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Forbidden City (Imperial Palace)
The Imperial Palace, also known as the Forbidden City
or "Gugong", was the imperial residence and center of the kingdom
during the reign of 24 emperors. 14 in the Ming and 10 in the Qing
dynasty resided and ruled from this palace for 491 years until Puyi,
the last emperor of the Qing dynasty and of China. It is now the
largest and best preserved ancient architecture in China.
Located in the center of Beijing, the Imperial Palace
covers an area of 72 hectares. Rectangular in shape, it runs 960 meter
long from north to south. And 750 meter wide extended from east to
west. There is a 10-meter high wall, encircled by a 52-meter wide
moat.
 The palace boasts more than nine thousand rooms, with
layout following strict feudal code. The palace is divided into two
main sections:- the Front Palace and the Inner palace. In the center
of the Front Palace stand the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of
Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The Inner Palace
includes the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Prosperity, the
Hall of Earthly Peace and the Imperial Garden.
There are four gates at each corners of the walls:- The
Meridian Gate to the south, the Gate of Divine Military Genius to the
north, the East Flowery Gate to the east and the West Flowery Gate to
the west. The Gate of Divine Military Genius was the gate connecting
the imperial palace with the market area to the north of the palace.
It is the largest gate of the Forbidden City, 35.6 meters high and
surmounted by five pavilions. The central pavilion is rectangular in
shape, while the other four, two on each side are square and hence the
nickname is "The Five Phoenix Tower" The Meridian Gate was so named
because the Chinese emperors believed that they lived in the center of
the universe, and the Meridian Line went through the Forbidden City.
 A pair of bronze lions guards the Gate of Supreme
Harmony, symbolizing the imperial power. In China, lions were supposed
to be good doorkeepers and put at the gate to ward off evil spirits.
Lions are frequently seen in front of buildings as guardians, one
playing with a ball (male) and the other a cub (female). It was
considered auspicious. The ball is said to represent imperial treasury
or peace. The cub sucks milk from underneath the claw, because the
female doesn't have breast.
The hall of Supreme Harmony is 35 meter high, 60 meter wide and 33
meter on both sides. It is now the largest, best preserved wooden hall
in China. Twenty-four pillars support the roof. The Central six are
gilded and painted red. The Emperor's throne, which is surrounded by
art treasures of symbolic significance, is in the middle of the hall.
Above the throne is gold painted caisson, or coffer
ceiling, with dragon designs, from which hangs a spherical pearl
called the Xu Anyuan mirror.
Three flights of marble steps leads up to the terrace
In the middle of the central flight is a huge carving in the design of
dragons playing with pearls over which the emperors sedan chairs were
carried. At the east corner of the terrace is a sundial, and at the
west corner stands a small temple in which the grain measure was kept.
The sundial and grain measure is both symbols of rectitude and
fairness.
Behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony, between the
stairways, is a huge one-piece marble carving of dragons playing with
pearls This marble was brought here all the way from Fang Shan
District, about 70 km away from Beijing City proper. It is about 17
meters long, 3 meters wide and 1.7 meters thick, weighing about 250
tons. Without any modern means of transportation, you can imagine how
difficult it was for the Chinese laborer to transport such a huge
piece of stone here!
Facing the Gate of Imperial Supremacy in the Hall of Jewelry is the
famous Nine Dragon Screen, the best of its kind and the biggest in
China. The main body of the screen was engraved with nine huge
dragons. Each dragon is playing with a jewelry ball, each with
different unique appearance. The dragons were painted with different
colors with three dimension visual appearance and were handcrafted
with highest skill of workmanship. It is truly the most beautiful
piece of art.
 The Imperial Palace is the largest museum in China; it
preserves more than 900,000 priceless antiques covering all dynasties
of Chinese history. It has been recognized as the biggest and most
important treasury house of Chinese culture and arts in the world.
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