The adrenaline of excitement is almost immediately replaced by one of surprise complemented by mouth left agape at the splendor sprawling before popped out eyeballs. From the architecture, to the sculptures, the marbles and the huge expanse of estate – they are all an eye-full to take in.
As if reading my thoughts, our tour guide, Jackie Wan announced: “Please follow me. You can get lost. Look up always for the flag because we are not going out the same way we came in. Understood?” My response was an absent minded nod as I registered her warning.
Many know of China’s famous Forbidden City but not all of them know that it took 15 years to build or that the emperor Zhu Di (third emperor of the Ming dynasty) who built it from 1406 to 1420 was obsessed with the number nine and therefore built 9,999 rooms in the imperial palace. Or that each building has nine miniature animals sculpted on its rooftop in belief that these would protect them from being destroyed by thunder and lightning.
Around the palace, there are several marble stairs partitioned into three parts with the middle one biggest and the most elaborately designed with clouds and dragons which symbolize the ‘celestial’ power of the emperor.
It took 20, 000 men and several thousand asses to haul the largest of these marbles from Fangshan, 70 kilometers from Beijing to the palace. In the summer they used logs to transport it and in the winter, they poured water along the way until it froze and they were able to slide it along the ice. Its weight is around 250 tons, is 16.57 meters long, 3.07 meters wide and is 1.7 meters thick.
Only the emperor was allowed to use it. He only walked down and if he needed to go up it, he would be ferried up on a sedan chair by eight men.
In 1761, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty ordered its redesign after the original carvings had been hewn away.
“Chai, these men chop life,” [sic] was the multiple response from Nigerians in the group as they snapped their fingers or shrugged their shoulders while listening to the tour guide narrate the history.
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty (1420 to 1912) when the latter was overthrown by the Republic. It is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of ancient buildings. Asides being the largest palace complex in the world, it also has the world’s largest collection of wood carvings and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
Trespassing during the dynasties was rewarded with unquestionable and immediate execution but with ¥40 or ¥60, (₦2,600 or ₦3,900) tourists have almost unlimited access to every part of the ancient palace, through Meridian Gate which used to be the exclusive preserve of the emperor. It was also from this gate that the saw to the flogging of troublesome ministers or anyone who offended him. The emperor assessed his armies, pronounced judgement on prisoners or announced the New Year’s calendar from this gate as well. Less important beings used lesser gates – the military used the west gate and civilians the east gate.
Bells and gongs strategically positioned in the palace alerted on imperial movements n and out of the palace.
This gate also heralded the enormous courtyard, and crossed the tartar bow-shaped Golden Stream which ran beneath five marble bridges leading to the Gate of Supreme Harmony with a capacity for a 100,000 people.
On the way to the Gate of Supreme Harmony I couldn’t resist a quick lone visit through the courtyard with the ceramics in the pottery gallery inside the Hall of Literary Glory. It was impossible to view all of the 429 pottery pieces before dashing off west to the calligraphy works and paintings inside the Hall of Martial Valor. Satisfied that I had seen enough to be on record that I had been there, I raced to find the flag.
I arrived just in time to meet the group at the Three Great Halls standing on the elevated three-tier marble terrace with balustrades adorning them. Wan described them as the heart of the Forbidden City.
Built in the 15th century and restored in the 17th century, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important and largest structure in the Forbidden City and was used for occasions like the emperor’s birthday, the nomination of military leaders and coronations. It is here that the emperor’s dragon throne resides from where he presided over frightened officials. The back of the throne carries a Xumishan Buddhist sculpture, signifying the throne’s supremacy.
It was mandatory for the entire court kowtow nine times (touch the floor with their foreheads) in the emperor’s presence.
Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the Hall of Middle Harmony, which served as the emperor’s transit lounge. He received close aides, made last-minute preparations and rehearsed speeches here.
The Hall of Preserving Harmony, was a banquet venue and later imperial examinations were held there. It is to the rear of this hall that is a 250-tonne marble imperial carriageway carved with dragons and clouds has sat since 1418. Storage was built outside the Three Great Halls for treasures including gold, silver, silks and carpets.
Similar to the Three Great Halls are lesser central halls which held more significance as regards real power, which traditionally lies at the back door, in China.
One is the Palace of Heavenly Purity, which was the residence of Ming and early Qing emperors, but was later converted to a reception for receiving foreign dignitaries and highly placed officials.
There is also the Hall of Union , which contains a 16th century clepsydra (water clock) made in 1745 with five bronze vessels and a calibrated scale as well as a mechanical clock built in 1797 and a collection of imperial jade seals exhibited.
The imperial couple’s bridal chamber was the Palace of Earthly Tranquility which was also the hub for the palace harem.
Landscaping in all its magnificence is spread at the northern end of the Forbidden City where the Imperial Garden is located on 7000 sq metres with rockeries, walkways, pavilions, cypresses and a sitting arrangement for four where the emperor had tea while listening to birds chirping away and beholding nature.
Two bronze elephants are kowtow in a manner ordinarily impossible but in significance of the emperor’s power remind leave an impression of the how much power he must have wielded in his reign, as tourists approach the Gate of Divine Prowess, the north exit of the Forbidden City.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Empress Dowager and the imperial concubines lived in the Complete Palace of Peace and Longevity or Treasure Gallery located in the northeastern corner. There are museums now being housed in it several courtyard buildings, pavillions, atmospheric halls and gardens.
It was here in these lesser halls that most of the emperors actually lived. A lot of the interior here were exquisitely furnished, imperial style with some of the open to visitors and showing cultural exhibitions of temple musical instruments, ceramic and bronze ceremonial vessels.
One of the three surviving Nine Dragon Screen in China is engraved by the south entrance of the complex close to the Clock Exhibition Hall.
It was impossible to hush the “wows,” “hmmms” and “ehens” screaming in my head as I walked through the courtyard sighting the three storey wooden opera house, the Pavillion of Cheerful Melodies Visitors then work their way north, exploring a number of peaceful halls and As I walked through the courtyards before being popped out at the northern end of the Forbidden City. Don’t miss the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies , a three-storey wooden opera house, which was the palace’s largest theatre. Note the trap doors that allowed actors to make dramatic stage entrances.
At the end of the visit, one could not but take a another long look at the marvel while puzzling over what it would have been like to have a one-on-one encounter of the good and ugly side of the man who conceived and lived in such opulence, affluence and grandeur.
In 2020 the imperial palace will be 600 years old.
