The names of the four gates of the Forbidden City.

There are four doors in the Forbidden City. The main entrance is called the meridian gate. Its plane is concave and spectacular. There are five exquisite white marble arch bridges leading to Taihe Gate behind the Wumen Gate. The east gate is called Donghuamen, the west gate is called Xihuamen and the north gate is called Shenwumen. There are exquisite turrets in all four corners of the Forbidden City. The turret is 27.5 meters high, with a cross-shaped roof, triple eaves, mountains all around and many angles staggered. It is a wonderful building. The main entrance of the Forbidden City is called "Wumen Gate", commonly known as Wufeng Tower. The east, west and north sides are connected by a platform 12 meters high, surrounded by a square. There is a 1 building. There is a heavy building in the middle, which is 9 halls with wide faces and double eaves. There are four pavilions, with eaves and roofs on the left and right protruding walls, which are connected by open corridors. Each wing has a 13 hall, and each corner has a tall corner pavilion that supports the main hall. The gatehouse of this shape is called "Quemen", which is the most advanced form of the ancient gate in China. The buildings in this group of cities are magnificent and the first peak in the Palace Museum. The meridian gate is the place where the emperor issued letters and ordered expeditions. Every time the imperial edict is read out and the almanac is issued, officials of civil and military affairs will gather in the square in front of the meridian gate to listen to the imperial edict. Usually only the emperor can enter and exit the main entrance of the meridian gate. The emperor gets married, the queen enters once, and those who win the first prize, the second place and the third place in the palace entrance examination can walk out of this door once. The ministers of civil and military affairs went in and out of the east gate, and the royal princes went in and out of the west gate. The back door is Shenwumen, which was called Xuanwu Gate in Ming Dynasty. Xuanwu is one of the four ancient beasts. From the azimuth, Zuo Qinglong, Right White Tiger, Former Suzaku and Later Xuanwu dominate the north, so the North Palace Gate of the Forbidden City is named Xuanwu. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed "Shenwumen" because of taboo. Shenwumen is also a city gate building, the highest-grade double-eaved roof, but its main hall has only five bays and a veranda, and there are no wings extending forward from left to right, so it is one level lower than Wumen in shape. Shenwumen is the entrance guard for daily access to the palace. Now Shenwumen is the main entrance of the Palace Museum. Donghuamen corresponds to Xihuamen, and there is a dismount monument outside. Inside the gate, North Henan Golden Water Flow, Shiqiao 1, North Bridge Sanmen. Donghuamen and Xihuamen have the same shape, with a rectangular plane, a red podium and a white jade base, among which there are three coupon doors with excircle coupon holes. There are towers, yellow glazed tiles and double eaves on the rostrum. The tower is five rooms wide and three rooms deep, surrounded by corridors. After the death of the emperor, his coffin was transported out of Donghuamen, so it was commonly called "the gate of hell". Within the meridian gate, there is a vast courtyard. There is an arc-shaped inner Jinshui River in the courtyard, which runs from east to west, with the outer court gate-Taihe Gate in the north, with halls and corridors on the left and right. There are five bridges on the Jinshui River, which are equipped with white marble railings that rotate with the river like jade belts.

