The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, also known as "Gu Gong" （故宫). It is the the biggest palace ever in the history of man, furthermore it is a major symbol to Chinese people as their greatness and glory. There are any ancient Chinese constructions that are symbols that are of imperial and ancient Chinese times, however The Forbidden City is much more advanced and superior in construction than past buildings and creations. The grandeur and complexity of the palace lead to its intrigue today.

History

The creation and construction of the palace began in the time of the Ming Dynasty. The MIng Emperor Taizu had a few sons, and one of his sons named "Yongle" was a General that was based and commanded the empires army out of the city in Bei ping (also known now as Beijing). As the Ming emperor got older and was ready to pass on the Empire he had two choices, it was between Yongle and his eldest grandson Jiang Wen who was only 15 years old at the time. Not in Yongle's favor, Emperor Taizu selected Jiang Wen as the new Emperor. in 1398 the Emperor Taizu died and then Jiang Wen took over as new Emperor, Yongle was infuriated and became even more angry to see that the empire was changing to a society of scholars and education. True to his military background, Yongle felt that if the empire were to continue in that direction, the enemy Mongols could and would easily take over China.

In 1402, Yongle decided to enter into Nan jing to take over the capital. In doing so emperor Jiang Wen fled, disguised as a Buddhist monk, never to be seen again. Overtime Yongle did not feel comfortable in the city becuase Nan jing was still the city of Jiang Wen. Yongle decided the best way to establish his authority and legitimize his claim to the throne was to move the capital. He decided to move it North to the military capital of Bei ping (Beijing), so that he could strengthen the region closest to the Mongol enemies.

The most difficult aspect of establishing his authority as emperor was that he had to prove that he had the Mandate of Heaven on his side. Yongle believed that by constructing a massive palace and utilizing celestial symbols and orientation, the people would understand that he was the representative of Heaven. Yongle sought to make people forget that he had not been chosen originally to be the emperor and that he had usurped the throne through treachery. His opponents had been eradicated, the capital moved, then all that remained was the construction of his epic abode.

Construction

In 1405, plans were created for the construction of the palace. Eunuchs were ordered to measure every aspect of the old palace in Nan jing. Each and every staircase, building, plaza, and beam was measured in the effort to ensure that Yongle's palace in Beijing would be larger in every way. It was imperative that the new emperor's city dwarf that of Nan jing because its size would represent the authority and power of its owner.

Over 1 million people were sent all over China to gather materials, the conditions that these people faced were harsh and many of them did not make it out alive. In addition the people were unpaid and beat by soldiers. These individuals built approximately 900-1000 structures, using hundreds of thousands of bricks. A legend about the Forbidden City is that there are 9,999 rooms contained within the complex. This is merely a legend because this number is used more as a symbol of luck and prosperity. The number 9 is the closest number to perfection, which is 10. To associate Yongle and the subsequent emperors with the closest number to perfection, it helps establish their authority. The Chinese word for the number 9 is also a homonym for the word for luck. Obviously the emperor of China would want to be associated in any way with good fortune, so the legend of the 9,999 rooms was perpetuated.

The wood that was used came from the Southwest part of China. 380,000 large, identical, pillars were cut and transported the 1,100 miles along the Grand Canal to Beijing. The Grand Canal is a man made waterway that connects the capital of Beijing to important rivers. In order to transport the timbers from the Southwest the Grand Canal had to be re-dredged and widened. 300,000 workers were used in this process and between the logging of the timber pillars and the dredging of the Grand Canal approximately half of the workers perished.

Another important aspect of the Forbidden City was the ceramic tiles that covered the 180 acres of floors and plazas within the walls of the complex. The stones that were used came from the North from a factory that has not changed its method of production in over 600 years. Not only have they managed to maintain the traditional method of production, but they also have not ceased production of the same exact style, quality, and size of floor tiles in that same span of time.

