Forbidden City
The Imperial Palace, or Purple Forbidden City, in Beijing is one of three palaces which existed inside the walls of the city or nearby it by the time of the Qing dynasty, the others being the adjacent Sea Palaces and the Summer Palace, outside the walls to the west. The Imperial Palace, originally constructed 1406-1420, is the earliest and most important of these, as well as containing the finest collection of buildings. Its formal plan reflects the fact that the most important ceremonies of state took place here, compared with the informal and more domestic arrangements of the other palaces, preferred by the famous Dowager Empress Cixi (who died in 1908).
The great halls of state are arranged along a central axis, becoming more private as one progresses to the rear (northern end) of the palace. The emperors of the Ming dynasty (from the building of the palace until 1644) also lived in these halls, but the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) emperors lived in halls in courtyards on either side and only used the central buildings for cere- monial purposes. The last emperor, Pu Yi, lived in the palace after his abdication until 1924. The Palace Museum, which administers the site, is completing the restoration of two ranges of eunuch's quarters adjacent to the northern wall of the palace, which date from its original construction, and are planning the conservation of the Imperial Library, built by Emperor Qian Long (1736-1795). The rise in motor traffic in the capital has led to a deterioration in air quality, resulting in increasing erosion of the marble sculptures and balustrades which surround the more importanThalls in the palace, but this is still less than many other cities, although it will require careful monitoring.
