When was the Forbidden City built? Let’s learn about the Forbidden City!

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The Forbidden City is located in the center of Beijing and is known as the first of the five largest palaces in the world. It was built in the fourth year of Yongle and the eighteenth year of Yongle. This year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Forbidden City. Many friends unfortunately canceled their plans to go to the Forbidden City in Beijing because of the infectious disease, but it doesn't matter. Infectious diseases will pass. If you don't know anything before going to the Forbidden City, even if you go, you will know nothing about this huge complex with 9999 and a half rooms, so you'd better follow this little lady and don't leave home to go to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is a royal palace that witnessed the rise and fall of China's Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is not only the best-preserved ancient palace building with the highest artistic attainments in China, but also one of the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Covering an area of ??720,000 square meters, nails have never been used. It not only embodies the wisdom of the Chinese people for thousands of years, but is also a symbol and model of Chinese civilization.

The Road to the "Supreme Court"

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 24 emperors lived in the Forbidden City. In ancient China, the North Pole constellation "Purple Garden" was located in the center of the sky and was considered a forbidden area, so the Forbidden City was formerly called the "Forbidden City".

The Forbidden City has a circumference of 3,400 meters and has gates on all sides. However, now you can only enter through the south gate of the Forbidden City and exit through the Shenwu Gate at the north gate. This is not only to ease the flow of people, but also the best tourist route, because the emperor went on pilgrimage, civil and military officials went to court, and foreign envoys met through the Meridian Gate.

However, before you reach the Meridian Gate, you must pass through two gates. The first one is Tiananmen Square. When you come to Beijing, you must see Tiananmen Square, which is the symbol of the Republic of China. It was originally called Tiananmen Gate Tower, which means "accepting fate and accepting it". During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Tiananmen Gate, which means "accepting fate and governing the country in peace".

Step onto Waijinshui Bridge, cross Tiananmen Gate, and you will arrive at Ruimen. Duanmen is one of the main entrances to the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty and the Imperial City in the Qing Dynasty. The entire building structure and style are the same as Tiananmen Square. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ceremonial items were mainly stored here.

After Ruimen, there is also Meridian Gate. This is the place where you really want to enter the Forbidden City. Online ticket booking is also available here. In ancient times, civil and military officials also gathered outside the Meridian Gate when they went to court. The Meridian Gate is upstairs and named "Five Phoenixes". They hung bells and drums. As soon as the bell rang, the Meridian Gate opened and the officials came in.

However, the most familiar impression of the Meridian Gate is "the launch of the Meridian Gate beheading", but the beheading location is not the Meridian Square outside the Meridian Gate, but the Caishikou outside the Xuanwu Gate. However, the Meridian Gate was the place where the imperial court carried out the punishment of beating people, but some officials were beaten to death by the imperial court. One of the most famous events is the "Crying of Zuo Shunmen" incident in the Ming Dynasty. Because Emperor Jiajing was not an orthodox prince who succeeded to the throne, he had to follow his parents to become emperor and queen after becoming emperor. Many officials thought this was against royal etiquette and came up with ideas one after another, but Jiajing refused to listen, and the ministers cried at Zuoshunmen. Jing was furious and ordered that less than five items be sent to the Meridian Gate for the court to deal with. As a result, more than 180 people were beaten and 17 died.

In ancient times, the Meridian Gate was not only a place for punishment by the court, but also a place where the emperor issued edicts or gave various gifts during festivals. If there is a major ceremony or a very important festival, the ceremony will be held here.

After passing through the Meridian Gate, we officially entered the Forbidden City, which has been changing for 600 years. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard. The outer dynasty is in front of the Forbidden City, with the Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall, and Baohe Hall as the center, and the Wenhua Hall and Wuying Hall as the two wings. It is the place where the emperor handles government affairs, holds meetings, holds ceremonies, and issues decrees.

Behind the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Pa

Back at five o'clock in the morning, the civil and military officers entered from the left and right doors of the Meridian Gate, arranged in hierarchical order south of Jinshui Bridge, and then crossed the bridge in order , waiting for the emperor to arrive at Taihe Gate, and then arrived at Taihe Gate to start the morning court. You must be surprised how you can go to the early palace in front of the Royal Palace instead of the Golden Palace in the TV series. Yes, the TV series is just for effect, but in fact before Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City was always in front of Taihe in the early stage.

Professionals excel at hard work and laziness.

