Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China
The Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties or more commonly known as the Forbidden City is in the heart of Beijing. It is the largest and most complete imperial palace and ancient building complex in China and the world. It was constructed in 1406 and was completed 14 years later and boasting of a history of some 580 years. Twenty-four emperors from the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties lived and ruled China from there. Most of the buildings in the Forbidden City were rebuilt many times, although they maintained the original architectural style.
The Imperial Palace extends 753 meters from east to west and 961 meters from north to south which makes a rectangular shape and covers a total area of 720,000 square meters. The Forbidden City consists of several dozen compounds of varying sizes and some 9,900 bays of rooms. Most of the buildings were built with wood with roofs made with yellow glazed tiles with blue and white stone foundations which gives the buildings a solemn and brilliant look. The walls of the city were 10 meters high with a 52-meter wide moat that surrounds it. At each corner of the wall, there are three-storied towers.
The buildings inside the Forbidden City are arranged symmetrically. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony comprise the outer palace. The Hall of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Hall of Earthly Tranquility comprises the inner palace. These halls stand in a line from north to south on the central axis. The throne symbolizing imperial power is positioned at the center of this central axis.
Today, as the largest museum of cultural relics in China, the Forbidden City, also called the Palace Museum, collected and displayed some one million precious historical relics from the Shang Dynasty (16th century -771 BC) through to the Qing Dynasty. It was made part of the world cultural heritage list in 1987.
The Imperial Palace in Shenyang exhibits the Manchu culture. Founded in 1624, the 380-year-old Shenyang Imperial Palace is one of the few historic Chinese sites that epitomize an ethnic minority culture, along with the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The main structure of the palace was started by Nuerhachi (1559-1626) and completed by his son Huangtaiji (1592-1643), both founding emperors of the Qing Dynasty which was China’s final dynasty. As the dynasty expanded its power southward and across the whole China, the Forbidden City in Beijing succeeded Shenyang as royal residence. Even then, Qing Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong, the two longest-ruling emperors in China’s history, expanded the palace and added Han and Mongol architectural styles to its original Manchu style.
The Shenyang Imperial Palace covers 70,000 square meters and has 300 rooms distributed in 70 buildings. It is smaller than the Forbidden City in Beijing but it has unique features and special historical, artistic and scientific value. The Dazheng hall has a group of 10 Banner Pavilions in the front that serves as administrative offices for tribal chieftains. The Shenyang Palace highlighted the Manchu people’s awe of their ancestors. Huangtaiji, for example, had the Chongzheng (Supreme Politics) Hall built for his enthronement, instead of moving into his father’s Dazheng Hall, to show respect.
In July 2004, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its 28th session officially inscribed the Shenyang Imperial Palace on the World Heritage List as assemblage of the Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.