Forbidden City Name

The common English name “Forbidden City”, a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (Chinese pinyin： Zǐjinchéng literally “Purple Forbidden City”). Another name in English of the same origin is “Forbidden City”.

The name “Zijin Cheng” is a name with significance on many levels. Zi, or “Purple”, refers to the North Star, which had been mentioned in ancient China Ziwei Star, and traditional Chinese astrology, the house of the Heavenly Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, housing Ziwei (Chinese: pinyin： Zǐwēiyuán) has been the realm of the Celestial Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, when it became the residence of Emperor Land, its terrestrial counterpart. Jin, or “forbidden,” said that person enter or leave the palace was without the authorization of the Emperor. Cheng, a walled city.

Today the site is commonly known in Chinese as Gugong, which means “the former Palace. The museum, founded in these buildings, known as the “Palace Museum” (Chinese: pinyin Gugong Bówùyùan).

About the Forbidden City

In downtown Beijing, Chinese people are called the Palace Museum or Gugong. For nearly five centuries, has long served as the seat of the emperor and his family and the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.In 1406 to 1420 built complex of 980 surviving buildings with 8707 rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq. feet). The palace is an example of traditional Chinese beautifully, and the cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere affected. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of canned ancient wooden structures in the world.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City is under the care of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of art and artifacts have been on the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing. Part of the collection of the old museum is now at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Virtual Forbidden City

Forbidden City History

Forbidden City Travel Tips

Forbidden City Attractions:

1. Meridian Gate
2. Hall of Literary Glory and Hall of Martial Valor
3. Gate of Supreme Harmony
4. Hall of Supreme Harmony
5. Hall of Central Harmony
6. Hall of Preserved Harmony
7. Gate of Heavenly Purity
8. Palace of Heavenly Purity
9. Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union
10. Palace of Earthly Tranquility
11. Hall of Mental Cultivation
12. Six Western Palaces
13. Hall for Ancestry Worship
14. Six Eastern Palaces
15. Palace of Tranquil Longevity
16. Treasure Gallery
17. Qianlong Garden
18. Imperial Garden
19. Forbidden City Gates
20. Forbidden City Moat and Corner Towers

Need Forbidden City Tour Help ? bjf@beijingfeeling.com

Virtual Forbidden City

Through time and space，Virtual Forbidden City will guide you to enter into the mysterious Forbidden City Palace and to a Forbidden City tour. Come on, Let’s go…

Forbidden City History

The history of the Forbidden City covers six centuries. In the heart of Beijing, China, the Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Built 1406 to 1420, the  Forbidden City is experienced many changes. Having as the imperial palace for nearly five hundred years, the Forbidden City is now a palace museum – the Palace Museum – in 1925. In 1987 he was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The site is located at the Forbidden City was the imperial city during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. During the creation of the Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor moved the capital Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the south, and ordered that the palace be burnt yuan. When his son was Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, he moved the capital to Beijing, and construction began in 1406, what would the Forbidden City.

The construction lasted 15 years, and requires more than one million workers. Materials used are made of precious wood logs, while Zhennan Phoebe (Chinese Pinyin nanmu) found in the jungles of southwestern China, and large blocks of marble from quarries near Beijing. The main room floors were paved with “gold bricks” (Chinese: Pinyin jīnzhuān), specially baked paving stones from Suzhou.

From 1420 to 1644, was the Forbidden City, the seat of the Ming Dynasty. In April 1644 he became the rebel Li Zicheng, who describes himself as Emperor Shun Dynasty.He quickly fled before the combined armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting resulted recognized before the fire, parts of the Forbidden City the process. In October, the Manchus had achieved domination in northern China, and a ceremony was held in the Forbidden City in order to emphasize the young Emperor Shunzhi as ruler of all China under the Qing Qing rulers Dynasty.The announce last names of the main building to “harmony” rather than “Supremacy”, made the plates bilingual (Chinese and Manchu), and contains elements of shamanism in the palace.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of 1900 war.In Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, so that by the force of the Treaty powers are until next year occupied.

Once the residence of 24 emperors, fourteen of the Ming dynasty and ten from the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City was stopped, the political center of China in 1912 with the abdication of Pu Yi, last emperor of China. Under a new agreement with the Government of the Republic of China, Pu Yi was on the farm, while the outer court was dedicated to public use until he was expelled following a coup in 1924. The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City. In 1933 the Japanese invasion of China forced the evacuation of the national treasures in the Forbidden City.Part, the collection was back at the end of World War II, but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1947 under the command of Chiang Kai – shek, whose Kuomintang lost the Chinese civil war. This collection of relatively small but high quality has been in storage until 1965, when he returned to the public, as the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei held.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 caused some damage to the Forbidden City, while the country was drawn into revolutionary zeal.During the Cultural Revolution, but further destruction was prevented when the Prime Minister Zhou Enlai sent an army battalion, the city to protect.

