The Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City)

This palace was originally built in the year of 1420 by over 200,000 workmen at the direction of the third Ming emperor and was mostly burnt to the ground in 1644 during the Manchu takeover. Rebuilt and renovated many times, it nonetheless retains the initial design set down 500 years ago. Occupying an area of over 183 acres, the complex is indeed more like a city than a palace. As most ancient Chinese architectures, an extraordinary sense of balance is maintained between the buildings and the open spaces that surround in the Palace. The scale is monumental but never oppressive; the design symmetrical but not repetitive. As in the Chinese predilection for harmony over diversity, the Palace makes use of a single style of building in an awe-inspiring combination of geometric planning and aesthetic beauty. All the buildings are carefully laid out on a north-to-south axis as most buildings in China, but there is no sense of rigidity to them. Like the Louvre or the Taj Mahal, the Imperial Palace is a monument that can be visited with pleasure again and again.

The Palace can roughly be divided into three different but associated parts. In the foreground are four gates, each of which may look so large that many first-time visitors think that this is the palace itself. Beyond these gates is the center of the complex, there are three principal halls of monumental size and scope and this is where the emperors conducted important State ceremonies.

-The Palace Gates

By passing through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'anmen) and the Upright Gate (Duanmen), you arrive at the imposing Meridian Gate (Wumen), which is the traditional entrance to the Forbidden City. The horseshoe-shape of the Meridian Gate's massive fortress walls, topped with five towers, seems to draw the visitor submissively forward through the entrance to the inner precincts. This gate was originally used for important State functions such as victorious troops and announcing the lunar calendar. The emperor was the only person that was permitted to pass through the central opening of the gate.

Beyond this gate lies a courtyard leading to the fourth and final gate, the Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihemen), a huge open porch supported by red lacquered pillars. Visitors will need to cross a stream by one of five marble bridges, all of which are beautifully and skillfully built with flowers and animals carved on their sides. Two striking bronze lions guard this entrance. These lions symbolize the power of the emperor and the subservience demanded by him.

- The Principle Halls

The next courtyard, called the "Sea of Flagstones" by the Chinese, was designed to accommodate 90,000 people during an imperial ceremony. In its center stands the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), the largest and grandest structure in the Palace. Here were held the most solemn of ceremonial occasions, such as celebration of the New Year and the emperor's birthday or announcing the successful candidate of the imperial examinations. The treasures in this hall include bronze incense burners, musical chimes made of jade, and a nine-dragon screen behind the throne.

Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony are the halls of Complete Harmony (Zhonghedian) and Preserving Harmony (Baohedian). In the former, the emperor donned formal regalia before proceeding to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, or performed lesser State functions like inspecting seeds for a new planting. The Hall of Preserving Harmony had been used for a time as the site for the highest level of the imperial examinations. Behind this hall, between the descending staircases, is the "Dragon Pavement", an exquisitely carved a single block of marble said to weigh over 200 tons.

- The Inner Court

The three rear halls, the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), the Hall of Union (Jiaotaidian) and the Palace Earthly Peace (Kunninggong), were also the sites of lesser State functions. During the Ming dynasty, emperors lived among these buildings, but later the Qing rulers moved to smaller, less formal parts of the Palace. They nevertheless continued to use the Palace of Earthly Peace to spend the first few nights of their marriages here. The last emperor, Puyi, who ascended the throne as a child and formally abdicated in 1924, was allowed to use this chamber on his wedding night. However, intimidated by the color scheme of gaudy red (the traditional color of joy), he fled to his usual quarters.

The east and west sides of the Palace's rear section is where the imperial families, concubines and attendants lived. The section contains a dizzying succession of smaller courts, schemed for power and engaged in their many intrigues. In the far northeast corner of the complex, behind the Palace of Peaceful Old Age (Ningshougong), is the famous well which the Pearl Concubine was cast down. Several of the eastern palaces have been converted into exhibition halls as a part of the Palace Museum.

Two sections in the eastern palaces are worth seeing as well. One is the Qianlong Garden, built for the retirement of the aging emperor who was willingly stepping down. It is a quiet, secluded rock garden with a central pavilion made of fine wood brought from the forests of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. One of three smaller pavilions was a specially constructed for elaborate drinking games with strong Chinese liquor, a favorite pastime of the emperor.

The Belvedere of Flowing Music (Changyinge) is a three-story theatre, the largest theatre in the Palace, and a favorite haunt of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Magnificently carved and painted eaves set off the stage where drama often depicted Buddhist worthies and Taoist immortals swarming all over the boards, dropping from ceilings and popping out of trap doors. The building opposite, where Cixi watched the dramas, has a rich display of silk costumes, stage properties and scripts used by the imperial troupe. Visitor may also find the drawings of famous productions of the 60th birthday celebrations of Qianlong and Cixi. The latter affair is said to have continued for ten consecutive days.

Beyond the rear palaces, by the northern gate of the Palace, are the Imperial Gardens. Landscaped with cypress and pine trees that are now hundreds of years old, all makes it an excellent place for the visitors to take a brief rest.

Before leaving the Palace, you might visit an interesting exhibition of palace architecture and construction located in the tower of the Gate of Divine Prowess. Here there are blueprints, tools, color schemes, roof tiles and old photographs that are highly informative. despite the frustrating absence of labels in any language except Chinese.