Three Great Halls

Located in Taihemen, in an open-air courtyard of more than 30,000 square meters, it is the center of foreign dynasties: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe, which are collectively called the three halls (Fengtian Hall, Gaihua Hall and Shenshen Hall in Ming Dynasty, Jiajing Hall was renamed as Huangji Hall, Zhongji Hall and Jianji Hall). Now it's called the name of the Qing Dynasty). These three halls are the main buildings of the Forbidden City. Their heights and shapes are different, and their roofs are also different, so they are rich and varied but not rigid. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Baohe are all built on the 8-meter-high I-shaped abutment made of white marble, with Taihe in front, Zhonghe Hall in the middle and Baohe Hall in the back. From a distance, it looks like a fairy que in Gong Qiong. The abutments overlap three layers, and the upper edge of each platform is decorated with railings, watchposts and faucets carved with white marble. Among the three platforms, three stone steps are carved with dragons, which set off the "Imperial Road" with waves and flowing clouds. There are 14 15 carved railings, Yunlong Xiangfeng 1460 carved sentry box and 165438 faucet on the 25,000m2 countertop. Three sets decorated with so many white marble, with overlapping shapes, are unique decorative arts in ancient buildings in China. And this kind of decoration is the drainage pipe of the countertop in terms of structure and function. A small hole was carved under the railing. There is also a small hole carved on the faucet, which extends below the sentry post. Every rainy season, three groups of rainwater are discharged from small holes layer by layer, water flows out from the faucet, and the dragon sprays water, which is spectacular. This is a scientific and artistic design. Hall of Supreme Harmony Hall of Supreme Harmony (called Fengtian Hall and Emperor Hall in Ming Dynasty), commonly known as "Golden King Hall", is 35.05 meters high, 63 meters from east to west and 35 meters from north to south, with an area of 2,377.00 ㎡. The ratio of length to width is 9: 5, which means the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The area is the largest among the main halls of the Forbidden City, and the shape is also the highest and most magnificent building. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is a temple with five ridges and four slopes, with long ridges in the east and west and two oblique vertical ridges in the front and back, thus forming a roof with five ridges and four slopes, which is called fairy hall style in architectural terminology. There are 10 kinds of wild animals under the eaves (dragons, phoenixes, lions, horses, seahorses, sisters-in-law, gambling on fish, sisters-in-law, bullfighting and walking), which is a special case of ancient architecture in China. From the Ming dynasty in the14th century, the double-eaved palace was the highest-ranking form of the feudal dynasty palace. The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 72 pillars with a diameter of 1 m, among which 6 are dragon pillars coated with gold powder around the throne. There are painted gold pillars and exquisite dragon caissons in the hall. In the middle of the hall is the symbol of feudal imperial power-the golden throne of Qi Diao Dragon, which is located on a 2-meter-high platform in the hall and houses the golden throne of Qi Diao Dragon. There are exquisite cranes, stoves and pots in front of the throne, and a carved dragon screen behind it. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest wooden structure building in the Forbidden City, the most spectacular building in the Forbidden City and the largest wooden structure building in China. The whole hall is resplendent and magnificent. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the place where the emperor held important ceremonies. That is, the emperor ascended the throne, birthdays, weddings, New Year's Day and so on are celebrated here. Zhonghe Hall Zhonghe Hall (called Gaihua Hall and Relay Hall in Ming Dynasty) is one of the three halls in the Forbidden City, located behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Zhonghe Hall is 27 meters high, square in plane, three rooms wide and deep, with cloisters all around and brick floor, with a building area of 580㎡. The yellow glazed tile has a pyramid-shaped roof with a single eaves and four corners, with a gold-plated top in the middle. The top of the four ridges gather into a pointed shape, and the spherical treasure top is covered with a bronze tire, which is called the quadrangular pointed shape in architectural terminology. Zhonghe Hall is the place where the emperor rested and practiced etiquette before going to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for a ceremony. Before going to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the emperor stopped here for a short time, accepted the salute of cabinet ministers and officials of the Ministry of Rites, and then entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony for a ceremony. In addition, before the emperor worships the heaven and the earth and the ancestral temple, he will also review the "classes" written in the eulogy here, and then look at the farm tools here before going to Zhongnanhai to carry out farming. Baohe Hall Baohe Hall (called Shenshen Hall and Jianji Hall in Ming Dynasty) is also one of the three halls in the Forbidden City, behind Zhonghe Hall. Baohe Hall is located in the Baohe Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing, with a height of 29 meters, a rectangular plane, 9 rooms wide and 5 rooms deep, and a construction area of 1240㎡. Yellow glazed tile double eaves xieshan roof. There is a positive ridge in the center of the roof, with two vertical ridges in front and two vertical ridges in the back. The lower part of each vertical ridge is inclined with a fork ridge, which, together with nine positive ridges, vertical ridges and fork ridges, is called inclined mountain type in architectural terminology. Baohe Hall is the place where the emperor fetes foreign princes and ministers every New Year's Eve. Baohe Hall is also the place where imperial examinations are held.

