故宫The Forbidden City.docx
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故宫TheForbiddenCity
WorldCulturalHeritage------TheForbiddenCity
HISTORYOFTHEFORBIDDENCITY
TheForbiddenCityhasahistoryofnearly600years.Itwasbuiltin1420duringtheMingDynasty.
EmperorZhuYuanzhangestablishedtheMingDynastyin1368,andthenhesetuphiscapitalinNanjing.ButafterthethirdMingemperorZhuDicametothethronein1402,hedecidedtomovecapitalfromNanjingtoBeijing.
TheconstructionontheForbiddenCitystartedin1406andcompletedin1420.AfteritscompletionthecapitalwasmovedfromNanjingtoBeijingin1421.AfterthatthefollowingMingEmperorsandalltheQingEmperorslivedandhandledstateaffairsintheForbiddenCity.Therewere14MingEmperorsand10QingEmperorswholivedintheForbiddenCity.
In1911theQingDynastywasoverthrownbythe1911RevolutionledbyDr.SunYat-sen.Butafter1911,basedonthe19articlesofthepreferentialtreatmentfortheQingcourt,thelastemperorPuyiandhisroyalfamilywerestillallowedtoliveintheinnercourtoftheForbiddenCity.Butin1924theyweredrivenoutofthePalace.Oneyearlater,onOctober10th,1925,theForbiddenCitywasconvertedintothePalaceMuseumandopenedtothepublic.
In1961,thePalaceMuseumwaslistedastheimportanthistoricalmonumentsunderspecialpreservationbytheChineseGovernment.In1987itwaslistedasaWorldCulturalHeritagesitebyUNESCO.
DuringtheMingandQingDynasties,theemperor’sresidencewasforbiddentotheordinarypeople.Inthefeudalsociety,theemperorhadsupremepowerandhebelievedhewasthepersonjustbelowheavenbutaboveallthepeople.Inanotherwords,thecommonpeoplewereforbiddentoentertheimperialpalace.Hencethename“ForbiddenCity”.
ButinChinese,theimperialpalacealsocalled“PurpleForbiddenCity”.Theword‘Purple’comesfromancientChineseastronomers’beliefthatpurplewasthesymboliccoloroftheNorthStar.InancientChina,astronomersputthestarsintothreeconstellations.ThePurpleStarwaslocatedinthecenteroftheuniverse,whichwasbelievedtobethecenterofthecosmos,andthePalaceonthePurpleStarwascalledtheSonofHeaven,andhealsobelievedthathisImperialPalacewasinthecenteroftheearth,forhispalacewasbuiltalongthenorth-southcentralaxisofthecapitalcityofBeijing,thenhecalledhisForbiddenCity“PurpleForbiddenCity”.
TheForbiddenCitycoversanareaof72hectareswithatotalfloorspaceofabout150000squaremeters.Itisrectangularinshape,about960meterslongfromnorthtosouth,and750meterswidefromeasttowest,surroundedwitha10-meterhighcitywalland52-meterwidemoat.
MostoftheStructuresinTheForbiddenCityweremadeofwoodwithwhitemarble,stoneorbrickfoundations.Thebuildingmaterialsarefromdifferentpartofourcountry.ThetimbersintheMingDynastywerecutfromsouthwestpartofourcountry,butintheQingDynasty,thetimberwastransportedfromnortheastpartofourcountry.ThestonesandmarblewerefromFanshanDistrict,70kilometersfromBeijing.ThebricksusedforbuildingthecitywallweretransportedformLinqing,Shandongprovince;whilethebricksusedforlayingfloorsinsidewerespeciallymadeinJiangsuProvince.Therewerealtogether230000artisansandmorethanamillionciviliansinvolvedinbuildingTheForbiddenCity.ItwasreallyaconstructionandahardjobfortheChineselaboringpeople.
TalkingabouttheroomsintheForbiddenCity.Thefamoussayingisthatthereare9999andahalfroomsinTheForbiddenCity,justahalfroomlessthanthe“HeavenlyPalace”.Itwassaidthattheemperoronearthdidn’tdaretocomparehimselfwiththeGodofHeaven.ThereforethenumberofroomsintheImperialPalacewasahalfroomless.Butthefactisthat,accordingtotherecordin1973,TheForbiddenCityconsistsof90palacesandcourtyards,980buildingswithroomsof8704.
TheForbiddenCitycanbedividedinto2parts:
theouterCourtandtheInnerPalace.TheOuterCourtwastheplacewheretheemperorsattendedthegrandceremoniesandconductstateaffairs.TheInnerPalacewasthelivingquartersfortheemperors,empressandhisimperialconcubines.
TheForbiddenCitywasbuiltalongthecentralaxis.Thebuildingsalongthecentralaxisare:
TheMeridianGate,theGateofSupremeHarmony,theHallofSupremeHarmony,theHallofMiddleHarmony,theHallofPreservingHarmony,theGateofHeavenlyPurity,thePalaceofHeavenlyPurity,thePalaceofUnionandPeace,thePalaceofEarthlyTranquilityandtheImperialGarden.
THEMERIDIANGATE
TherearefourgateineachsideoftheForbiddenCity.TheMeridianGateisthemainentrancetotheForbiddenCityandalsothesouthgateoftheForbiddenCity.ItiscalledMeridianGatebecausetheemperorbelievedthatthemeridianlinejustwentthroughtheForbiddenCityandhisimperialresidencewasthecenterofthewholeuniverse.Inaddition,accordingtotheancientChinesecompass,theMeridianindicatedthesouth,soitwasalsoservedasthesouthgateoftheImperialPalace.
