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74-475: The Daoguang Emperor was born in the Forbidden City , Beijing , in 1782, and was given the name Mianning ( 绵宁 ; 綿寧 ; Miánníng ; Mien-ning ). It was later changed to Minning ( 旻宁 ; 旻寧 ; Mǐnníng ; Min-ning ) when he became emperor. The first character of his private name was changed from Mian to Min to avoid the relatively common character Mian . This novelty was introduced by his grandfather,

148-596: A ceremony was held at the Forbidden City to proclaim the young Shunzhi Emperor as ruler of all China under the Qing dynasty . The Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings to emphasise "harmony" rather than "supremacy", made the nameplates bilingual (Chinese and Manchu ), and introduced shamanist elements to the palace. In 1860, during the Second Opium War , Anglo-French forces took control of

222-546: A clause sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Catholicism had been added to the statute called "Prohibitions Concerning Sorcerers and Sorceresses" (禁止師巫邪術) in the Great Qing Legal Code . Protestants hoped that the Qing government would discriminate between Protestantism and Catholicism, since the law mentioned the latter by name, but after Protestant missionaries gave Christian books to Chinese people in 1835 and 1836,

296-571: A coiled dragon, from the mouth of which issues a chandelier-like set of metal balls, called the " Xuanyuan Mirror". In the Ming dynasty, the emperor held court here to discuss affairs of state. During the Qing dynasty, as emperors held court far more frequently, a less ceremonious location was used instead, and the Hall of Supreme Harmony was only used for ceremonial purposes, such as enthronements , investitures , and imperial weddings. The Hall of Central Harmony

370-420: A layout of three palaces on either side of an alley that runs from north to south. Every palace has its own courtyards, main halls, and side-halls. The main halls stand in the middle and the side-halls are in the east and west. The front courtyard and its main hall was used for receptions, while the back courtyard and its main hall served as living quarters. An imperial consort with the rank of concubine and above

444-595: A physical installation. The courtyard was built on a massive, luxurious scale but it has the appearance of an ordinary quadrangle courtyard. The Forbidden City was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City . The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City. The Forbidden City remains important in

518-568: A square before it, and five gateways. The central gateway is part of the Imperial Way, a stone flagged path that forms the central axis of the Forbidden City and the ancient city of Beijing itself, leading all the way from the Gate of China in the south to Jingshan Park in the north. Except for the empress on the occasion of her wedding and successful students after the Imperial Examination , only

592-629: Is "Forbidden Palace," though "city" is much closer to the original Chinese meaning. The name " Zijincheng " has significance on many levels. Zi , or "purple", refers to the North Star , which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Jade Emperor . The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure ( 紫 微 垣 ; Zǐwēiyuán ),

666-649: Is a double-eaved building, 9 bays wide and 3 bays deep. In the Ming dynasty, it was the residence of the Empress. In the Qing dynasty, large portions of the Palace were converted for Shamanist worship by the new Manchu rulers. From the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, the Empress moved out of the Palace. However, two rooms in the Palace of Earthly Harmony were retained for use on the Emperor's wedding night. Between these two palaces

740-408: Is a rectangle, measuring 961 m (3,153 ft) from north to south and 753 m (2,470 ft) from east to west. It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms. A common myth states that there are 9,999 rooms including antechambers, based on oral tradition, but it is not supported by survey evidence. The layout of the Forbidden City protected the imperial code of ethics as

814-414: Is a smaller, square hall, used by the emperor to prepare and rest before and during ceremonies. Behind it, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, was used for rehearsing ceremonies, and was also the site of the final stage of the Imperial Examination . All three halls feature imperial thrones, the largest and most elaborate one being that in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. At the centre of the stairs leading up to

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888-517: Is based in these buildings is known as the "Palace Museum" ( 故 宮 博 物 院 ; Gùgōng Bówùyùan ). In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City was also known as Danei ( 大 内 ) or "Palace City" ( 宮 城 ; Gōngchéng ). When the Hongwu Emperor 's son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor , he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and construction began in 1406 on what would become

962-421: Is located to the west of Cining Palace. To the south of Cining Palace is Cining garden. Religion was an important part of life for the imperial court. In the Qing dynasty, the Palace of Earthly Harmony became a place of Manchu Shamanist ceremony. At the same time, the native Chinese Taoist religion continued to have an important role throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. There were two Taoist shrines, one in

