The Forbidden City of Beijing was built from 1406 - 1420. It was built on 180 acres, consists of 800 buildings and contains 9,999 ½ rooms, because nine is the "lucky" number of emperors.
It is surrounded by the Imperial City, which is the gateway to the Forbidden City and is where the governmental offices were, and where the emperor would meet with common people.
From the Imperial City, we could see the Jingshaw Park Pagoda that we visited on our first day in Beijing.
In Chinese culture, 10 is the highest number, and is only suitable for God, but since the emperor thought he was the son of the God, he believed that he was worthy of the number 9. As we entered both the imperial city and the forbidden city, there were huge doors, each with 81 knobs on them (9 across by 9 high). Another way that the emperor showed his power to the people.
The imperial city was quite pretty, with trees and flowers, etc., but as we entered the Forbidden City, we noticed that it had a brick floor (15 layers thick), it had no trees, no flowers, nothing homey at all. This was for security reasons. The floor was so thick that no one could dig through it, and there was nothing at all in the forbidden city that an assassin could hide behind. It was a very plain, boring, almost depressing environment. I couldn’t image being a child of the emperor having to grow up like that.
Between the Imperial City and the Forbidden City, we went through the Gate of Harmony. As we entered the Forbidden City, we noticed that there were small animals on each corner of the roofs. The more animals, the more important the person who lives there. So the Emperor always had 9 animals on each corner, but once in a while, he would throw in 10 (because he could).
The forbidden city contained everything that the emperor and his family needed to live. It had the family residence, a library, a school, etc. It even had a residence for the concubines of the Emperor.
This is residence of the concubines.
Concubines were young women who were given to the emperor by the woman family in hopes of elevating the families status. If the Emperor was not able to have a boy with the empress, a boy would be chosen from the sons of the concubines (the emperor's mistresses) to be the next reigning emperor.
The buildings in the Forbidden City are beautiful, but the surroundings are so stark!
The Forbidden City is currently undergoing significant renovations with all of the floor tiles being replaced.
Concubines were young women who were given to the emperor by the woman family in hopes of elevating the families status. If the Emperor was not able to have a boy with the empress, a boy would be chosen from the sons of the concubines (the emperor's mistresses) to be the next reigning emperor.
The buildings in the Forbidden City are beautiful, but the surroundings are so stark!
The Forbidden City is currently undergoing significant renovations with all of the floor tiles being replaced.
These marble dragon heads were "down spouts" allowing water to drain from the walled courtyards.
The thrown of the emperor.
The movie, “The Last Emperor” is the only movie ever filmed in the Forbidden City, and it is about the last emperor of China. He became emperor when he was three, and was the son of one of the concubines that later became known in China as the Dragon Lady. She used her son (the last emperor) as a puppet, ruling the country from the back seat.
When we emerged from the Forbidden City, we were once again in the Imperial City (which surrounds the Forbidden City), where we could once again enjoy the beauty of the gardens.
The Forbidden City was massive and stark, and no where that I would ever want to live. It is hard to imagine being so fearful of assassins that you would force yourself and your family into such a gloomy existence. It was very interesting to see, and even more interesting to reflect upon. It shows me that money and power definitely don't always equate to happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment