What is the Forbidden City in Beijing like?

The roof of the Forbidden City in Beijing is covered with glazed tiles of various colors. The main temple is mainly yellow. The buildings in the prince's residential area use green. Other colorful stained glass, such as blue, purple, black, emerald, malachite green, sapphire blue, etc., are mostly used in gardens or glass walls. There are glazed kissing animals at both ends of the main ridge on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the swallowing ridge is steady and powerful. Kissing animals have beautiful shapes, which are both components and decorations.

Some ceramic tiles create three-dimensional animal images such as dragons and phoenixes, lions and seahorses, symbolizing auspiciousness and majesty. These components play a decorative role in the building. The construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing began in the fourth year of Yongle, the Ming emperor, and was based on the Forbidden City in Nanjing, and was completed in the eighteenth year of Yongle. It is a rectangular city with a length of 96 1 m from north to south and a width of 753 m from east to west. Surrounded by a wall with a height of 10 meter, there is a moat with a width of 52 meters outside the city.

Extended data

Introduction to the Forbidden City in Beijing: Yikun Palace is one of the six palaces in the Imperial Palace. The concubines of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived here, and Cixi lived here when she was an imperial concubine. Later, when Cixi lived in Palace of Gathered Elegance, she accepted concubines' offerings here every festival.

Baohe Hall is one of the three halls in the Forbidden City, where court examinations and grand banquets are held. Gan Qing Gate is the main palace gate of the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City, and it is an important channel connecting the Imperial Palace with the foreign court. In the Qing Dynasty, ceremonies such as "obeying the government", fasting and seeking treasure were held at Gan Qing Gate.

The Daqingmen in front of Tiananmen Square was built with great momentum because the main enemy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties came from the south. During the Republic of China, it was renamed Zhonghua Gate, but unfortunately, it was demolished during the expansion of Tiananmen Square in the 1950s. The meridian gate is the main entrance of the Forbidden City. Only the emperor went in and out of the main entrance, the minister of civil and military affairs went in and out of the left door, and the royal family went in and out of the right door.

Reference source Baidu Encyclopedia-Beijing Forbidden City