1036-401: Is one of the most important. It housed a large number of Buddhist statues, icons, and mandalas , placed in ritualistic arrangements. Taiwan Prefecture Taiwan Prefecture or Taiwanfu was a prefecture of Taiwan during the Qing dynasty . The prefecture was established by the Qing government in 1684, after the island came under Qing dynasty rule in 1683 following its conquest of

1110-535: Is part of the Western Qing Tombs , 120 km southwest of Beijing. Empress Imperial Noble Consort Noble Consort Consort Concubine Noble Lady Second Class Attendant Lady-in-waiting Enthroned in 1626 as Khan , Hong Taiji changed the dynastic name to "Great Qing" in 1636 and claimed the title of emperor. In 1644, the Shunzhi Emperor began to rule over China proper , replacing

1184-561: Is the Hall of Union , which is square in shape with a pyramidal roof. Stored here are the 25 Imperial Seals of the Qing dynasty, as well as other ceremonial items. Behind these three halls lies the Imperial Garden (M). Relatively small, and compact in design, the garden nevertheless contains several elaborate landscaping features. To the north of the garden is the Gate of Divine Might. Directly to

1258-454: Is the largest, and rises some 30 m (98 ft) above the level of the surrounding square. It is the ceremonial centre of imperial power, and the largest surviving wooden structure in China. It is nine bays wide and five bays deep, the numbers 9 and 5 being symbolically connected to the majesty of the emperor. Set into the ceiling at the centre of the hall is an intricate caisson decorated with

1332-518: The dishu system , his mother, Lady Hitara , was Yongyan's primary spouse whereas his elder brother was born to Yongyan's concubine. Mianning was favored by his grandfather, the Qianlong Emperor. He frequently accompanied his grandfather on hunting trips. On one such trip, at the age of nine, Mianning successfully hunted a deer, which greatly amused the Qianlong Emperor. The emperor would abdicate five years after that incident, in 1796, when Mianning

1406-632: The Afaqi suborder, Jahangir Khoja was sliced to death (Lingchi) in 1828 by the Manchus for leading a rebellion against the Qing . During the Daoguang Emperor's reign, China experienced major problems with opium , which was imported into China by British merchants. Opium had started to trickle into China during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor , but was limited to approximately 200 chests annually. By

1480-560: The Emperor , the Imperial family , and Eunuchs ; hence the Chinese term "Forbidden City" emerged. The punishment for unauthorised entry to the palace was immediate execution. The common English name "Forbidden City" is a translation of the Chinese name Zijincheng ( 紫 禁 城 ; lit.   ' Purple Forbidden City ' ), which first formally appeared in 1576. Another English name of similar origin

1554-672: The First Opium War . With China losing the war, Lin Zexu was made a scapegoat. The Daoguang Emperor removed his authority and banished him to Yili . During the war, the Daoguang Emperor ordered 187 British and Indian prisoners of war held captive in Taiwan Prefecture to be summarily executed in 1842 in retaliation for the Chinese defeat at the Battle of Ningpo ; the executions were carried out on 10 August by Chinese officials. The Chinese defeat in

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1628-517: The Forbidden City . In September 1820, at the age of 38, Mianning inherited the throne after the Jiaqing Emperor died suddenly of unknown causes. He became the first Qing emperor who was the eldest legitimate son of his father. Now known as the Daoguang Emperor, he inherited a declining empire with Westerners encroaching upon the borders of China. His era name , "Daoguang", means "radiant path". The Daoguang Emperor had been ruling for six years when

1702-591: The Kingdom of Tungning . The Taiwan Prefecture Gazetteer ( 臺灣府志 ; Táiwānfǔ Zhì ) documented it as part of Fujian Province . The Gazetteer was completed by Gao Gonggan in 1695, the 34th year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor . With the development and population growth of Taiwan during the Qing Era, the scope of Taiwan Prefecture was also varied over time. Following the establishment of Fujian-Taiwan Province in 1887,

1776-558: The Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor ) to the end of the Qing dynasty , between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum , whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts

1850-498: The Ming dynasty . Forbidden City The Forbidden City ( Chinese : 紫禁城 ; pinyin : Zǐjìnchéng ) is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing , China . It was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty Emperors , and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by

