| The Imperial Palace |
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¡¡¡¡The Imperial Palace, also known as the Forbidden
City, was the imperial palace of emperors in the Ming
and Qing Dynasties. It is located at the centre of beijing.
The construction began in the 4th year of the reign of
Yongle Emperor(1406) in the Ming Dynasty, and completed
14 years later(1420). There were 14 emperors in the Ming
Dynasty and 10 emperors in the Qing Dynasty had been enthroned
and ruled here.
The Forbidden City, rectangular in shape and 720,000
square metres in size, owns 9,999 and a half rooms,
the floor space of which is about 160,000 square metres.
The palaces are surrounded by purpligh-red walls 3,400
metres long and a moat 52 metres wide 4.1 metres deep.
At the middle of each four walls stands a gate tower;
the Meridian Gate in the south, the Godly Prowess Gate
in the north, the Donghua Gate in the east, the Xihua
Gate in the west, and at each of the four comers stands
a tower. The whole Forbidben City looks like a strongly
fortified castle.
It is composed of two parts, the outer palace where
the emperors held grand ceremonies, and discued state
affairs with high-ranking officials and the inner palace
where emperors conducted routine govemment affairs and
empresses, concubines, princes, princesses resided,
amused themselves and worshipped gods. There are 920,
000 pieces of historical relics in the Imperal Palace.
It is the largest and most complete existing ancient
wooden architectural complex both in China and in the
world. |
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