On our way to the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), Beijing.

We saw the Bell Tower (red building) & the Drum Tower (smaller brown building).

The Bell & Drum were originally used as Musical Instruments in China. Then they were used for telling time. As early as the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220), there was a “Morning Bell” & a “Dusk Drum”. Telling the time by Bell & Drum played an important role in helping people live & work regularly when there was no other means to keep track of the time. As a result, Bell & Drum Towers became public architectures, & were widely constructed in almost every City throughout the Country since the Han Dynasty. In the history of their construction, the Bell & Drum Towers of Beijing are the Largest & Highest. Their layout is Unique, in that they were placed fore-&-aft, not as the traditional sense of standing right-&-left horizontally. 

Interesting sight – we saw an army of Guards marching along the road while we were walking to the Forbidden CIty (Palace Museum) after we got off from Sifu’s car.

We could see the Rooftop of the Forbidden City as we walked further on & Hey, aren’t those Electric Tram wires & an Electric Tram approaching?! Dear & I shouted at each other when we saw them ahead of us!

Yes, indeed they were!! We told each other excitedly when we confirmed what we saw! We knew of the Electric Trams in Melbourne very well, & the Trams in Hong Kong, but we’d never known that Beijing also has them! What a pleasant Surprise!!

Crossing the wide road now walking towards the Palace Museum (Forbidden City).

We could now see the Forbidden City (Palace Museum)! We stopped for some photos – Dear with the grand gigantic Forbidden City behind him.

In 1924, the Imperial Family of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1840) was removed from the Forbidden City, & in 1925, the Palace Museum was established on the same site. Thus Forbidden City is also known as the Palace Museum.

The Palace Museum is a real Treasures House of Chinese Cultural & Historical relics, recognized as one of the most imporrant five Palaces in the World (the other 4 being the Palace of Versailles in France, the Buckingham Palace in UK, the White House in US, & the Kremlin in Russia).

In 1961, the Palace Museum was listed as one of the Important Historial Monuments under special preservation by the Chinese Central Government. And in 1987, the Palace Museum was nominated as the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.

Located in the Centre of Beijing, the Forbidden City used to be the Imperial Palace & home to 24 Emperors of the Ming & Qing Dynasties. The construction of the Grand Palace started in the 4th year of Emperor Yongle, the 3rd Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1406, & ended in 1420, thus making it nearly 600 years old today! The last Emperor Puyi, continued to live in the Palace after his abdiction until he was expelled in 1924.

In the Ancient time, the Emperor claimed to be the Son of the Heaven & therefore their supreme power was conferred upon them from the Heaven. Their residence on the Earth was thus built as a replica of the Purple Palace where the God lived in the Heaven. Such divine place was certainly forbidden for the ordinary people & it’s why the Forbidden City (also called “Purple Forbidden Palace”, or “Zi Jin Chen” or “Gugong” in chinese) is so called; the ordinary folks in the Ancient time would be punished by Death if they found their way into the Palace uninvited.

To represent the supreme power of the Emperor from the God & the place where he lived being in the Centre of the World, the Forbidden City is symmetrical in layout & the Main Halls & Gates lie on a North-South axis which runs all the way (at a length of some 8 km) across Beijing – to Yongdingmen in the South, & Zhonggulou (Bell & Drum Towers) in the North.

Rectangular in shape & consisting of 90 Palaces & Courtyards, 980 Buildings & 8704 Rooms, the Forbidden City is the World’s largest palace complex. 960 metres from North to South, & 750 metres from East to West, it covers 720000 square metres. It’s surrounded by a 6 metre deep. 52 metre wide moat.

Inside the moat, the outer wall is 10 metres high & 3400 metres long. The walls are very thick (8.6 metres wide at the bottom & 6.7 metres wide at the top) & were specially designed to withstand attackes by cannons. The bricks (estimated at 1.2 million) of the wall are said to be made partly from white lime & glutionous rice & egg whites, cos these incredible materials were said to make the wall extraordinary strong!!

We arrived at the Gate of Divine Prowess (“ShenWu Men” in Chinese), North of the Forbidden City (Palace Museum). 

Dear standing facing the Forbidden City (Palace Museum) & behind him is the Jingshan Park (“Jingshan Gongyuan” in Chinese), which is directly North of the Forbidden City. Formerly known as Coal Hill, it’s here that the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen is believed to have died. As enemy troops stormed the Palace, Emperor Chongzhen fled through a back exit & hung himself from a tree in Jingshan Park.

Walking towards the Gate of Divine Prowess (“ShenWu Men”) of the Forbidden CIty (Palace Museum).