Taihe Gate is the largest and highest-standard palace gate in the Forbidden City. It is also the main entrance to the imperial palaces of foreign dynasties. It was called Fengtian Gate in the early Ming Dynasty, and was renamed Huangji Gate and Taihe Gate in the Qing Dynasty. The pair of majestic bronze lions in front of the gate are the largest in the Forbidden City and even in China. In order to protect the safety of the country and people, ancient emperors placed many precious animals in the Forbidden City, and the lion, the king of beasts in the world, is one of them. The ancients believed that strong lions could not only ward off evil spirits, but also bring good fortune to the gods, so they placed a pair of lions in front of many very important gates. Usually on the east side of the gate, a lion steps on the hydrangea, indicating that he controls the country; in the west, a lioness comforts her cubs, which represents the success of the child and is passed down from generation to generation.

However, the bronze lions in the houses in the town did not seem to have the desired effect. One hundred days after the Forbidden City was built, the Three Treasures Palace of foreign dynasties became popular. According to legend, Zhu Di was afraid of usurping the throne and going against God's will, so he set up the rule of law in front of the Taihe Gate and implemented the "imperial gate to listen to the government" to show diligence. There was no wind or rain, and the emperor and ministers went to the morning court here in the open air. Of course, we don't know what Zhu Di thinks, but "Zheng Ting Palace Gate" is true, and the "Chang Dynasty Palace Gate Rituals" were formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang when he founded Nanjing. After Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, Fengtianmen at that time naturally became a place of pilgrimage.

The emperor of the early Ming Dynasty was definitely a model of "entrepreneur". He not only went to the morning court at 5 a.m., but also went to the evening court at 7 p.m., no matter how bad the weather was, there were almost 365 days a year. It’s really “industrious and barren”. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the descendants of the Zhu family could no longer endure this suffering and began to treat the princes, nobles and showgirls unscrupulously. In particular, Emperor Wanli had been depressed for more than 20 years because his ministers refused to let his favorite son be the crown prince. This not only accelerated the decline of the Ming Dynasty, but also prevented China from catching up with the new wave of the world at that time.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, activities were held at Taihe Gate to confer Dorgon as Regent and Wu Sangui as Pingxi King. At that time, Taihe Gate was called Huangji Gate. After that, Emperor Kangxi moved to Qianqingmen to listen to the government's opinions.

To the west of Taihe Gate is Wuying Hall, which is as old as the Forbidden City. When it was first built, it was the place where the emperor lived and summoned ministers. In the late Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising army, invaded Beijing, established the Dashun regime, and held an enthronement ceremony in Wuying Hall. At the beginning of the Qing army's entry into the customs, Prince Regent Dogon entered Beijing, and Wu Yingtang was the director-general. In the early Qing Dynasty, Wuying Hall served as the emperor's palace and was used to hold small ceremonies such as greetings, rewards, and sacrifices. In the eighth year of Kangxi's reign, Emperor Kangxi moved to Wuying Hall to maintain the Taihe Hall and Qianqing Palace. Subsequently, a large number of Wuyingsi bookstores opened here, and the famous "Sikuquanshu" was also edited and compiled in Wuyingsi.

To the east of Taihe Gate is Wenhua Hall, which echoes Wuying Hall. Wenhua Hall is the only blue brick building in the Forbidden City. In the early Ming Dynasty, Wenhua Hall was the emperor's temporary palace. Tomorrow, before the prince succeeds to the throne, he must take good care of Wenhua Hall. Since then, most princes have been too young to participate in political affairs. In the fifteenth year of Jiajing's reign, they were converted into the emperor's hall and later became a banquet venue for the Ming Dynasty. According to the old system of Dy in the Ming Dynasty

Opposite the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the magnificent Hall of Supreme Harmony is located in the square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, covering an area of ??about 30,000 square meters and without trees. This kind of emptiness can not only prevent assassins from hiding, but also highlight the unique and noble aura. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest and highest-level palace in the Forbidden City. "Taihe" comes from "Book of Changes", which means the harmonious movement of all things in the world.

Similar to the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was originally called the Fengtian Hall, and was later renamed the Huangji Hall. In the Qing Dynasty, it was called the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but people like to call it the Gold and Silver Hall. In today's court dramas, it is always shown as a place for litigation, but this is not the case. As mentioned before, the places where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties went to court were mainly at Taihe Gate and Qianqing Gate. The Hall of Supreme Harmony was the place where the country's highest-level ceremonies were held, such as the emperor's enthronement, marriage, canonization of the queen, and the announcement of the rank of Jinshi. , orders to go to war, and the annual longevity day and the first day of the new year.