TheMeridianGateis35metershigh,itwasfirstbuiltin1420,andwasrebuiltin1647.Therearefivetowerssurmountedonthetopofthegate,soitwasalsonicknamedasthe“FivePhoenixTower”.Themaintowerislocatedinthecenterwithfoursquare-shapedtowersineachother.Thefoursidetowersareconnectedbycoveredgalleries.Insidethetowerbellsanddrumswereinstalled.Intheolddays,whentheemperorwenttotheAltersandtheTempleofHeaven,bellswerestruck,andwhentheemperorwenttotheSupremeAncestralTemple,thedrumswerebeatentomakeitdowntothepublic.Whilewhenthehighrankingofficialscametoattendthegrandceremonies,boththebellsanddrumswereusedasasignalofenteringinandoutrespectively.
Therearemainly2functionsoftheMeridianGate:
thefestiveactivitiesandtheofficialceremonies.
ThefestiveactivitiesmainlywerepopularfestivalsheldinfronttheMeridianGateduringtheMingandQingDynasties,suchas:
theSpringFestival,theDragonBaotFestival,theDoubleNineFestivaletc.
Theofficialceremoniesmainlyweretwo:
First,theceremonyofannouncingthenewlunaryearcalender.Everyyearthenewlunaryearcalenderwasannouncedonthefirstdayofthe10thlunarmonthattheMeridianGate.Secondonewastheceremonyof“AcceptingCaptivesofWar”.Whenageneralreturnedfromabattle,hiscaptiveswouldbeofferedinaceremonyhere,whichwasservedasthevictoriousceremony.
CourtBeatingusedtobehappenedinfrontoftheMeridianGate,whichwasakindofpunishmenttopunishthoseofficialsbybeatingtheirbuttockswithsticks.Anyofficialswhowentagainsttheemperor’swishesandincurredtheemperor’sdisfavorwouldbetakenoutoftheMeridianGateandgotbeaten.Accordingtotherecordin1519,morethan150officialstriedtodissuadetheemperorfromgoingtothesouthtoselectbeauties.Thatmadetheemperorveryangry,the158officialsgotbeatenand15ofthemwerebeatentodeathonthespot.Onceagain,in1524,134officialsgotbeatenbecausetheydissuadetheemperorfrompromotinghisfathertothe“TitleoftheEmperor”,17ofthemdiedonthespot.Fortunately,thiskindofpunishmentwasabolishedintheQingDynasty.
DuringtheMingandQingDynasties,thecentralpassagewaywasonlyfortheemperor.Butapartfromtheemperortheempresscouldusethecentralpassagewayonlyonceinherwholelife.Itwasonthedayshegotmarriedduringtheimperialweddingceremony.Ontheday,theempresswaspermittedtoentertheForbiddenCitythroughthemiddledoorway.However,onthedaytheimperialpalaceexamresultswereannounced,thetopthreeoutstandingscholarswereallowedtotothroughthecentralgateintheForbiddenCity.Thehigh-rankingcivilandmilitaryofficialsusedtheeastgate,andtheroyalfamilymemberswentinthroughthewest.Thetwosmalleronesonbothsidesatthecornerwereforthelow-rankingofficials.
Duringthepalaceexam,thecandidateswentinfromthetwosidegatesaccordingtotheirnumbers.Thecandidateswithoddnumberusedtheleftsidegatewhilethecandidateswithevennumberusedtheright.
TheMeridianGatehavefiveopenings.Inthisway,threeobviousdoorwaycanbeeasilyseenoutsidetheMeridianGate,andtwosidegateswerehiddenfromview.ButallfivedoorwayscanbeseenafterwalkingthroughtheMeridianGateandturningaround.Thisisatypicalbuildingmethodforthiskindofgate:
threeobviousgatescanbeseenfromtheoutside,butfivedoorwayscanbeseenfrominside.
THEGATEOFSUPREMEHARMONY
EntertheMeridianGate,therearefivemarblebridgeontheInnerGoldenWaterRiver,shapedlikeabow.ThefivebridgesweresupposedtorepresentthefivevirtuespreachedbyConfucius:
benevolence,righteousness,propriety,intelligenceandfidelity.ThefunctionoftheInnerGoldenWaterRiverwasfordrainingtherainingwateraway.
TherearetwobronzelionsinfrontoftheGateofSupremeHarmony.Oneismaleandtheotherisfemale.Inancienttimes,stoneandbronzelionswerefrequentlyseeninfrontofthegatesasguardians.Thebronzelionsservedasdoorkeepersbecausetheirawesomelooks,andtheywereplaceinfrontofthegatetowardofevilspiritstoo.
Themalelionwasusuallypositionedontheleft,playingwithaball,whichissaidtoshowtheemperor’ssupremepowertocontrolthewholeuniverse.Thefemalelionisontheright,playingwithalioncubwithherleftpaw,symbolizingprosperityoftheroyalfamily’soffspring.Thebabylionislyingonitsbackwithhismother’spawonhismouth.
TheGateofSupremeHarmonyisthefrontgateofthethreemainhallsintheoutercourtoftheForbid