The Forbidden City (also known
officially as the Imperial Palace Museum) was commissioned
by the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yong
Le.  The
palace was built between 1406 and 1420, but was burnt
down, rebuilt, sacked and renovated countless times, so
most of the architecture you can see today dates from
the 1700’s and on wards. The Forbidden City was the seat
of Imperial power for 500 years, and is now a major tourist
attraction in China. The total area of the complex is
183 acres, so it takes quite a while to walk through,
especially if you want to have a close look at everything.
All together there are 9,999 1/2 rooms in the Museum,
not all of which can be visited.
The Imperial Palace is rectangle architecture. It is 961
meters long from south to north and 753 meters wide. There
is city wall with 10 meters height around and the moat
outside of city wall is 52 meters wide. The Imperial Palace
has 4 gates. The Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwumen) on
the north, Meridian Gate (Wumen) on the south, the Eastern
Flowery Gate (Donghuamen) on the east, and the Western
Flowery Gate (Xinhuamen) on the west. There are 4 corner
towers at the 4corners of city wall and the whole area
is 724.250 square meters.
On the whole, the Imperial Palace is divided into two
parts: front court and back chamber. Not only in the Imperial
Palace, the monarch bed chamber of Ming Dynasty and Qing
Dynasty is divided like so. Front court of the Imperial
Palace mainly includes the 3 palaces of mid-way and the
Hall of Lierary Glory (Wenhuadian), the Pailion of the
Source of Lierature (Wenyuange), Shang Si Court, Arrow
tower, Imperial Hospital, Imperial Teahouse. Qing Embassy
and Cabinet Warehouse of east way. And also Yu Ying Palace.
Yan An Palace. Internal Affairs Mansions , Building Office
and Nan Xun Palace of west way. Back bedchamber includes
Back Three Palaces of mid way (the Palace of Heavenly
Purity (Qianqinggong), the Palace of Union and Peace (Jiaotaidian)
and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong).
In addition, suggest you visit front-street of Jiangshan
Park by manpower pedi-cab at cool night of summer. Shining
lights are bright and Forbidden City is brilliant. Colored
lights from all directions lighten Meridian Gate (Wumen),
the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwumen) turret, palace
wall and other main palaces.
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