Forbidden Fun

The inner courtyard, looking at the 'Building of Supreme Harmony'

Beijing has many gorgeous historical sites.  We hired an English guide and driver to get us around the city and to teach us all we could learn about ancient Chinese history.

The 'throne' where the emperor did his business

Excited girls dance inside the outer gates of the City

Chairman Mao's gate

The Forbidden City is on one end of Tiananmen Square, in downtown Beijing.  Tiananmen Square is simply a large traffic circle, which can accommodate a gathering of 500K people at one time.  It also has the mausoleum for Chairman Mao (who proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949).  Chairman Mao's body is in a glass case that is on an automatic elevator which rises each morning for people to give their 'respects', and lowers each night into a refrigerator. *gag*

Forbidden City's happy grounds staff

Through the Chairman Mao gate (off the square), we entered the Forbidden City.  The city is huge, with 980 buildings, 8304 rooms and over about 300 acres.  It was built from 1406-1420, requiring more than a million workers.  Since it's completion, it was the home for 24 emperors, generally housing about 5000 people at a time (with all staff).  It was called the Forbidden City because no one could enter or leave the City walls without the Emperor's permission.

These door knobs can be rubbed for good luck

Rubbing the door knobs for good luck

The Emperors were paranoid.  There were many security measures to the city that our guide pointed out to us.  First there was a large moat surrounding the outer wall.  There were three sets of gates to get inside with big solid doors and brass knobs.  As well, for extra security there are 15 layers of brick that go into the ground under the city, to ensure no one could 'tunnel' to gain access.  Finally, there are no trees on the inner courtyard, where the Emperor did most of this work, because he was afraid people would hide in them.  Nicely enough there were many trees in the area where over a hundred concubines lived.

There are certain symbolic elements to the City that we found interesting.  First, it is all built on a Meridian Line that runs through the center of the City.  Everything on either side of that line mirrors itself, for perfect feng shui (a perfect balance).  The most important buildings in the city have three levels of stairs leading up to them, symbolizing land/ocean, mountain, heaven.  Anything on the third level is 'in heaven', like the building of 'supreme harmony' where ceremonies (enthronements, weddings, etc.) took place.

Male Lion, controlling the world 

Female Lion, controlling the family

My favourite elements of symbolism were the animals used.  For example, in front of every major doorway were a pair of lions.  One male (with a paw on a sphere, controlling the world) and one female (with a paw on a baby, controlling the family)... yes, the male ego has some serious history behind it.  These two lions must appear together, to balance each other, otherwise it's poor feng shui.  The dragons on buildings were symbols of the Emperor, the Phoenix were symbols for the Empress.  Statues of cranes were for prosperity, and turtles were for longevity... the symbolism goes on and on.

Double Happiness Symbol 

Prior to our vacation, we watched "The Last Emperor", thanks to a recommendation from some friends (thanks Tom & Wolfi).  It was a great suggestion, as it largely takes place in the Forbidden City and gave us some history of the final Emperor of China, "Puyi" who was the last ruler of the Qing dynasty.  He became emperor when he was less than 3 years old.  There were many references to this final emperor in the City, and we even met his nephew, who is one of only two living descendants in the lineage (the other lives in Vancouver).  Having just watched the movie, we were a little 'star struck' meeting this descendent of the last Emperor.  As if on cue, the man working the shop explained to us, "it's his nephew, but he has no title or power, so you don't have to pay any attention to him."

Puyi's nephew signing our names on our artwork

All emperors and families are taught proper historical chinese calligraphy.  It's a culturally important art form, so we bought one personalized piece from the nephew... seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.  We got a traditional Chinese saying in taoism, which is "do nothing".  It doesn't mean to be lazy, simply not to be aggressive in business, to do well and allow opportunities to come according to fate.  [Perhaps I love it because it makes me feel less 'guilty' about my lifestyle in Hong Kong?  Keeping with the philosophy, it has yet to be hung in our apartment, as it does nothing in a box.]