Forbidden City | History, Facts, & Map (2024)

FAQs

What are some historical facts about the Forbidden City? ›

The Forbidden City is the largest palace complex in the world. There are more than 90 neighborhoods, 980 buildings, and more than 8,728 spaces. The Forbidden City is the largest medieval wood construction collection in the world. 24 Chinese emperors resided in the forbidden city.

The Forbidden City was the political and ritual center of China for over 500 years. After its completion in 1420, the Forbidden City was home to 24 emperors, their families and servants during the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties.

It was so named because access to the area was barred to most of the subjects of the realm. Government functionaries and even the imperial family were permitted only limited access; the emperor alone could enter any section at will.

The damage peaked during the Cultural Revolution. In 1966, the Hall of Worshipping Ancestors was modified and some artifacts destroyed for an exhibition of revolutionary mud sculptures. However, further destruction was prevented when Premier Zhou Enlai intervened by sending an army battalion to guard the city.

Concubines had their own rooms and would fill their days applying make-up, sewing, practising various arts and socialising with other concubines. Many of them spent their entire lives in the palace without any contact with the emperor.

The Last Emperor was based on Puyi's autobiography, From Emperor to Citizen (published in English in 1964–65). It was the first feature film permitted to be filmed inside the Forbidden City.

Virtually everything in the Forbidden City was built according to traditional Chinese beliefs and symbolism. For example, all buildings face south, since the south was believed to be beneficial, holy, and provide protection from evil, warriors, and the cold spirits of the north.

The Forbidden City, which is now used as a museum, is the most visited museum in the world. The museum exhibits nearly one million works of art, including Chinese history, traditional art, paintings, sculptures, imperial treasures and important collections.

The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing known as the Forbidden City was constructed between 1406 and 1420 by the Ming emperor Zhu Di and witnessed the enthronement of 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors over the following 505 years.

The imperial palace is also called Zijincheng, i.e. Forbidden Purple City, the ancient Chinese astronomers believed that the North Star, in Chinese Ziwei, was always in the center of the sky, and represented the celestial emperor, ordinary people could not enter at will , then it was surrounded by walls, hence the name ...

Does the Forbidden City really have 9999 rooms? ›

It is often said that the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms in total (the reality is closer to 9,000), leaving it just shy of 10,000, the number for infinity, the number of rooms one would find in the Forbidden City in heaven.

Entry to the Forbidden City for tourists is only through the south gate (Meridian Gate) - tickets and audio guides are sold on the square before this gate. The number of daily visitors is restricted to 40,000.

Though emperors of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) added some new buildings and gardens, the layout of the palace has remained fundamentally the same since it was completed in 1420. Yet, as soon as construction finished, the Forbidden City was threatened by what would become a perpetual nemesis: fire.

To keep the birds from landing on the roofs, the smart craftsmen came up with an idea. They made the slope of each roof higher and made the roof spine wider than the width between a bird's claws so that birds are unable to land on the roofs. In this complex, there are 9,999 and half rooms.

Emperor Yongle from the Ming dynasty built the Forbidden City starting in 1407 as a special palace to keep harmony with the spirits. Each emperor, his family, and all his businessmen and servants lived in the Forbidden City until 1911. The Forbidden City is very large, and has about 9,000 rooms!

Forbidden City History

The Forbidden City is now 601 years old [2021]. It was built from 1406 to 1420 on the orders of Zhu Di — Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle (reign 1402–24).

The folklore said that the Heavenly Palace, also called Zi Wei Palace, has 10,000 rooms. The son's palace cannot exceed the Heaven's residence. Therefore, when building Forbidden City, the emperor cut the room number and only built 9,999 and a half room, less than but infinitely approaching 10,000.