1924-421: The Palace Museum . As a UNESCO World Heritage Site , it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. The Forbidden City is arguably the most famous palace in all of Chinese history , and is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world. The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from

1998-567: The Chinese coast. The Qing government was highly dependent on the continued flow of taxes from southern China via the Grand Canal , which the British expeditionary force easily cut off at Zhenjiang . The Daoguang Emperor ultimately had a poor understanding of the British and the Industrial Revolution that Britain and Western Europe had undergone, preferring to turn a blind eye to the rest of

2072-533: The Daoguang Emperor demanded to know who were the "traitorous natives" in Guangzhou who had supplied them with books. The Daoguang Emperor granted the title of "Wujing Boshi" ( 五經博士 ; Wǔjīng Bóshì ) to the descendants of Ran Qiu . The Daoguang Emperor died on 26 February 1850 at the Old Summer Palace , 8 km/5 miles northwest of Beijing , being the last Qing emperor to pass away in that Palace before it

2146-459: The Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war. In 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion , leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year. After being the home of 24 emperors — 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty — the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with

2220-452: The Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty . In April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng , who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty . He soon fled before the combined armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting fire to parts of the Forbidden City in the process. By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, and

2294-437: The Forbidden City. Construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers. Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood ( 楠 木 ; nánmù ) found in the jungles of south-western China, and large blocks of marble from quarries near Beijing. The floors of major halls were paved with "golden bricks" ( 金 磚 ; jīnzhuān ), specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou . From 1420 to 1644,

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2368-571: The Forbidden City. Part of the collection returned at the end of World War II , but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1948 under orders of Chiang Kai-shek , whose Kuomintang was losing the Chinese Civil War . This relatively small but high quality collection was kept in storage until 1965, when it again became public as the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei . After

2442-469: The Hall of Supreme Harmony, is even longer, but is made from two stone slabs joined — the joint was ingeniously hidden using overlapping bas-relief carvings, and was only discovered when weathering widened the gap in the 20th century. The stone slabs were likely transported from a quarry via ice sledge along an ice path lubricated by well water en route. In the southwest and southeast of the Outer Court are

2516-472: The Inner Court is Cining Palace (Palace of Compassion and Tranquility) and Shoukang Palace (Palace of Longevity and Good Health). The palaces were the residences of widowed consorts of previous emperors. In accordance with feudal manners, emperors should not live with the wives of late emperors, so they lived in this separate area of the Inner Court. The Cining palace is bigger and older than Shoukang Palace which

2590-461: The Inner Court is taken up by the Palace of Tranquil Longevity ( 寧 壽 宮 ) (O), a complex built by the Qianlong Emperor in anticipation of his retirement. It mirrors the set-up of the Forbidden City proper and features an "outer court", an "inner court", and gardens and temples. The entrance to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity is marked by a glazed-tile Nine Dragons Screen . To the west and to

2664-532: The Ming and Qing Dynasties", due to its significant place in the development of Chinese architecture and culture. In the early 21st century, the Palace Museum carried out a sixteen-year restoration project to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1911 state, with the goal that 76% of the palace would be open to the public by 2020. As a result of that project, the Shoukang Palace

2738-465: The abdication of Puyi , the last Emperor of China. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, until he was evicted after a coup in 1924. The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925. In 1933, the Japanese invasion of China forced the evacuation of the national treasures in

2812-419: The administrative organization of the northern area of the island. As a result, Taipeh Prefecture was created from part of Taiwan Prefecture. Fokien-Taiwan Province was established in 1887, consisting of four prefectures: Taipeh, Taiwan, Tainan , and Taitung . Tainan Prefecture was created from part of Taiwan Prefecture. Thus Taiwan Prefecture was reduced to the area of central Taiwan only, composed of

2886-496: The axis was designed during the Yuan dynasty to be aligned with Shangdu , the other capital of their empire. The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 7.9 m (26 ft) high city wall and a 6 m (20 ft) deep by 52 m (171 ft) wide moat . The walls are 8.62 m (28.3 ft) wide at the base, tapering to 6.66 m (21.9 ft) at the top. These walls served as both defensive walls and retaining walls for

