R
Asian Continent





The Forbidden City:

No longer forbidden, the fabled home of China's emperors for five centuries is now called the Palace Museum. Its grandeur somewhat diminished, this magnificent city within a city remains a testament to the splendid civilization of ancient China and a contrast to the burgeoning industrial giant around it.

By Rod Lopez-Fabrega



Once the heart of the Chinese empire, the Forbidden City, a.k.a. the Palace Museum, is still at the very center of Beijing, China's capital since the tenth century time of the Mongol Yuan rulers and today the focal point of official events when China's leaders wish to impress diplomatic visitors from younger societies. It is interesting to note that construction of the Forbidden City began in 1401 and was completed in 1421 by an estimated 200,000 workers, at which time the Imperial family moved in to its lavish and sophisticated new home some 70 years before the Americas were discovered by Europeans. Occupying 180 moat-encircled acres, it contained, according to some estimates, 9,999 rooms to house a population of 9,000 courtiers, servants and retainers.



First described for Europeans by explorer Marco Polo, the imperial palace was known as the "Great Interior" because of its massive scale. The grounds alone occupy an area of 180 acres, all surrounded by a moat and a 32-foot-high wall. Marco Polo described Kublai Khan's palace as, "the largest that was ever seen." These days, this incredible palace is the site of diplomatic functions, a stage for grand operas, a movie set for the production of historic films, a prime target for tourists and, to the dismay of traditionalists, yet another location for one more Starbucks coffee house.



In 1999, the Oakland Museum of California put together a comprehensive exhibition about the Forbidden City, and this is how their catalog describes life in this cloistered and protected aerie for the emperor of all China, a palace so rigorously controlled by formalities and courtly regulations that it became known as a prison for emperors:

"Court life was strictly organized into routines, protocols and ceremonies. The rules were elaborate. Some doorways were restricted for the use of certain ranks, and penalties for forgetting were severe. Formal ceremonies were heralded by drum rolls and music, and had required forms of dress and behavior. Every architectural feature and ornament had significance to the history and traditions of China. Everything was symbolic in nature. Imagine a closed world of brightly painted wood; stone floors covered by brilliant yellow carpets; incense burners perfuming the air; kingfisher feathers and painted scenes decorating the walls; flower arrangements adorning the rooms; and numerous courtiers, eunuchs and concubines dressed in swishing silks and heavy embroideries. All had their part to play in this hidden city of power and intrigue."



Today, hordes of tourists entering from the Meridian Gate at the southern end of the complex, first cross the vast courtyard leading to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, known in the time of Marco Polo as the Chamber of Great Light. This is the first and largest of a series of throne rooms, a great space used for coronations and major celebrations commemorating the new year and the emperor's birthday. The building sits on a surrounding marble terrace and is approached by a parallel pair of marble steps seen prominently in the film, "The Last Emperor" when China's last royal ruler P'u-yi, then a four-year-old child, first reviews the imperial troops lined up in the great courtyard..

A spectacular series of throne rooms follow in succeeding buildings as visitors travel along the central axis from south to north through the complex. These are: the Hall of Central Harmony, a sort of ancient "green room" where the emperor rested and waited before moving to receive dignitaries and for important ceremonies. Behind that comparatively small building with its peaked red tile roof is the Hall of Protective Harmony and its dazzling throne. In this space, the emperor gave banquets and received those who had passed rigorous exams to enter into his service. Beyond that is the Palace of Celestial Purity, the emperor's "office" where he dealt with daily issues, followed by the Hall of Vigorous Fertility, despite its suggestive title, actually nothing more than the repository of the seals of previous emperors, and the Palace of Earthy Tranquility, the residence of the empress, containing her bed chamber and serving as the bridal chamber at the time of the wedding of the emperor and empress.




East and west of the central axis are other palaces, including the private quarters of the emperor. One of these is now the Palace Museum, filled with exquisitely crafted paraphernalia that once surrounded the royals. Surprisingly, the actual inside quarters are quite modest, perhaps reflecting the circumstances of the last days of the last emperor P'u-yi before he was jailed by the communist government that ended his rule.



Interestingly, the huge bulk of the objets d'art that once filled the Forbidden City are not there. In fact, they are in Taipei in the "runaway province," as mainlanders prefer to call the Island of Taiwan, spirited away for "safe keeping" by Chiang Kai-shek during the revolution in the late 1920's. It is a truly magnificent collection of some 650,000 objects now housed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. It is worth a special trip to Taiwan just to visit this stunning repository of Chinese art--arguably the most complete in the world--much of it removed from the Forbidden City. The artifacts shown in the illustration are from that collection.



The imperial gardens are a comparatively small area at the northern end of the complex. They are the shady, cool gardens where the emperor, otherwise very nearly captive inside the Forbidden City, was able to enjoy a touch of nature, though a nature continually fussed over by squads of gardeners. Huge, interestingly formed volcanic boulders were brought from the edges of the empire along with rare plants and birds of exotic plumage. Today, it remains a quiet and refreshing place to get away from the crowds. Inevitably, there is a small museum shop with high-end crafts for sale.




Exiting the Forbidden City by the Gate of Divine Prowess at the northern end of the complex takes visitors across a busy and crowded public street to paths leading up to an artificial hill referred to by Marco Polo in his accounts as the Green Hill. The hill, looking down on a smoggy Beijing and the Forbidden City, is almost one mile in circumference and was constructed from earth removed to form a lake for the use of royals that lies outside the complex as well as soil taken in digging the moat that surrounds the imperial city. Once, pathways up the hill were lined with lapis lazuli to compliment the green landscaping ordered by the emperor. It is said that the hill was constructed to shield emperor Kublai Khan from the "unpropitious influences of the cold and gloomy north." These days, the hill and the elegant little pavilion that tops it are generally crowded with average Beijing citizens taking a break and having a leisurely smoke. Still, one can fantasize that the pavilion might have been the one British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge immortalized in his poem Kublai Khan:

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man...





© 2003 ROMAR TRAVEL GUIDES