China Culture Headlines
- China on Wheels
- Worship Road -- Tibetan Kowtow
- Chinese Embroidered Insoles
- Starbucks & Chinese Culture
- Chinese Zisha Teapot
- Behind Chinese Names
- Chinese Gourds
- Tibet Tangka Art
- Chinese Mongolian Nationality
- Beijing’s Traffic Restriction
- Chinese Potted Landscapes
- Emperor Hongli’s Life in the Forbidden City
- Chinese Firecrackers
- Panoramic View of the Forbidden City
- Empress Dowager Cixi's Bedroom
| Panoramic View of the Forbidden City |
For nearly 500 years, from the early 15th century to the early 20th, 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled China from a sweeping palace complex at the heart of Beijing. Built like a treasure box of walls
within walls, the Forbidden City was a cloistered imperial residence, a scene of ceremonial grandeur, and also the bustling apex of China's vast and intricate bureaucracy. Every detail in this precise maze of crimson walls and yellow tile roofs—-the imperial colors—-made the Forbidden City (Zijincheng, in Chinese) a reflection of the emperor's heavenly mandate to preserve harmony and hierarchy.
Content 1. Yin and Yang Yin and Yang The palace design obeys the ancient Chinese principles of yin and yang, the balance of opposites. Major halls of the outer court face south to embody the yang, or masculine. The northern inner court is yin, or female. A 170-foot-wide moat and 32-foot-high walls protected the complex. The emperor issued proclamations and presided over military parades at the Meridian Gate. Inner Court Living quarters of the imperial family and palace women. Outer Court Administrative offices and central palaces where the emperor held audiences and ceremonies. Major Structures of Forbidden City 1 Meridian Gate2 Moat 3 Walls of the Forbidden City 4 Watchtowers 5 West, East, and North Gates Outer Court 6 Golden River Bridges7 Gate of Supreme Harmony 8 Hall of Literary Glory 9 Hall of Supreme Harmony 10 Hall of Central Harmony 11 Hall of Preserving Harmony 12 Hall of Martial Grace Inner Court 13 Gate of Heavenly Purity14 Palace of Heavenly Purity 15 Hall of Union 16 Palace of Earthly Tranquillity 17 Imperial Garden 18 Qianlong's Garden 19 Hall of Imperial Peace 20 Palace of Tranquil Longevity 21 Hall of Mental Cultivation 22 Palace of Compassion and Tranquillity 23 Six West Palaces 24 Six East Palaces 25 Hall of Abstinence 26 Hall for Worshipping Ancestors 27 Pavilion of the Rain of Flowers Emperor's Homecoming Outriders of the Kangxi emperor's traveling retinue enter the guarded heart of the Forbidden City in 1689 after an eight-week tour, one of many the Qing dynasty emperor took through his kingdom. On this scroll commemorating the trip, military and civilian elites line a courtyard to welcome Kangxi. Beyond, sedan bearers wait to carry him toward the Hall of Supreme Harmony, shrouded in clouds to convey the divine nature of imperial rule. Construction, 1406-1420 A declaration of power by the young Ming dynasty, the Forbidden City followed 1,500-year-old tenets of city planning dictated by a classic Confucian text. Only in a properly ordered capital could an emperor be the mediator of cosmic balance between heaven and earth. Fire was a constant threat to the timber-framed brick buildings and gates. Soon after completion, the three central great halls burned to ash and were not reconstructed until 1440. Parts of the complex burned and were rebuilt at least eight times during the Qing dynasty, the last time in 1888. Hall of Supreme Harmony The grandest palace in the complex, elevated on a three-tiered marble terrace, it held nothing but the emperor's most elaborate throne. The hall was generally reserved for paramount rituals: New Year celebrations, enthronements, the emperor's birthday, and royal weddings. 
The Dragon Throne Wearing a crown of red silk and sable, the emperor surveyed ceremonies from a gilded throne carved In the shape of entwined dragons.Intricately painted exposed beams connect 72 columns nearly 50 feet tall. Roof design Double-eaved hipped roofs denote the highest ranking buildings in the Forbidden City. Roof guardians The number of mythological beasts placed on a roof indicates a building's rank. Only the Hall of Supreme Harmony has ten creatures, bracketed by a dragon and an immortal riding a hen. Dragons More than a thousand hornless dragon heads were carved as waterspouts to drain the central marble terrace. The Chinese dragon brings water and thus prosperity; the horned five-clawed dragon was the symbol of the emperor. Incense of sandalwood and pine rose from heavy copper stoves and from burners in the shape of cranes paired with tortoises, symbols of longevity. Singers chanted, and an orchestra played bells and stone chimes. Red characters on the awning wished the newlyweds shuangxi (double happiness). Wedding Celebration of Emperor Guangxu,1889 More than 500 imperial officials and male family members gathered at the Hall of Supreme Harmony in March 1889 for the ritual of announcing the marriage of the emperor. The nuptials of Guangxu and empress Longyu had been held three days earlier in the intimate Palace of Earthly Tranquillity. Empress Dowager Cixi dictated the choice of bride; the woman Guangxu had wanted to marry would instead become one of his concubines. This was the twilight of the Qing dynasty--an imperial wedding was never celebrated so lavishly again. Ritual Rank Offering the emperor their wedding respects, princes and nobility gather on the terrace close to the throne. The vast courtyard had filled before dawn as civil and military officials, orchestrated by the powerful Ministry of Rites, marched Into the Forbidden City by lantern light. They took marked positions according to their rank. When the masters of ceremonies cracked their whips and shouted "Kowtow," everyone not holding a banner, parasol, or circular fan fell to their knees. They performed three sequences of three prostrations, each time knocking their heads three times against the stone. The Imperial Way Covered with wool carpet for the ceremony, a narrow marble path called the Imperial Way ran more than half a mile from the emperor's throne to Tiananmen Gate. Only the emperor could walk on this path; more commonly he was carried over it in a sedan chair. The ritual announcing the emperor's wedding concluded with members of the Ministry of Rites walking alongside the path to bring a written proclamation of the marriage to Tiananmen Gate, where it was read to the public. Details of the many rituals conducted for Guangxu's wedding are known from an album of paintings commissioned for the event. Treasures inside Forbidden City Scholar and patron of the arts, the Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong sat for this 1736 portrait by court painter Giuseppe Castiglione, one of the Jesuits he invited into the Forbidden City to share their talent and intellect, though not their faith. (Qianlong favored Tibetan Buddhism.) He expanded the imperial trove of art, books, and cultural relics, which eventually numbered 1.5 million pieces. In 1933, as a Japanese invasion loomed, the collection was divided and sent away from Beijing, surviving a cross-country odyssey during WWII and civil war. Part of the collection then went to Taiwan with nationalists defeated by Mao and is displayed in Taipei's National Palace Museum. Add to your favorite Bookmarking sites              
Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||