This article is from WeChat official account:Authentic style (ID: dialaofengwu), author: Qingping, photo editing: DCzhang, map editing: F50BB, title figure from: vision China
Why is the 600-year-old Forbidden City the “gilt collection” of the Chinese?
The Broken Hong Bridge outside of the Gate of Supreme Harmony leads to the winding Jinshui River in the Forbidden City. This may be the earliest building in the Forbidden City, and the somewhat amusing stone lion on the bridge is one of the newcomers of the Forbidden City. Its eyes may have traveled through 600 years to reach that famous historical moment:
In 1403, Zhu Di became emperor after the “Battle of Jingnan” and changed his reign to Yongle. In the 4th year of Yongle(1406), Zhu Di moved his capital to Beijing under the edict. A huge project kicked off.
▲ The red stone lion on the Broken Hong Bridge. Photography/Liu Shun’er Niu
This is the construction of the Forbidden City. From the beginning of material preparation to the fifteenth year of Yongle’s (1417) large-scale construction began, thisThe preliminary preparations for the project took nearly ten years. In the eighteenth year of Yongle(1420) At the end of December, the Forbidden City was completed. The following year, Zhu Di officially moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing , The political center moved north.
This incident has affected China’s political landscape for hundreds of years. A few hundred years later, the Forbidden City has become the world’s Forbidden City and the pride of China.
▲ The central axis of Beijing. Photography/Ma Wenxiao
1. How was the Forbidden City built in 600 years?
The building of the Forbidden City itself is the history of the Forbidden City.
On the architectural pattern, the layout plan of the Forbidden City can be traced back to the design regulations of the capital city similar to “Zhou Li·Kaogong Ji”: the front is the front and the back is the bed. The southern half is the former dynasty, and the northern half is the back bed, Taimiao(now Beijing People’s Labor and Culture Palace) and Sheji Temple(now Zhongshan Park) is separated from each other. The planning of the Meridian Gate and other buildings has inherited the “Three Dynasties and Five Gates” form restored in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The central axis, a grand layout that shows the magnificence of Beijing, is the foundation laid by the palace ruins in the Yuan Dynasty.