Once the floor tiles were transported to Beijing, they were placed in many layers to prevent potential invaders from being able to tunnel into the Forbidden City. The many layers created a thick protection from beneath, but it was the formidable wall surrounding the complex that created the most imposing view. Over thirty feet tall and twenty feet thick, the walls were constructed using the rammed earth method, similar to the Great Wall, and were faced with bricks to make them last longer against erosion. The rammed earth method was characterized by the dense packing of earth in layers coupled with the mixture of components such as pig's blood to create a sort of cement. The outer layer of bricks was then added in order to make the walls an impenetrable barrier that could withstand cannon fire. Yongle sought to make physical representation of his eternal status as Emperor of China according to the Mandate of Heaven, so no expense was spared. The protective elements of the Forbidden City, the thick flooring, the towering walls, and even the 150-foot wide moat that surrounded it, were all functional symbols of his dominance and authority.

Design

Having spent so much time and energy on getting the highest quality materials to the build site, Yongle made sure that those materials were utilized in the best ways to symbolize his authority. Symbolism in the architecture is found throughout the complex in both color and form.

Colors

The use of the color red on walls and pillars represented good fortune and fire in Chinese culture. The use of the color black counteracted the red in that it represented water and would protect the wooden structures from destructive fire. The color yellow was probably the most important color used in the complex, covering every roof tile and every item associated with the emperor. Yellow represented power and was the only color that they emperor wore, and therefore represented him and his power over his fellow Chinese.

Animals

The use of animal figurines and statues throughout the complex also represented intense symbolism. Lions guard the entrances to most buildings and main gates, depicting the power that the emperor had over not only his people, but over the world. Dragons adorned the throne and chambers of the emperor and were representative of his mystical power and authority. Cranes flanked both sides of the emperor's throne and are found in other locations to symbolize longevity, with the hope of course that both the life and reign of the emperor would last the test of time. On the corners of each building's roof small figures of mythical animals were lined up in specific order to repel the bad fortune and evil spirits that may affect the emperor or adversely impact the residents and events of the Forbidden City.

Celestial Connection

Since Yongle sought to remind everyone of his connection to Heaven and his claim to the Mandate of Heaven, he sought to utilize whatever physical representation possible to depict and imply that connection. When the blueprints for the Forbidden City were designed, the architects aligned the center of the complex with the Pole Star or North Star. The Chinese associated the Pole Star with the constant, unchanging nature of Heaven because it remained fixed while all other stars rotated around it. By basing his palace on this point, Yongle connected himself with that point in the sky and his Chinese subjects would have also made this association. Everything that Yongle did in the construction and design of the Forbidden City was with the purpose of reiterating his authority and status as emperor, but especially to make it eternal.

Palace Life

The Forbidden City was home to the emperor and his court, but because of the private and secretive nature of the palace, there was little known about the day to day interactions within the walls. Half of the complex was dedicated to the treatment of foreign officials and governmental matters, while the other half was the residence of the emperor and his court and the most secretive sector of the complex where no one was allowed to enter.

Eunuchs

The people that were charged with the daily functions of the palace were the thousands of eunuchs that had dedicated their lives to the service of the emperor. These men were castrated volunteer servants that were responsible for the organization of life inside that palace walls. Their main responsibilities were to operate the Imperial workshops which included all of the mundane functions of life, but certain preferred eunuchs were responsible for tending to thousands of the emperor's concubines.

Under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs were more free to become educated and were able to work their way into the governmental bureaucracy and politics. In some instances they were the first level of governmental authority that dignitaries had to meet before being granted access to the emperor. The eunuchs became very accustomed to this high status and honor and it came as a shock when this was all revoked upon the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in the Forbidden City. The Qing emperors sought to reestablish the former role of the eunuchs in the palace and assigned them to simple and menial jobs in order to separate them from the political aspect of life in the palace. To be a eunuch was an honor and the men that were selected for that responsibility lived very privileged lives compared to the Chinese subjects outside the Forbidden City.

Concubines

During the construction of the Forbidden City, in 1408, Yongle sent eunuchs to Korea to find beautiful young virgins to bring to the Forbidden City to serve as his concubines. The eunuchs were very thorough in their search and scoured each and every Korean village for adequate women. The eunuchs inspected the hands, teeth, body odor, sleep habits, bodily functions, foot size, etc. to assure the highest quality tributes for the court of the emperor. Of the 300 young girls that were originally found, only five were selected to be concubines. Eventually the court would contain thousands of girls from all over the Chinese Empire.

