The Forbidden City of China: Here’s what you need to know  

All of us, at some point or the other have been forbidden from doing something. Especially, as young adults, you might be familiar with your parents stopping you from talking to strangers or not accepting food from an unreliable source. It’s more common than we think, isn’t it? Now, imagine a forbidden place. It’s hard, isn’t it? But guess what, it did exist in China more than hundreds of years ago and it was called the Forbidden City. This city, that is now open to visitors, was prohibited to outsiders. Are you intrigued to know what the big secret was all about? Without much ado, let’s dive right into it. 

Origin of the Forbidden City 
Turns out, the Forbidden City was built in between 1406 and 1420 on the orders of Ming Emperor Yongle, and stood in the middle of modern-day Beijing. It was designed by famous Chinese architect Kuai Xiang. The city was home to the Chinese imperial palace for more than 500 years. In fact, it acted as the centre of the Chinese monarchy where the famous Ming and Qing dynasties were based, and as many as 24 different rulers lived and ruled from the Forbidden City. Oh, and before we forget, guess why Emperor Yongle built this walled city? Because he had seized the throne from the rightful heir (his nephew) and wanted to protect his imperial power. Okay, the Forbidden City retained its glory until 1924, when China’s very last emperor Puyi resigned from his throne. 

Since then, it has not only been open to public but also lost its position as the political hub of China. However, it is now home to the famous Palace Museum that exhibits more than a million Chinese artifacts from the bygone era. Interestingly, the Forbidden City was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and still continues to be one of the largest wooden infrastructures in the world. But now, it is regarded as the ‘Former Palace’ in China.  

Why was it called the Forbidden City? 
By now, you must have wondered how the Forbidden City got its name. Well, it turns out, the name “Forbidden City” has been derived from the Chinese phrase “Zijin Cheng” meaning “Purple Forbidden City.” Okay, so why purple? Well, it refers to the North Star, which as per the Chinese astrology, was home to the ‘Celestial Emperor.’ Can you guess the implications? Yes, that’s right, Forbidden City was the earthly equivalent of the North Star and was thus home to the Chinese emperor or the ‘son of heaven.’  

And as you can understand, the city where the imperial palace was situated and the emperor lived was off limits for the common people. In fact, the Forbidden City was almost like a fortress made up of almost 1000 buildings and spread across an area of 8 million square feet. It was divided into three sectors, the Defenses (moat and wall), the Outer Court (used for ceremonies) and the Inner Court (used as a palace, or the residence of the emperor and his family) and was enclosed on all sides by a 26 feet high wall. In fact, to make matters more secure, there was a moat that was more than 170 feet wide and over 20 feet deep. Also, if you look closely at the picture of the Forbidden City, you would find that the roofs were covered in yellow tiles and the rest were in red. Do you know what these colours indicated? The yellow symbolized the supreme power of the emperor, while the red stood for good fortune. No wonder, people were “forbidden” from entering this city. After all, who would want to share their power or fortune with the rest of the world?