,Unit 11 The Forbidden City: Glorious and Awe-inspiring,Lead-in,Text study,Exercises,Content,Lead-in,Click the picture to watch a video clip about architectural features of the Forbidden City.,Introduction,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The Colors of the Forbidden City,Text study,Introduction,The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, where 24 emperors ruled China from the 15th century to the early 20th century.,It is located in the centre of Beijing, China, and renamed as the Palace Museum after the revolution of 1911.,Additional Info,Introduction,俯视紫禁城 A birds-eye view of the Forbidden City,Introduction,Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 square meters.,It is the most splendid palace complex in Beijing and one of the best preserved of its kind in the world.,Additional Info,Introduction,Its awe-inspiring architecture and huge variety of collections stand as living evidence to the rich historical essence of China.,The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.,Additional Info,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,Emperor Yongle decided to make Beijing his capital.,He also decided to follow the design of the central axis (中轴线) of Dadu-the name for Beijing when it served as the capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368).,The Ming emperor had also commissioned a large-scale redesign of the overall structure of his new capital.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The Ming capital was built along an eight-kilometer-long axis running south to north.,Buildings and landscapes were laid out on either side of the axis.,The overall design featured symmetry (对称) between left and right, along the axis, giving the city a unique sublime (宏伟的) order.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,A birds-eye view of the central axis design,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The axis starts from the Gate of Eternal Stability (永定门) in the south.,On the east side of the axis stands the Temple of Heaven (天坛).,On the west is the Temple for the Divine Cultivator (先农坛), the two being in approximate symmetry.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,Originally, a straight boulevard (大街) led to the grand Front Gate (前门) (marked with yellow circle in the picture).,Further north stood the China Gate (中华门), which was demolished in 1959 to make way for Tiananmen Square ) (marked with blue circle in the picture).,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The China Gate (中华门),Concealed Contours of a Dragon,正阳门夜景 Night view of the Front Gate on Tiananmen Square,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,To the east of Tiananmen is the Imperial Family Shrine (太庙), today known as the Working Peoples Cultural Palace.,To the west of Tiananmen is the Imperial State Shrine (社稷坛), which has become Sun Yat-sen Park today.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,Through the Gate of Uprightness (端门) and then the Meridian Gate (午门), the central axis passes into the Forbidden City, and extends all the way to its northern gate, Gate of Divine Might (神武门).,To the north of the Gate of Divine Might is Prospect Hill (景山), which provides a backdrop for the Forbidden City.,Gate of Divine Might (神武门),Concealed Contours of a Dragon,Further north to Prospect Hill is the Gate of Earthly Peace (地安门). From there a straight boulevard leads to the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower, which mark the northern end of the central axis of ancient Beijing.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 7.9 meters high city wall and a 6 meters deep by 52 meters wide moat (护城河).,The wall is pierced by a gate on each side.,Additional Info,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,South: the Meridian Gate (午门).,Additional Info,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,North: the Gate of Divine Might (神武门),Additional Info,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,East: East Glorious Gate (东华门) West: West Glorious Gate (西华门).,Additional Info,East Glorious Gate,West Glorious Gate,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The Forbidden City consists of the Outer Court (southern part) and the Inner Court (northern part).,The Outer Court is where the emperor ran state affairs.,The Inner Court is where the imperial family lived.,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,the Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿),the Hall of Central Harmony (中和殿),the Hall for Preserving Harmony (保和殿),The Outer Court,To the east of the three main halls is the Hall of Literary Glory (文华殿).,To the west stands the Hall of Military Eminence (武英殿).,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,the Hall of Heavenly Purity (乾清宫),the Hall of Union and Peace (交泰宫),the Hall of Earthly Tranquility (坤宁宫),The Inner Court,On either side of these halls are the Eastern Six Palaces and the Western Six Palaces, living quarters for the imperial concubines (妾).,Concealed Contours of a Dragon,The central axis that runs from the south to the north of Beijing resembles the undul