2960-528: The centre of the Inner Court is another set of three halls (L). From the south, these are: Smaller than the Outer Court halls, the three halls of the Inner Court were the official residences of the Emperor and the Empress. The Emperor, representing Yang and the Heavens, would occupy the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Empress, representing Yin and the Earth, would occupy the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. In between them

3034-571: The civic scheme of Beijing. The central north–south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen Gate to Tiananmen Square , the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to Yongdingmen Gate . To the north, it extends through Jingshan Park to the Drum Tower and Bell Tower . This axis is not exactly aligned north–south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees. Researchers now believe that

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3108-557: The east of the three main halls of the inner court are the Six Western Palaces (西六宫; xīliùgōng ) and the Six Eastern Palaces (东六宫; dōngliùgōng ). These palaces were the residences of the imperial consorts . Six palaces lay to the west and six to the east of the three main halls, hence the name. The architecture of the twelve palaces, connected by passageways, is more or less the same. The Western and Eastern Palaces each have

3182-404: The emperor could walk or ride on the Imperial Way. Traditionally, the Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the Outer Court ( 外 朝 ; Wàicháo ) or Front Court ( 前 朝 ; Qiáncháo ) to the south, which was used for ceremonial purposes; and the Inner Court ( 内 廷 ; Nèitíng ) or Back Palace ( 后 宫 ; Hòugōng ) to the north, which was the residence of the emperor and his family and

3256-467: The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some damage was done to the Forbidden City as the country was swept up in revolutionary zeal. During the Cultural Revolution , however, further destruction was prevented when Premier Zhou Enlai sent an army battalion to guard the city. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO as the "Imperial Palace of

3330-681: The exiled heir to the Khojas , Jahangir Khoja , attacked Xinjiang from Kokand in the Afaqi Khoja revolts . By the end of 1826, the former Qing cities of Kashgar , Yarkand , Khotan , and Yangihissar had all fallen to the rebels. After a friend betrayed him in March 1827, Khoja was sent to Beijing in an iron litter and subsequently executed, while the Qing Empire regained control of their lost territory. The Uyghur Muslim Sayyid and Naqshbandi Sufi rebel of

3404-591: The halls of Military Eminence (H) and Literary Glory (J). The former was used at various times for the emperor to receive ministers and hold court, and later housed the palace's own printing house. The latter was used for ceremonial lectures by highly regarded Confucian scholars, and later became the office of the Grand Secretariat. A copy of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries was stored there. To

3478-507: The imperial garden and another in the central area of the Inner Court. Another prevalent form of religion in the Qing dynasty palace was Buddhism . A number of temples and shrines were scattered throughout the Inner Court, including that of Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism. Buddhist iconography also proliferated in the interior decorations of many buildings. Of these, the Pavilion of the Rain of Flowers

3552-522: The late Qing era, Empress Dowager Cixi resided in one of the Western Palaces and became known as the "western empress", while her co-regent Empress Dowager Ci'an lived in one of the Eastern Palaces and was thus known as the "eastern empress". The names of the palaces were: Western Six Palaces Eastern Six Palaces To the west of the Hall of Mental Cultivation (N) in the western area of

3626-470: The modern-day Miaoli County , Taichung City , Nantou County , Changhua County , and Yunlin County . The new prefecture was divided into four counties and one subprefecture: Taiwan County  [ zh ] , Changhua County, Yunlin County, Miaoli County, and Puli Subprefecture  [ zh ] . The new prefecture seat was located at the central city of Toatun ( 大墩 ), which was also designated as

3700-508: The most visible parts of the palace to people outside the walls, and much folklore is attached to them. According to one legend, artisans could not put a corner tower back together after it was dismantled for renovations in the early Qing dynasty, and it was only rebuilt after the intervention of carpenter-immortal Lu Ban . The wall is pierced by a gate on each side. At the southern end is the main Meridian Gate (A) ( 午 門 ; Wǔmén ). To

3774-592: The north is the Gate of Divine Prowess (B) ( 神 武 門 ; Shénwǔmén ), which faces Jingshan Park. The east and west gates are the East Glorious Gate (D) ( 東 華 門 ; Dōnghuámén ) and the West Glorious Gate (C) ( 西 華 門 ; Xīhuámén ). All gates in the Forbidden City are decorated with nine-by-nine arrays of golden door nails, except for the East Glorious Gate, which has only eight. The Meridian Gate has two protruding wings, which form three sides of