At the foot of the brick road where the honor guard stood guard, all civil and military officials knelt down to pay tribute. The one-foot-square white marble bricks on the road are called ceremonial piers, which are the standing points for the ceremonial processions when the emperor holds grand ceremonies. All civil and military officials knelt in three different positions according to their preferences: Dan's position, Yulu's step, and Danyong's position.

Taihe Square records many historical moments. In 1661, the day after the death of Emperor Shunzhi, 8-year-old Ye Xuan from Aisinjueluo held an ascension ceremony here, ushering in the prosperous era of Kangxi and Qianlong. On October 10, 1945, after the Japanese invaders announced their unconditional surrender, the formal surrender ceremony of the North China Theater was also held in the Square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This day was also the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Palace Museum.

The eight-meter-high three-story white marble platform is filled with small faucets without speakers. They are one of the nine sons of the dragon and are called cicada heads. They are used for drainage as their mouths are filled with water. The Taihe Hall and the following Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall are located on a white marble platform, covering an area of ??about 2,500 square meters. There are 1142 cicadas on the platform. Therefore, on rainy days, there will be a spectacle of "heavy rain like rain, light rain like pours, and thousands of dragons spitting water".

There are 18 incense burners on the white marble platform, symbolizing the 18 provinces of the Qing Dynasty; an ancient timer sundial and a standard measuring instrument symbolize imperial power respectively, and various bronze turtles and bronze crane incense burners symbolize longevity. . They are both functional and beautiful. Every emperor hopes that Qiandai can come to Yongchang and transport the country to Yongchang.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony at the top of the double-eaves pagoda shows its noble status everywhere. In addition to its grandeur, it is also a sea of ??dragons. The outer eaves painting is the highest level of dragon seal painting. Various parts of the wooden structure are decorated with golden dragon patterns. Walking dragons, ascending dragons, descending dragons or sitting dragons can be seen everywhere. There are approximately 16,449 dragons inside and outside the hall. But the most exquisite thing is the thirteen golden dragons on the dragon throne in the hall.

The emperor's golden dragon-carved throne is 172.5 cm high, 49 cm high, 158.5 cm wide, and 30 cm high. The throne has an "armchair" backrest made of precious golden nanmu and carved with a lifelike coiled dragon. The coiled dragon gradually descends from the middle to the armrests on both sides, and Yang's dragon is engraved on the back of the chair. Each level of the throne has corresponding decorative patterns from top to bottom. There are 13 golden dragons coiled together, and a large number of gems are placed on the base. Behind the throne, seven dragon-shaped golden screens set off the entire hall.

As the saying goes, the center of the capital is the Forbidden City, the center of the Forbidden City is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the center of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is under the emperor's coiled dragon throne. For hundreds of years, this dragon chair has been a symbol of supreme power.

On the ceiling above the throne, there is a dragon disk

So when Li Zicheng attacked Beijing and overthrew the Ming Dynasty, he did not dare to rule in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Instead, he talked about Wu in front of us.

After Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the revolution, he also wanted to taste what it was like to be an emperor, but after all he did not dare to sit on this dragon chair. Instead, he rebuilt a large chair that combined Chinese and Western styles. But he was still afraid that the Xuanyuan Mirror would fall and kill him, so he moved the dragon chair back two meters.

There are five city hall symbols hidden in the Xuanyuan Mirror, but we can't see them at all. The eye-catching plaque on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, "Jian Ji Yi Yi", was written by Emperor Qianlong, implying that the emperor shouldered the dual sacred mission of inheriting heaven and enlightening the people. However, after Yuan Shikai ascended the throne, the original plaque was replaced and its whereabouts are still unknown.

On the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, people ride impatiens and look quietly into the distance with the 10-ridged beasts. They can't find the eaves of the same "team" as them, because this is the most high-end roof in China. The monkey face with diamond wings at the end of the team is the only Chinese ridged beast. However, there are also some sad reasons. Because the Forbidden City is too wide and the Hall of Supreme Harmony is too large, it has been struck by lightning and caught fire many times. In order to pray for blessings, people add a special "something" behind all animals that symbolize disaster relief and bring good luck to resist thunder and lightning and reduce evil spirits.