The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 as the Imperial Palace “of the Ming and Qing dynasties, because of its important role in the development of architecture and culture of China. It is currently used by the Palace Museum, which leads repair, a project of sixteen years of restoration and clean up all the buildings of the Forbidden City in their managed-1912 before the state.

In recent years, the presence of commercial enterprises in the Forbidden City has been controversial. A Starbucks that opened in 2000, objections, and finally ended the 13 July 2007. The Chinese media also took note of a few souvenir shops that refused to allow Chinese citizens to price gouge to foreign customers in 2006.

Forbidden City Travel Tips

Forbidden City is a must when traveling to Beijing. To make your journey much comfortable Forbidden City, we found a few helpful tips to follow for you.

Best Time to Visit the Forbidden City

Forbidden City is the best season from late March to early June and from late August to late November. During these periods, select one days and not weeks and holidays to avoid the crowds.

Recommended Forbidden City Tour lines

West Line: Meridian Gate (Wumen) – Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihemen) – Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) – Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian) – Hall of Harmony doses (Baohedian) – Gateway to the purity Celeste (Qianqingmen) — Six Western Palaces – Cining Palace – Hall of Mental cultivation (Yangxindian) – Zhai Shufang  TOP

Middle Line: Wumen (Meridian Gate) – Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihemen) – Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) – Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian) – Hall of Harmony doses (Baohedian) – Gateway to the purity Celeste (Qianqingmen) — Hall heavenly and earthly of the European Union (Jiaotaidian) – Künning Palace – Imperial Garden (Yuhuayuan) – Shenwu Gate

East Line: Wumen (Meridian Gate) – Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihemen) – Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) – Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian) – Hall of Harmony doses (Baohedian) – Gateway to the purity Celeste (Qianqingmen) — Six Eastern Palaces (Dongliugong) – Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Ningshougong) – Now Zhenfei

Forbidden City Exhibitions

Forbidden City Museum has called permanent exhibitions in various halls and palaces a few. The following is a list of some shows that may spark your interest. Visit them and you can learn more about the cultural context in the great Forbidden City.

Valuable cultural relics treasures exhibition Huangji Hall Leshou Hall and Yangxing Palace Yihe Xuan
Clocks Collections Exhibition Hall in Fengxian
Qing Palace Opera exhibition in the Palace Changyin
Cixi to Business Expo at Xianfu Palace
Puyi Life exhibition in Lijing Xuan
Qing concubines Life exhibition at the Palace Yongshou
Qing Weapon Equipment Exhibition in Hongyi Garret
Wanshou celebrations at Exhibition Palace Qianqing
Imperial Palace Grand Wedding Expo in Qianqing

Forbidden City Attractions:

Meridian Gate

The Meridian Gate (Chinese, pinyin Wǔmén is the southernmost (and largest) gate of the Forbidden City. It has five arches. The three central arches are matched, the two flanking arches are still the exception of the three central arches. The arc center was once reserved for the emperor, the exceptions were the Empress, it might be, once their wedding day to give, and the three best students of three reviews of public service, tests allowed by the central arch. All other officers and agents had to use the four lateral arches.   Details of the Meridian Gate

Hall of Literary Glory and Hall of Martial Valor

Entering the southern entrance to the Forbidden City – Meridian Gate, you will see the inside deck of the Golden River. In the east of the bridge is the gateway to the single resulting in Harmony Hall of Literary Glory. In the west of the bridge is the gateway to the prosperous harmony leading to the Hall of Martial Valor. Both halls are balanced by an east-west, now separated, are used as a gallery of ceramics and Forbidden City photo gallery.

Enter the Hall of Literary Glory >>>>

Enter the Hall of Martial Valor >>>>

Gate of Supreme Harmony

Hall of Supreme Harmony

Hall of Central Harmony

Hall of Preserved Harmony

Gate of Heavenly Purity

Palace of Heavenly Purity

Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union

Palace of Earthly Tranquility

Hall of Mental Cultivation

Six Western Palaces

Hall for Ancestry Worship

Six Eastern Palaces

Palace of Tranquil Longevity

Treasure Gallery

Qianlong Garden & Pavilion of Pleasant Sounds

Imperial Garden

Forbidden City Gates
Forbidden City Moat and Corner Towers