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3848-490: The north-east are the Southern Three Places ( 南 三 所 ) (K), which was the residence of the crown prince . The Inner Court is separated from the Outer Court by an oblong courtyard lying orthogonal to the city's main axis. It was the home of the Emperor and his family. In the Qing dynasty, the Emperor lived and worked almost exclusively in the Inner Court, with the Outer Court used only for ceremonial purposes. At

3922-569: The palace. They were constructed with a rammed earth core, and surfaced with three layers of specially baked bricks on both sides, with the interstices filled with mortar. At the four corners of the wall sit corner towers (E) with intricate roofs boasting 72 ridges, reproducing the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as they appeared in Song dynasty paintings. These towers are

3996-626: The prefecture correspondingly became a subdivision under the newly founded province. When the Qing wrested the island from the control of the Kingdom of Tungning in 1683, Taiwan was made a prefecture under the administration of Fujian Province . The new prefecture consisted of three counties : The aboriginal lands on the east coast—known to the Qing as the "Land Behind the Mountains" ( 後山 ) —were not controlled at all. The seat of government, also known as "Taiwan" or "Taiwanfu" (a contraction of 臺灣府城 ; Táiwān fǔchéng , "prefectural city of Taiwan"),

4070-415: The reigning Qianlong Emperor , who thought it was inappropriate to use a common character in the emperor's private name due to the longstanding practice of naming taboo . Mianning was the second son of Prince Yongyan , the 15th son and heir of the Qianlong Emperor . Even though he was Yongyan's second son, he was first in line after Prince Yongyan to his grandfather's throne. This was because according to

4144-401: The site of the new provincial capital, taking its name as Taiwanfu or Taiwan (now Taichung ). However, during construction of the new capital, the provincial capital was temporarily relocated to the city of Taipeh ( Taipei ). One of the administrators of Taiwan Prefecture was Raymund Tu , a native priest of Taiwan. Four years after development of Toatun began, the seat of Taipeh ( Taipei )

4218-426: The smaller Hall of Mental Cultivation (N) to the west, out of respect to the memory of the Kangxi Emperor . The Palace of Heavenly Purity then became the Emperor's audience hall. A caisson is set into the roof, featuring a coiled dragon. Above the throne hangs a tablet reading "Justice and Honour" ( Chinese : 明 光 大 正 ; pinyin : míngguāng dà zhèng ). The Palace of Earthly Tranquility ( 坤 寧 宮 )

4292-487: The square stands the Gate of Supreme Harmony (F) ( 太 和 門 ; Tàihémén ). Behind that is a square from which a three-tiered white marble terrace rises and three halls stand on top of this terrace, the focus of the palace complex. From the south, these are the Hall of Supreme Harmony ( 太 和 殿 ; Tàihédiàn ), the Hall of Central Harmony ( 中 和 殿 ; Zhōnghédiàn ), and the Hall of Preserving Harmony ( 保 和 殿 ; Bǎohédiàn ). The Hall of Supreme Harmony (G)

4366-456: The terraces from the northern and southern sides are ceremonial ramps, part of the Imperial Way, featuring elaborate and symbolic bas-relief carvings. The northern ramp, behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony, is carved from a single piece of stone 16.57 m (54.4 ft) long, 3.07 m (10.1 ft) wide, and 1.7 m (5.6 ft) thick. It weighs some 200 tons and is the largest such carving in China. The southern ramp, in front of

4440-567: The time of the Qianlong era, this amount had increased to 1,000 chests, 4,000 chests by the Jiaqing era and more than 30,000 chests during the Daoguang era. The Daoguang Emperor issued many imperial edicts banning opium in the 1820s and 1830s, which were carried out by Lin Zexu , whom he appointed as an Imperial Commissioner to Canton . Lin Zexu's efforts to halt the spread of opium in China led directly to

4514-473: The traditional Chinese palatial architecture , and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019. In 2018, the Forbidden City's market value

