the Forbidden City（Beijing，China）

[mingxuan]

I am an amateur photographer in Beijing, China.
as a New-Arrival thread, I decide to post some pics about the Forbidden City.

001: the forbidden city is in the center of Beijing, and this Taihe Dian(Hall of Supreme Harmony) is in the center of the Forbidden City. It was built in 1420, and it 35.05 metre tall, 67m long, 37m wide. it is used for the wedding of the emporer, ascending ceremony etc.

 

[mingxuan]

002 ：the Turret of Forbidden City. there are four turrets in the foursquare of the Forbidden city. this is a building with 9 beams, 18 pillars and 72 fastigiums. Maybe it is the most famous scenic spots of the Forbidden City, because the river and the wall. Some Senior photographer told me that it is worth to practise exposure control here for your all lifetime.

 

[tirediron]

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

 

[mingxuan]

Taihe Dian(Hall of Supreme Harmony) square, can you tell Taihe Dian From the pic?

 

[Stormchase]

I love asia. One day I'll get back.
Welcome and good shots.

 

[mingxuan]

I am sure that you are familiar with this gate. it is name is Tianan Men(The Gate of Heavenly Peace). indeed, it is the south-gate of The Forbidden City.

 

[mingxuan]

this is an animal in Chinese mythology system. Its name is Chishou. It is said that it is the 7th son of Chinese-long(dragon), It likes water, so it was fitted in eaves, when raining, the rain-water can outflow from its mouth.

 

[mingxuan]

this is a bowl of emporer, it is made of jadite, the diameter of it is up to 10cm, so it need a big jadite-stone to make it.
now , it is certainly in the forbidden city museum.

 

[mingxuan]

OK, the theme today is the Emporer's Chair, in most hall of the Forbidden City, their is only one chair(just for the emporer)in it, nobles must stand on knee in front of the emporer's chair, even if they are not allowed to upturned face to look steadily at the emporer.In the front of the pic, you can see a black plaque with 4 yellow characters, It is an important place in the Forbidden City. the emporer writed the name of crown prince on a piece of paper and put the paper behind the plaque, Only when the emporer died, other can be allowed to open the paper and declared who is the next emplorer.

 

[mingxuan]

008: Do youknow what animal it is? It is lion
There is no lion in China in ancient times,at that time lions lived Africa, Indian and so on.
So the stonemason made the stone carving lion only according to what the human who had seen the lion described.
Generally speaking there are 2 stone carving lions in front of the gate, there is a small lion in the foot of female lion, and ball in the male-lion.
they were considered a protection against evil spirits, so the householder(even the emporer) let them be on duty at gate.

 

[mingxuan]

009：today, I will post some pics about the gates in the forbidden city.
the yellow spots is called doornail, the quantity of the doornailon the gate could tell you the status of the householder.
In China, only in the forbidden city, the quantity of the doornailon the gate 9*9 = 81, it means the emperorship is paramount.
In the noble'gate, there are 9*7 = 63 doornails and so on.
In order to respecting the teachers, the quantity of the doornailon the gate inthe temple of Confucius is 9*9=81 ,equals to the quantity in the Forbidden city!

 

[mingxuan]

010: pay attention to the eave in the forbidden city. you can see a person who is riding a phoenix, and several god animals are following the person.Then who is the person? why is he fitted here?
2000 years ago, Beacuse his brother in law is prime minister of Zhou Dynasty, he easyly became a nobleman. but he was not satisfy, he want more money, power and so on. At last, his brother on law told him that he should desist from avarice before it is too late...
and after that, he was fitted in the front of the eave by the builders to teach us the end of avarice is a bottomless chasm.

 

[The_Pearl_Poet]

Excellent series. I think you have some shots here that could make great travel stock photos.

 

[mingxuan]

Excellent series. I think you have some shots here that could make great travel stock photos.

thank you & welcome to China

 

[mingxuan]

011: In Chinese ancient, the color of the roof was governed strictly, the encaustic tile is the topest level, which can be used in the forbidden city and a very few senior temple.
Crown prince can use the green, which colour means growing, encaustic tile, the storehouse were coverd by black encaustic tiles and so on.