I. Learning Objectives

1. Understand brief introduction of ancientChinese architecture

2. Understand how to introduce the FormerImperial Palace

II. Learning Requirements

1.Finish studying video 4.4 given bylecturer.

2. Finish self-learning about the learningmaterial from 4.4.

3. Finish all the exercises in 4.4.

4. Finish the extra reading.

III. Preview Questions

1. How did Chinese architecture evolve overthe time?

IV. Useful Sentences

1. The Forbidden City is also called the Former Imperial Palace. Its Chinese name “Zijincheng”means the purple forbidden city.  Now itis know as The Palace Museum. 

2. The Palace Museum is the world’s largestand best-preserved architectural complex of ancient imperial palace at present.It was listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1987. It’s aninvaluable cultural heritage of all human beings as well as the pride of theChinese nation.

V. Extra Reading

The Palace Museum 

The Palace Museum, also known as the PurpleForbidden City. It is the largest and most well reserved imperial residence inChina today. Under Ming Emperor, construction began in 1406. It took 14 yearsto build the Forbidden City.

The red and yellow used on the palace wallsand roofs are also symbolic. Red represents happiness, good fortune and wealth.Yellow is the color of the earth on the Loess Plateau, the original home of theChinese people. Yellow became an imperial color during the Tang dynasty, whenonly members of the royal family were allowed to wear it and use it in theirarchitecture.

The Forbidden City is rectangular in shape.It is 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meters wide from east west. Ithas 9900 rooms under a total roof area 150000 square meters. A52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9 –meter- high wall which encloses thecomplex.

It is believed that the Palace Museum gotits name from astronomy folklore. The ancient astronomers divided theconstellations into groups and centered them around the Ziwei Yuan. Theconstellation containing the North Star was called the Constellation ofHeavenly God and star itself was called the purple palace.

The Forbidden City is divided into an outerand an inner count. We are now standing on the southernmost part of the outercount. In front of us lies the Gate of supreme Harmony. The gate is guarded bya pair of bronze lions, symbolizing imperial power and dignity. The lions werethe most exquisite and biggest of its kind. The one on the east playing with aball is a male, and ball is said to represent state unity. The other one is afemale. Underneath one of its fore claws is a cub that is considered to be asymbol of perpetual imperial succession.

The Forbidden City consists of an outercount and an inner enclosure. The outer count yard covers a vast space lyingbetween the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Heavenly Purity. The “three bighalls” of Supreme Harmony, Complete Harmony and Preserving Harmony constitutethe center of this building group. The great three halls are built on aspacious “H”-shaped,8-meter-high, triple marble terrace. Each level of thetriple terrace is taller than the on below and all are encircled by marblebalustrades carved with dragon and phoenix designs.

This area is called the Hall of SupremeHarmony Square, which covers a total of 30000 square meters. Without a singletree or plant growing here, this place inspires visitors to feel its solemnityand grandeur. In the middle of the square there is carriageway that wasreserved for the Emperor. On both sides of the road the ground bricks were laidin a special way seven layers lengthwise and eight layers crosswise, making upfifteen layers in all.

Video 1

Video 2