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Published: December 18th 2011
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Forbidden City
The Forbidden City covers a huge expanse with buildings far in the distance along the hills. Today Roger took us to the Forbidden City in Beijing, which served as the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. Built in only 14 years (1406-1420), the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 7,800,000 sq ft, making it the world's largest palace complex. There are over 9000 rooms throughout the complex, so if the emperor lived in 1 room each day it would take him almost 25 years to live in each room!
Luckily for me, we had a tour guide who spoke English and took Liang, Roger and I on a 2 1/2 hour tour of the City. We first toured the outer areas (where official business was conducted), then toured the inner areas (where the imperial households lived), and lastly we visited the treasure rooms. The design of the Forbidden City was planned down to the last detail- every hallway, courtyard and door has meaning behind it.
Outside the entrance of many buildings are a pair of male and female lions. The male
Amy in front of one Palace
There are 17 palaces in the Forbidden city. This was one of the first ones we visited. has a globe under one paw, symbolizing his control over Earth; the female has her cub under one paw, symbolizing her control over the Future. This prompted me to tell our guide that then, in essence, woman has control over Earth as well! The lion pair in the outer areas has their ears erect, the pair in the inner areas has their ears folded, a sign of respect for the Emperor.
Nine is a lucky number in Chinese culture and is used extensively throughout the design of the complex. Often there are nine archways leading into a building, nine dragons on a sculpure, and nine rows of nine brass knobs on doors. Walking by these brass studs and touching them was a past time of imperial women, to ensure that they would soon bear a male child.
Dragons (often nine of them) are a prominent figure in Chinese culture, symbolising
yang and complementing the Phoenix or
yin. Nearly 1500 dragon heads act as a drain for rainwater throughout the city complex. When it would rain, these dragons would spout water from their mouths, turning the entire city into a fountain!
The emperor generally had only one to
Roof Design
No nails were used in the construction of these buildings. Instead a "peg and hole" design is used to secure pieces together. Even the shingles are secured only by the placement of animal "nails" in the corners to keep them from sliding off. a few wives, but many concubines. These concubines were brought in from across China and went through a detailed selection process. They had to be perfect in every way, physically, verbally and in their mannerisms. After all, the could bear the emperors successor! From a beginning pool of 5000 women, only 50 would be chosen to become imperial concubines. This selection process happened about every three years, so some never even met the emperor.
The high ranking men had games to entertain themselves. High ranking officials would play a drinking game where water was let into channels and a cup of wine was floated in the water. The official near which the cup stopped moving had to drink the cup of wine.
Visiting the Forbidden City was much like visiting Windsor Castle for me. So many interesting people had lived within the walls, and to experience this even for a day leaves a lasting impression and many memories. I learned a great deal on this trip and find the city fascinating. These are only a few of the photos we took through the day (on three cameras we have over 400!) and I hope to share more of
Male & Female Lions
These Chinese lions often guard the entrances to buildings (and Chinese restaurants in America!). them in the future!
We finished out the evening with another "family style" meal, this time including Liang's parents and sister. I tried several new dishes today, including a "corn juice" drink, which was like a warm corn chowder soup, served as a beverage. Quite tasty but reminded me more of a soup than a beverage. I also had a dish that was purported to be Chairman Mao's favorite meat dish. It was incredibly tender pork but had a great deal of fat on it...probably why it was so tender!
Tomorrow: The Great Wall!
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