Waiting for our tour guide Wang Jing to purchase our Forbidden City (Palace Musuem) Entrance tickets.

We saw this below Notice at the Ticketing Booth – haha, it’s already May 2008 now yet the renovation’s not completed!!

Wang Jing bought our Entrance Tickets & gave us the following Guide Map of the Palace Museum (Forbidden City).

I’ve enclosed another clearer Map of the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) below - hope it helps!

(P/S : You may enlarge the map to view it better by clicking on it :)) )

Now entering the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) via the Gate of Divine Prowess (“ShenWu Men”). Look at the tall gigantic grand beautiful red Gate with Golden knops!

Inside the Forbidden City (Palace Museum) :

Wow, look at the high gigantic red Walls!

While walking, I looked back & took this above photo of the Gate of Divine Prowess (“ShenWu Men”) where we just entered from.

Rows of Seats under beautiful shady willow trees by the side of the high red walls – what a nice relaxing place!

The Forbidden City is divided into 2 parts; the Southern section which is the “Outer Court” consisting of large structures & enormous spaces & 5 Halls used for Ceremonial purposes & other Official business, & the Northern section “the Inner Court” where the Emperor worked & lived with his Family, Eunuchs & Maid-servants.

The 1st part of the Inner Court is a series of 3 Halls that are a smaller mirror of the main 3 in the Outer Court, & then a grander version of the ancient Hutong style of Alleys & Courtyards (as seen below) that serve as Living Quarters. And between the Outer & Inner Courts, & between the Courtyards of the Inner Court, are many high-walled alleys, some of which are very long like a maze! 

We entered through a doorway. 

And soon came to the Mourning chamber of Concubine Zhen.

Zhen Concubine means Brilliant Concubine, cos she was very talented & intelligient & she was Emperor Guangxu’s most favoured lady. Concubine Zhen encouraged the Emperor to endorse Political Reform to strengthen his country. Unfortunately, the Reform was later suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi cos it contradicted with her interests, who constantly prosecuted Concubine Zhen & had her imprisoned. In 1990, after the Eight Foreign Allies invaded Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi, before fleeing the Capital, ordered the Enunchs to thrown the Concubine in the Well. The Well (as shown below) was thus given the Name of The Well of Concubine Zhen

Wang Jing standing infront of the Mourning Chamber of Concubine Zhen explaining to us its existence.

Peeping into the Mourning Chamber of Concubine Zhen, I took photographes of the Portrait of the very young beautiful talented Concubine Zhen.

We walked on after visiting the Mourning Chamber of Concubine Zhen.

The Palace Museum (Forbidden City) is China’s Largest Museum. It houses a collection of 1 million valuable art works, most of which were in the possession of the Imperial Families of the Ming & Qing Dynasties. These art treasures include Paintings, Calligraphies, Potteries, Bronze Wares & Lacquer Enamel Wares. There’re also Court Articles made of Gold & Silver, Jewels, Accessories, Clocks, Medicines, Textiles & Embroideries, Furnitures & Furnishings. These represent an important original resource for the study of the past 500 years of china’s glorious history!

Note : the Relics displayed at the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) Exhibition Hall are only part of the original Imperial collections & another part was removed to Taiwan during the Civil Wa & is now on display at the Taibei Forbidden City Museum. 

We entered into the Hall of Well-Nourished Harmony (“Yi He Xuan” in Chinese) where exhibitions of the Palace Treasures of the Qing Dynasty are displayed. Some of these treasures were tributes from Magistrates during Festivals or Celebrations. Most of them were made of valuable materials such as Gold, Silver, Jade, Pearl & other Precious stones.

Next we saw the Exhibitions of the Cultural Relics of Buddhism. The Imperial Family of the Qing Dynasty believed in Buddhism, Taoism & Samanism, especially in the Lamaism of Tibetan Buddhism, & there were 35 Halls for Worshipping Buddhism in the Forbidden City.

We also saw Pavilions, Pagodas & Towers made of Gold & Jade, which were gifts for the Emperor’s Concubines.

Below is the Gold Stupa (weighing more than 100kg) used to collect the fallen hair of Emperor Qianlong’s Mother.

We left the Hall of Well-Nourished Harmony (or Hall of Harmony or “Yi He Xuan” in Chinese) & walked to the nearby Hall of Joyful Longevity (“Leshou Tang” in Chinese).

