Trip to the People’s Republic of China

Day 03
The Forbidden City

As soon as we offloaded from the bus at the Forbidden City, vendors surrounded us, coaxing us to buy their postcards and hats. Eight people from our bus group bought matching red baseball caps that they sported throughout the rest of our tour. One man was followed so closely and persistently that he compared his tormenters to sand fleas. We quickly learned the term "Boo Yeow," for "No thanks" or "Buzz off".

Our guide warned us not to stop for street vendors because of possible pickpockets. However, we found out that the street vendors offered much better prices for postcards and other items than the stores.

Under the shade of trees surrounding the outer wall, a barber was giving a haircut to a man seated on a tall stool. As soon as I aimed my camera at them, the customer hid his head under the barber’s smock. Old men played high-pitched music on primitive, one-string fiddles as we followed our guide to the entrance. We were dropped off at the south end, which was used for official functions. The bus would pick us up again at the north end, which housed the emperor’s private quarters and a small imperial garden.

The Imperial Palace, now known as the Palace Museum, was called the Forbidden City because only the noble family and high officials were allowed inside. It was off limits to the common people. Additionally, a belt area of central government buildings surrounded the palace walls. Next came another belt for residences of nobles. Visitors were restricted to certain areas according to their assigned duties and status. Only the emperor could enter through the central gate and visit all parts of the palace. The central axis of the Forbidden City was considered the Median Line, the palace the center of the world, and China the Middle Kingdom.

Considering that the Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors date from about the time of Christ, the Imperial Palace is relatively young. It took 15 years to build, starting in 1406 (more than 100 years after Marco Polo’s visit in the late 1200s). It served the 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties for more than 560 years (until 1911). We were reminded that "The Last Emperor" was filmed on the palace grounds.

The original capital of China was Xi'an, but the Ming emperor moved to Beijing to make the capital closer to the frontier to defend against invading Mongols. As if to emphasize this reason, part of the Great Wall is not far outside Beijing.

Four gates led into the palace, each intended for a different level of official rank. Each gate resembles the entrance to a bank vault, with thick walls, a foot-high threshold, and heavy brass studs on the doors.

Dual marble staircases lead up to the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Tai He Dian), Hall of Medium Harmony (Zhong He Dian), and the Hall of Protective Harmony (Bao He Dian). Giant, carved, solid slabs of marble separate the sets of stairs. Carved pillars along the balustrades look like stalagmites.

Imperial Palace

The most important ceremonies were held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. These included the emperors’ marriages and ascension to the throne. The Hall of Medium Harmony was used to receive officials. The Hall of Protective Harmony was used for banquets and interviews. All of the palace buildings were constructed of wood. Since this represented a fire hazard, large bronze pots for water were spaced at regular intervals around the courtyards.

Crowds of tourists jammed the barricades at the top of the stairs, craning for a good look or camera angle inside the rooms. Throughout the Imperial Palace, the artwork was very intricate and complex. The ceiling beams had brightly painted, elaborate patterns, much like tapestry. The closest comparison that I can make is to the Italian and Spanish ceilings in Casa del Sol at the New World palace of William Randolph Hearst in San Simeon, California.

The roofs are of yellow glazed tiles and sport little figurines along the eaves. The color yellow represented the earth, one of the five basic elements of the universe. Yellow was also the imperial color, reserved for the emperors, who were regarded as the supreme rulers of humanity.

Lion in Front of Gate of Mental Cultivation

The 720,000-square-meter city-within-a-city is the largest palatial complex in the world. The palace has 9,999 rooms, and nails on every door are arranged in lines of nine nails. Nine was regarded as the biggest number, to which only emperors were entitled. Also, the numeral has the same sound as "everlasting" in the Chinese language–what the emperors desired for their rule. Because the emperor wanted to prevent assassins from tunneling under the walls, bricks were laid 15 layers thick in alternating directions under the entire complex.

Likewise, no trees were allowed in the public areas of the palace, so assassins would not have a place to hide. The only trees were in the private quarters. When we were there, the trees were barren. With their black, twisted branches, they looked like something from a Halloween movie. The imperial garden also features large blocks of limestone, dredged from the bottom of Lake Kunming, a manmade lake at the Summer Palace. The limestone blocks were displayed at the center of plantings as if they were sculpture.

The private quarters for sleeping were actually quite small and unimpressive. The windows were also very dirty and hard to see through.

Join us for part two of this Chinese saga in our next issue.