Forbidden City

Coordinates: 39°54′58″N 116°23′53″E / 39.915987°N 116.397925°E / 39.915987; 116.397925
This article is about a World Heritage Site
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forbidden City
故宫
The Gate of Divine Might, the northern gate. The lower tablet reads "The Palace Museum" (故宫博物院)
Forbidden City is located in central Beijing
Forbidden City
Location within central Beijing
Forbidden City is located in Beijing
Forbidden City
Forbidden City (Beijing)
Established1925
Location4 Jingshan Front St, Dongcheng, Beijing, China
Coordinates39°54′58″N 116°23′53″E / 39.915987°N 116.397925°E / 39.915987; 116.397925
TypeArt museum, Imperial Palace, Historic site
Visitors16.7 million[1]
CuratorWang Xudong
Area72 hectares[2]
Built1406–1420
ArchitectKuai Xiang
Architectural style(s)Chinese architecture
Websiteen.dpm.org.cn (English)
www.dpm.org.cn (Chinese)
Part ofImperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
CriteriaCultural: i, ii, iii, iv
Reference439-001
Inscription1987 (11th Session)
Forbidden City
"Forbidden City" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese紫禁城
Literal meaning"Purple [North Star] Forbidden City"
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᡩᠠᠪᡴᡡᡵᡳ
ᡩᠣᡵᡤᡳ
ᡥᠣᡨᠣᠨ
Romanizationdabkūri dorgi hoton ‘Former inner city’

The Forbidden City, now known as the Palace Museum, is a large historical palace and an art museum in the historical center of Beijing, China. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is very important to the history and architecture of China. The Forbidden City was the palace of the Emperor of China from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost 500 years, it was as the home of emperors and their houses, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

Name[change | change source]

The name "Forbidden City" is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng; literally: "Purple Forbidden City"). The name Zijin Cheng was used for the first time in 1576.[3] Another English name for Zijin Cheng is "Forbidden Palace".[4] The word Zi means "purple" in Chinese. It means the North Star. This is because in ancient China it was called the Ziwei Star. In Chinese astrology the North Star was the home of the Celestial Emperor. Because the Forbidden City was the home of the emperor on Earth, the Chinese thought that it was Earth's equivalent of the Ziwei Star. Jin means "Forbidden" in Chinese. This was because no one was allowed to go in or out of the palace without the emperor's permission. Cheng means city.[5]

The Chinese don't call the Forbidden Palace Zijin Cheng anymore. They call it Gùgōng (故宫) now. This means the "Former Palace". The museum that is in the Forbidden City is called the "Palace Museum" (Chinese: 故宫博物院; pinyin: Gùgōng Bówùyùan).

History[change | change source]

After Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, the capital of China was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1406 construction began on the Forbidden City.[5] The construction of the palace went on for over 14 years and more than a million workers had to work on building it.[6] (1406-1420)

References[change | change source]

  1. 故宫2017年接待观众逾1699万人次 创历史新纪录 (in Chinese). 31 December 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  2. "The Layout of the Imperial Palace". 28 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  3. Barmé, Geremie R.; Doar, Bruce G. (2008). The Forbidden City. Harvard University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0674027794.
  4. Gan, Guo-hui (April 1990). "Perspective of urban land use in Beijing". GeoJournal. 20 (4): 359–364. doi:10.1007/bf00174975. S2CID 154980396.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Yu, Zhuoyun (1984). Palaces of the Forbidden City. New York: Viking. p. 18. ISBN 0-670-53721-7.
  6. Yang, Xiagui (2003). The Invisible Palace. Li, Shaobai (photography); Chen, Huang (translation). Beijing: Foreign Language Press. ISBN 7-119-03432-4.

Other websites[change | change source]