A Ritual Calendar was maintained for the purpose of assigning the correct concubine for intercourse each night. Since the Chinese had such a focus on the power of celestial influence on good fortune and the purpose of the concubines was to conceive the next heir to the throne, each concubine had astrological and zodiac ties and order was maintained to prevent incongruities of the heavens. Each night the correct concubine was selected and taken to the emperor's quarters for intercourse. If a child was conceived, the concubine and her corresponding eunuchs were granted lives of status and leisure.

There was no limit to the number of concubines that an emperor could have and it was common for them to number well into the thousands. Many concubines never actually had the opportunity to see the emperor, let alone have the opportunity to conceive the next national leader. Concubines were mainly seen as a symbol of the emperor's wealth and authority. When each emperor died, his chosen concubines were moved from the main dwellings of the Forbidden City and were moved to those in the Garden of Forgotten Favorites where they would live out the rest of their lives in peaceful isolation.

There were instances where the eunuchs and the concubines formed sexual relationships. Even though the eunuchs were castrated men, they spent a lot of their time tending to the needs of the concubines and many formed forbidden intimate relationships. The concubines that never had access to intimacy with the emperor sought to satisfy their more carnal needs with the only other men in the Forbidden City even though the castrated status of the eunuchs made actual intercourse impossible. When Yongle found out about such relationships during his reign, he felt that this dissidence threatened his authority and had approximately 2,800 eunuchs and concubines ritually killed. The event brought about bad fortune for the emperor and his court and the implications plagued Yongle for the remainder of his life.

Fortress and Prison

Although the residents of the Forbidden City lived lives of luxury and decadence, protected within the fortress-like environment, they were also restricted to that same area. The very walls that protected them from enemies and kept their royal lives private from the outside subjects, also retained them as prisoners of their position and status.

The Book of Ancestral Instruction was the official text of laws that dictated the conduct and procedures to which the palace residents had to adhere. The bureaucracy of procedures in the Forbidden City was somewhat of an obsession for the emperors of China. The rules dictated what actions and events were scheduled and when. If a concubine wanted new jewelry or a new robe she had to request it from her attending eunuch who would then bring it to the attention of his presiding eunuch. The request was then verified with the concubine to ensure that it was not simply something that her attending eunuch was attempting to acquire for himself. The emperors wanted the bureaucracy because it reiterated their authority over every aspect of Chinese life no matter the status or position of the individual.

Decline of the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City remained essentially enclosed and unchanged in major ways from 1420 when construction was completed, until the early 1900s when the Chinese Empire began to open its doors to the outsiders. The culture that most actively sought connections for trade and commerce with the Chinese was the British Empire, who were known to the Chinese as "Western Barbarians." The conflicts that arose between these two empires such as the Opium Wars, and the intense nature of commerce with the British East India Company, lead the two nations to have tumultuous interactions. The Boxer Rebellion was the final straw for the weakened Imperial power. The last Emperor was evicted from the Forbidden City in 1925 and finally common people were allowed to enter and witness what was held inside.

Modernity

Even though the Forbidden City lost much of the mystical secrecy it had prior to the eviction of the emperors, it is still a large part of the national cultural consciousness. The architectural grandeur of the palace represents the historical greatness of the Chinese past and as a result symbolizes the modern potential of Chinese people. The tradition of growth and magnitude of construction is displayed in modern Beijing as the city moves toward a vertical skyline with the recent addition of hundreds of skyscrapers. These symbols of progress, power, and economic stability serve the same purpose as the Forbidden City in antiquity.

The palace complex was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 granting it protection for future generations to admire. The Forbidden City has been turned into the Palace Museum where they house approximately 100,000 priceless treasures of Chinese artifacts from different periods of history. It has also become a favorite location for tourists to visit, hosting about 10,000,000 visitors from around the world every year.

The Forbidden City will always be held in high regard for its architectural and cultural qualities and it represents a turning points in Chinese history from the Nan jing era to the fall of the emperors. The mystical aspects of the palace have long since been revealed, but the Forbidden City still calls to those who wish to enter a world once secluded from the public.

Media for classroom use

Media:The Forbidden City.pptx

Sources

http://www.kinabaloo.com/fcb.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PqtOo-K-yM

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/forbidden/stone_carve.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgm2JcgGVs4