The Forbidden City, also known as the Forbidden City, is located in the center of Beijing, 65,438+0 kilometers north of Tiananmen Square and opposite the south gate of Jingshan. It is 753 meters wide from east to west and 96 1 meter long from north to south, covering an area of 720,000 square meters. It is the largest palace complex in the world. Outside the Forbidden City is a moat 52 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Hanoi is a wall with a circumference of 3 kilometers and a height of nearly 10 meter. There are doors on all sides of the city wall, with meridian gate in the south, Shenwu gate in the north, Donghua gate in the east and Xihua gate in the west. There are also four turrets standing at the four corners of the city wall, which are chic and exquisite. 1987 is listed in the World Heritage List.
The Forbidden City can be roughly divided into two parts, the south is the work area, that is, the outer court; To the north is the living area, the palace. All its buildings are arranged on the central axis, symmetrical and orderly.
The outer court is the place where the emperor handles political affairs. There are three main halls: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe. Among them, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the highest and most splendid, with a width of 60. 1 m, a depth of 33.33 m and a height of 35.05 m.. The emperor's accession to the throne, wedding, conferring, ordering and going to war will all be held here. At that time, thousands of people "shouted three times" and hundreds of ritual vessels rang bells and drums, which was extremely royal. The Zhonghe Hall behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where the emperor rests and sacrifices before attending major ceremonies, while the Baohe Hall in the northernmost part is the place where the emperor holds banquets and palace examinations.
The Forbidden City includes Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Palace and Kunning Palace, as well as the East Sixth Palace and West Sixth Palace on the east and west sides. This is the place where the emperor and his concubines lived, commonly known as "three palaces and six courtyards". In the north of the residential area, there is also a small and unique imperial garden, which is a place for members of the royal family to play.
At present, there are comprehensive exhibitions in some palaces of the Forbidden City, which contain a large number of ancient art treasures, totaling more than 1.05 million pieces, accounting for 1/6 of the total national cultural relics. It is the museum with the richest collection of cultural relics in China and a world-famous museum of ancient culture and art.
Stroll in the Forbidden City
Central axis
Wumen: It's the main entrance of the Forbidden City. It's very magnificent. There are nine sides and five depths in the main hall of the rostrum, reflecting the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The main hall and the square pavilion with four corners are like five peaks, which are strewn at random, so they are also called "Five Peak Pagoda".
Taihe Gate: When you walk into the meridian gate, the square in front of Taihe Gate is in front of you. The first thing I saw was five Jinshui Bridges. Standing on the Jinshui Bridge and looking to the left, it is the Xihe Gate leading to Wuying Hall. This Wuying Hall is the place where Li Zicheng hastily ascended the throne, and also the office of Regent Dourgen. On the right side of the bridge is the Concorde Gate leading to the Wenhua Hall, which is the main hall of the Prince in the early Qing Dynasty and the place where famous banquet ceremonies were held. The back hall of Wenhua Hall is the famous Wen Yuan Pavilion, which is the court library of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it was built after the Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo. Right in front is Taihe Gate, which, together with Zhendu Gate on the left and Zhaode Gate on the right, forms the gate leading to the three halls.
Three halls: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe, which are the outward parts of the Forbidden City. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the Golden Throne Hall, is the highest and largest palace in the Forbidden City and even the whole country, with a surface profile of 1 1 and a double-eaved roof, which is the place where the imperial court holds major ceremonies. Zhonghe Hall is a square pavilion building, where the emperor prepares for activities in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and where the emperor checks the utensils before offering sacrifices and ploughing. Baohe Hall is the place where princes and ministers are hosted on New Year's Eve in Qing Dynasty, and it is also the place where palace examination, the highest imperial examination in Qing Dynasty, is held.
Gan Qing Gate: The gate connecting the outer court and the inner court, that is, the gate separating the first three halls and the last three palaces, also known as the Imperial Gate. A row of courtyards under the wall on the west side of Gan Qing Gate is a famous military department.
Jiaotai Hall: The second hall in the last three palaces. Its architectural form is basically similar to that of Zhonghe Hall, but the scale is slightly smaller. The Ming Dynasty was the queen's bedroom, and the Qing Dynasty was the place where the queen received gifts on her birthday. The ancient copper pot dripping on the east side of the throne of Jiaotai Hall and the modern dzmz on the west side are the time benchmarks of the palace and even the whole city, and the time of Shenwumen and Bell and Drum Tower is based on this.
Kunning Palace: the third of the last three palaces, which is the bedroom of the Empress of the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the second room was set as the bridal chamber for the emperor's wedding, and the fifth room was changed into a shrine of Shamanism. Shunzhi, Kangxi, Tongzhi, Guangxu and Puyi of the Qing Dynasty all used the new houses of Kunning Palace.
Royal Garden: Go through Kunning Palace and go out of Kunning Gate to the Royal Garden. There are more than 20 temples, pavilions, 160 ancient trees and 2 rockery pools in the Imperial Garden. Qin 'an Hall, the central building of the royal garden, was built by Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty to worship Taoist gods. Dui Xiushan is the tallest building in the courtyard, and there is a royal pavilion on the mountain, which is the place where the emperor climbed on the Double Ninth Festival in 1999. There are money pavilions and longevity pavilions on both sides of the garden. At the northern end of the imperial garden is Shunzhen Gate, where Emperor Jiaqing was assassinated. When you leave Shunzhen Gate, you arrive at Shenwumen Gate, and the central axis of the Forbidden City ends here.
East road
Dongliugong: including Zhongcui Palace, Chenggan Palace, Ren Jing Palace, Jingyang Palace, Yonghe Palace and Yan Xi Palace. Among them, Empress Dowager Ci 'an lived in Zhongcui Palace. In addition, Yan Xi Palace is also famous, because the only western building in the Forbidden City is Yan Xi Palace, which is the Crystal Palace widely circulated among the people. Unfortunately, Yan Xi Palace is not open to the public.
Ningshou Palace: The whole palace group is divided into two parts: the former dynasty and the later dynasty, with strict layout and luxurious decoration. Among them, Ningshou Palace Garden is the most well known. Currently under maintenance, it is temporarily closed. The most famous garden in Ningshou Palace is Liu Beiting. On March 3 every year, the emperor and several ministers sit around the pavilion, put the glass on the water, follow the water and stop in front of someone who will drink all the wine in the glass and write a poem. Yin Chang Pavilion is the largest stage in the palace, located in the back bedroom of Ningshou Palace, with three floors, the lowest floor being 2 10 square meter. Mei Lanfang and Tan Xinpei both performed here.
Zhenfeijing: Located at the northernmost part of Waidong Road, it is the last stop to visit the Forbidden City.
West Road
West Sixth Palace: including Palace of Gathered Elegance, Yikun Palace, Yongshou Palace, Xianfu Palace, Changchun Palace and Taiji Hall. The East Palace, the West Palace and the Sixth Palace are each a square with a width of 50 meters and a depth of 50 meters, which adopts the pattern of one front, two compartments and two houses. Changchun Palace in the West Sixth Palace is famous for the murals of A Dream of Red Mansions. Palace of Gathered Elegance kept the original appearance of Empress Dowager Cixi on her 50th birthday. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi, regardless of national peril and extravagance, tore down the Chuxiu Gate and connected it with the Yikun Palace, becoming a compound with four entrances. The yard is luxuriously decorated.
Hall of mental cultivation: I-shaped building, divided into two bedrooms, front and back, with a hall connected in the middle. There are three rooms in the front hall, one in the middle is the place where the emperor summoned his ministers to handle government affairs, and the other in the east is the place where he listened to politics behind the scenes. On the west, there is a plaque inscribed by Yong Zhengdi, where the emperor summoned the Minister of Military Affairs. The West Warm Pavilion of Yangxintang has the famous Sanxitang, which is famous for its three copybooks. They are Wang Xizhi's Quick Snow and Clear Post, Wang Xianzhi's Mid-Autumn Post and Wang Xun's Yuan Bo Post. Among the three posts, "A sunny post in the snow" is in Taipei, and the other two posts are now in the Forbidden City.
Cining Palace: hall of mental cultivation, Xiliu Palace and Xiwu form Inner West Road. On the west side of this road, there is another building called Waixi Road. Cining Palace is where Empress Dowager Cixi lives. But the buildings along this road are not open to the public.
Shu Fangzhai: On both sides of the Imperial Garden are the East Fifth Courtyard and the West Fifth Courtyard, which are kindergartens in the palace. Emperor Qianlong lived in two of the West Fifth Courtyard, so he became a secluded house, so he was converted into the Chinese Palace after he acceded to the throne. Zhonghua Palace East Road is the famous Shufangzhai. Shu Fangzhai has a stage, second only to Yin Chang Pavilion. Every year on the third day of the first month, Emperor Qianlong held a tea party here to entertain the ministers of civil and military affairs. Shufangzhai is not open to the public.