cities. The outer perimeter wall was 15 miles long and enclosed the walled Imperial City, with a perimeter of 6 miles.
Every detail in this precise maze of crimson walls and yellow tile roofs the imperial colors made the Forbidden City a reflection of the emperor’s heavenly mandate to preserve harmony and hierarchy.
The layout of the Forbidden City provided the perfect setting for the elaborate ritual of the imperial court.
His Three architects, Hsu Tai, Yuan An and Feng Chiao, were given the brief to build an extravagant set of palaces to serve as the emperor’s metropolis. Audience halls were needed for receiving delegations, together with temples for ritual purification and processional paths, also required large domestic quarters with gardens for himself and his family, as well as administrative accommodations, a shrine for ancestral rites and, as patron of three types of religion, temples of Buddhism, Lamaism and Taoism.
Dalia Ceron (Chp.4)
In my opinion, the Forbidden City is and always will be a beautiful, historical site that will serve as one of China’s greatest accomplishments. The pictures you have of The Forbidden City are gorgeous!! I enjoyed reading your very detailed history of The Forbidden City. The crimson walls and yellow tiled roof that were once ruled by over 24 emperors and dynasties is now a beautiful museum know to many as the ‘Palace Museum’. It is also wonderful and shocking to see that three architects were able to work together to put the build the layout of the city. Working with others is not an easy task but these three men were able to make an amazing piece of history. Another amazing fact that you stated in your blog was that the Forbidden City was a patron for three types of religions. It is not often that we can unite three people from three different opinions – especially not three different religious views in one place. It is nice to see that they have a place that respects many religious views. You made this city sound enticing and I hope that one day I am able to go visit this amazing Forbidden City also.
ReplyDelete-Kristina Duran, group 1