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4588-668: The war exposed Qing China's technological and military inferiority to European powers, which led China in being forced to cede Hong Kong to the British in the Treaty of Nanjing in August 1842, and also pay a hefty indemnity which left the treasury desperate for funds. Meanwhile, in the Himalayas, the Sikh Empire attempted an occupation of Tibet but was defeated in the Sino-Sikh war (1841–1842). In 1811,

4662-441: The west is the Hall of Mental Cultivation (N). Originally a minor palace, this became the de facto residence and office of the Emperor starting from Yongzheng. In the last decades of the Qing dynasty, empresses dowager, including Cixi, held court from the eastern partition of the hall. Located around the Hall of Mental Cultivation are the offices of the Grand Council and other key government bodies. The north-eastern section of

4736-445: The world, though the distance from China to Europe most likely played a part. It was said that the emperor did not even know where Britain was located in the world. His 30-year reign saw rising economic tensions , sectarian instability and foreign interventions which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. The Daoguang Emperor was interred in the Mu (慕; lit. "Longing" or "Admiration") mausoleum complex, which

4810-409: Was 14. Mianning’s father Prince Yongyan was then enthroned as the Jiaqing Emperor, after which he made Lady Hitara (Mianning's mother) his empress consort. The elderly Qianlong would live three more years in retirement before dying in 1799, aged 87, when Mianning was 17. In 1813, while he was still a prince, Mianning also played a vital role in repelling and killing Eight Trigrams invaders who stormed

4884-409: Was built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. The complex claims to consist of 9,999 rooms in total, although experts have shown in recent years that the number only amounts to 8,886, covering 72 ha (720,000 m )/178-acre. The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and

4958-518: Was burnt down by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War , a decade later. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Yizhu, who was later enthroned as the Xianfeng Emperor . The Daoguang Emperor failed to understand the intention or determination of the Europeans, or the basic economics of a war on drugs. Although the Europeans were outnumbered and thousands of miles away from logistical support in their native countries, they could bring far superior firepower to bear at any point of contact along

5032-458: Was estimated at US$ 70 billion, making it both the world's most valuable palace and the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world. It was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961. The palace is extremely important to the Chinese public and nation, who often view it as a cultural and heavenly link to their ancestors. The palace gained its name from its enormous scale and severely restricted access to all but

5106-422: Was given a residence in the main section of a palace and was the manager of that palace, an honor in itself. Lower ranking imperial consorts (noble ladies and below) lived in the side halls of the palaces and were supervised by the higher ranking imperial consort. The twelve palaces were the place where many of the Qing emperors were born and grew up, and they formed the daily life of the imperial family. During

5180-467: Was located in modern-day Tainan , "which city had been in turn the capital of the Dutch , Koxinga , and the Chinese". During this period, Taiwan was administered as three counties and two subprefectures. The counties ( 縣 , xiàn ) were, from south to north: The subprefectures ( 廳 , tīng ) were: An administrative change occurred in 1875, when Imperial Commissioner Shen Baozhen demanded that another prefecture be added in Taiwan to revamp

5254-455: Was officially opened to the public in 2013, after initially being displayed in its original state. A sculpture museum was opened in the Cining Palace in 2015. Also opened in 2015 were the precincts around Cining Palace, the Yanyin Building and the Donghua Gate. On the 5 November 2024, 100 years was marked since the expulsion of the last Emperor of China , Puyi , from the palace by republican forces , led by Feng Yuxiang . The Forbidden City

5328-471: Was the Hall of Union, where the Yin and Yang mixed to produce harmony. The Palace of Heavenly Purity is a double-eaved building, and set on a single-level white marble platform. It is connected to the Gate of Heavenly Purity to its south by a raised walkway. In the Ming dynasty, it was the residence of the Emperor. However, beginning from the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty , the Emperor lived instead at

5402-479: Was the realm of the Jade Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin refers to a prohibition or taboo . Cheng originally meant a castle, fortress, or fortification, but in modern Chinese, the character means city. Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gugong ( 故 宮 ), which means the "Former Palace". The museum which

5476-457: Was used for day-to-day affairs of state (the approximate dividing line shown as a red dash in the plan above). Generally, the Forbidden City has three vertical axes. The most important buildings are situated on the central north–south axis. Entering from the Meridian Gate, one encounters a large square, pierced by the meandering Inner Golden Water River, which is crossed by five bridges. Beyond

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