Inside the Hall of Joyful Longevity (“Leshou Tang” in Chinese) :

Inside the Hall of Joyful Longevity (Leshou Tang) we saw a huge Jade Mountain sculpture. This Jade Mountain features the Legend of Da Yu chanelling off flood waters & building water-control works. (An example of Da Yu’s water-control art work is the Bronze Ox (Tongniu) in the Summer Palace, Beijing.) Work on this Jade Mountain began in 1781 (46th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign) & was completed 6 years later. It was then placed in the Hall of Joyful Longevity in the Forbidden City. Made of Jade from Mount Mileta of Xinjiang, it weighs about 5300kg.

Beautiful vase of flowers made of Cold, Jade & Pearls, as well as exquisite potted plants & flowers of Jade.

Below are 2 Ivory Husks displayed above a 216cm long & 139cm wide Ivory Mat, made of thin delicate flat Ivory Strips of each measuring only 0.2 cm in width. Dating to the reigns of Emperor Yongzheng & Emperor Qianlong, such Mats were imported from Guangdong.

Next we saw the Gray Jade Mountain; “Spring Dawn on Cinnabar Terrace”, popularly knowm as the Longevity Mountain. Made of Jade from Hetian Xinjiang, & weighing 1500kg, this sculpted stone was completed in the 10th Lunar month of 1780, 45th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, signifying Longevity.

Dear standing beside another Sculpted Jade Display.

Below is a beautiful grand Sculpted Display of Many Jade Deities & Buddhas in Heaven. Unfortunately, my photo turned out blur.

A beautifully carved Blue Jade of Paradise in Heaven!

We saw more displays of Imperial Ornaments such as the following Swords made with Jade Handles :

Below shows the Three-Panel Ruyi (Prosperity) Scepter used by the Emperors as a symbol of Power & Blessings :

An elegant Golden Globe with Pearls & Golden Dragons below :

We moved on to the next exhibition.

The Imperial Resting Quarters :

Walking to the Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union now.

We entered into the Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union (“JiaoTai Dian” in Chinese), which was 1st built in 1420, & rebuilt in 1655 & 1798. One significance of the name was the desire that the Emperor (Celestial) & the Empress (Terrestrial) have a good marriage! This Hall resembles the Hall of Central Harmony (“ZhongheDian” in Chinese, of the Outer Court) in shape & is its smaller twin. It’s the smallest of the 3 main Palaces in the Inner Court.

Usually Empresses would receive formal Birthday greetings here. Empresses would also inspect preparations before they went to preside over Memorial Ceremonies for the Silkworm God & practise sericulture. Emperor Shunzhi’s order that Eunuchs were to be banned from attending to State Affairs was made here too!

In feudal society, the regulations of ceremony & propriety were of great importance to the people’s social status & the nation’s future. Thus a lot of Palace cultural relics were made for this purpose, as can be seen in the below exhibitions.

The following are the Chime Bells & Chime Stones used for playing the Palace music Zhong He Shao Yue :

Below shows the layout of the Imperial Palace Procession :

Beautifully painted & sculpted ceilings of the Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union :

These photos show the middle of the Hall’s beautiful ceiling, wth a hanging spherical Pearl called the XuanYuan Mirror. This Pearl was supposed to be able to distinguish right from wrong, & to detect any usurper of the Imperial Power. If anyone who was not the descendant of the Emperor Huang Di (the 1st Emperor) usurped the Throne, the Pearl would drop down & strike him to death!

The Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union also holds 25 Imperial Seals symbolizing state power. Because Emperor Qianlong hoped that the Qing Dynasty would last 25 reigns to exceed the East Zhou Dynasty, the longest Dynasty in China. However, history disappointed him – the Qing Dynasty only lasted 10 reigns.

Look at the beautiful elegant RED with Gold designs Doors! I like them alot!

Poster showing the 25 Imperial Seals :

The 25 Imperial Seals (made of Jade & Gold) on display :

A very exquisite Gold Cup with Pearls & Gem stones marked with characters “Jin’ou Yonggu” (meaning Territorial Integrity) made in the Jiaqing Period (1796 – 1820), Qing Dynasty :

Many of the tea sets or dinner sets exhibited are made of materials like Gold, Silver & Jade. The Dinner sets were mostly made of Silver as it could indicate whether or not the food is poisonous; the Silver would turn black if it contains poisonous food! See the below beautiful golden religious bowl :

The following is a portable Censer with Cloud & Dragon designs made during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862 – 1874), Qing Dynasty.

Below are the Golden Pagoda & Tower-shaped Incense Burners :

Next we saw the huge Golden Ludan-shaped perfumer, also made during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862 – 1874), Qing Dynasty.

The following is an Imperil aticle made of gold :

As the Exhibition Halls were formerly the Imperial Palaces, there’re the Imperial resting quarters exhibits inside the Hall of Celestial & Terrestrial Union :