Housangong

The second half of the Forbidden City is called the Imperial Palace, where emperors and concubines live and entertain. The dividing line between the former dynasty and the palace is Ganqing Gate, with the former dynasty in the south and the palace in the north. There is a glazed wall around the Gan Qing Gate, which is the seat of the "Imperial Gate" in the Qing Dynasty. The Forbidden City is centered on Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Palace and Kunning Palace, and its east and west wings are East Sixth Palace and West Sixth Palace respectively. It is the place where the emperor handles daily affairs, and it is also the place where the emperor and his queens live and live. The second half is the same as the first half in architectural style. The image of the first half of the building is serious, solemn, grand and majestic to symbolize the supremacy of the emperor. The second half of the palace is full of vitality, and most of the buildings are self-contained courtyards, including gardens, study rooms, pavilions and rocks. Ningshou Palace on the east side of the Forbidden City was built at a cost of1122,000 taels of silver when Emperor Qianlong announced his abdication. Gan Qing Gongganqing Palace is located in front of the inner courtyard of the Forbidden City. Gan Qing Palace is the main hall of the palace, 20 meters high. There is a throne in the middle of the double eaves hall, and there is a "fair and bright" plaque inside. This plaque became the place where the names of the heirs to the throne were placed after Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty. In order to prevent the princes from fighting for the throne and killing each other, Yongzheng adopted a secret storage method, that is, before he died, he wrote the list of heirs to the throne on paper and put it in a box, one on a "fair and square" plaque, and the other was carried by the emperor. After the emperor died, he opened the box and publicly announced the emperor's heir. There are warm pavilions at both ends of Gan Qing Palace. It is the place where the emperor reads and sleeps. Twenty-seven beds were placed in the West NuanGe of Gan Qing Palace, which was the bedroom of the feudal emperor, and the emperor was free to choose. It is said that this can prevent assassins from stabbing. Before Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, this was the place where the emperor lived and handled government affairs. After Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the emperor moved to hall of mental cultivation, but he still read newspapers, played newspapers, appointed officials and summoned officials here. There are some things around Gan Qing Palace, and there is a hall for storing the emperor's crown, robes, belts and shoes, and a hall for storing books and calligraphy. There is an upper study room for the prince to study, and a south study room for the Hanlin bachelor. Kunning Palace Kunning Palace is behind the "inner court" of the Forbidden City. The double-eaved Kunning Palace is the bedroom of the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, with warm pavilions at both ends. In the Qing Dynasty, it was changed into a place of worship. After Yongzheng, Xinnuange was a place where shamans offered sacrifices. Among them, Dongnuange is the bridal chamber of the emperor's wedding, and Kangxi, Tongzhi and Guangxu all held weddings here. Jiaotai Dian Jiaotai Dian is located between Gan Qing Palace and Kunning Palace, which means "harmony between heaven and earth, well-being and happiness". Built in the Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt in the third year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (AD 1798). It is a square temple with four corners, a gilded dome and dragons and phoenixes. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this hall was the place where the Queen's birthday celebration was held. The queen meets the concubines here. The so-called queen's silkworm-kissing ceremony in Qing dynasty needs to check the preparations for the ceremony. There are also 25 "Bao Xi" (seals) from the Qing Dynasty (now in the Treasure Hall).

East-west six palaces

Located on the east and west sides of the last three palaces, there are twelve palaces, where the concubines of the Ming and Qing emperors lived. Liu Xi Palace: Taiji Hall, Yongshou Palace, Xian 'an Palace, Palace of Gathered Elegance, Tiaohe Hall; East Six Palaces: Zhongcui Palace, Jingyang Palace, Yan Xi Palace, Yonghe Palace and Ren Jing Palace. These palaces are basically one palace and one courtyard. Each courtyard has a hall, an annex hall and a palace gate. Some courtyards also have balconies and back halls. Empress Dowager Cixi once lived in Palace of Gathered Elegance.

Other areas of the Forbidden City

Including Nansan, Imperial Chef, Cining Garden, Waidong Palace, Huaying Palace, Shouan Palace, Fu Jian Palace Garden, Shoukang Palace, Gandong Fifth Palace, Wenhua Hall and Wuying Hall. These palace buildings are located on the east and west sides of the main building of the palace respectively. The seventh Zhongnan Third Palace and Gandong Fifth Palace are the residential areas of the prince, and Shoukang Palace, Shouan Palace, Cining Garden and Huaying Hall. Waidong Palace is the palace of Emperor Qianlong.