Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Construction began in 1406, the fourth year of the Yongle reign of Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di, and the palace city was completed in 1420. It stands on the central axis of the capital and is one of the 15 heritage sites on that axis. The Palace Museum was founded inside it on 10 October 1925. The palace is divided into two zones. The outer court is centered on the Halls of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preserving Harmony, and the inner court on the Palaces of Heavenly Purity and Earthly Tranquility and the Hall of Union. As a whole it is an example of an official palace and the capital's axial layout planned together.^1,2

The palace is built around the central axis. The axis runs 7.8 kilometers from the Bell and Drum Towers in the north to Yongding Gate in the south, and the Forbidden City sits on it, with Jingshan hill at the midpoint of the axis, immediately north of the palace. Tiananmen and Duanmen are the sequence of ceremonial buildings that leads into and out of the palace city. Inside, the plan is split into an outer court, with the Halls of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preserving Harmony, and an inner court, with the Palaces of Heavenly Purity and Earthly Tranquility and the Hall of Union. This division and the axial layout are the basic features of its planning.^1,2