Forbidden City Research Paper

Intro To understand the design behind the Forbidden City, one must look at Ancient Chinese beliefs and architecture. The Chinese are a very spiritual people with many beliefs that go back to the beginning of its culture. One of these core beliefs are the five cardinal points that everything in life whether spiritual or physical is somehow subjected to. In order of worst to best they are the center, the south, the east, the west, and the north. From the north came invaders and all sorts of strange people and rumors. Bad omens came from the north and the north had unbearably hot summers and freezing cold winters. In the northwestern parts of the country were high mountains that separated and kept safe those of the middle kingdom and the barbarians. The south
Emperor Yung Lo and his tutor, a Buddhist priest, were the visionaries behind the Forbidden City. While not much is known about the priest Emperor Yung Lo ruled during the Ming dynasty from 1402-1424 and was nicknamed the Black Dragon. He rebuilt the city of Peking, later named Beijing, which had been destroyed during the overthrow of the Mongol dynasty in 1368. He made the plans for the Forbidden City and placed three master architects in charge of its construction. While Emperor Yung Lo was the first Son of Heaven to occupy the Forbidden City he was not alive to see its completion.
The reconstruction of Peking would be over twenty-two miles long and would encompass and area over twenty-six square miles. The Inner City, later called the Tatar City by the Manchu’s, was roughly square in shape and about four by three and half miles. Included within the Inner City limits was the Imperial City, which enclosed the palaces of the Forbidden City. The overall plan for the Forbidden City, or the Great Within, called for a rectangular enclosure about three-quarters of a mile long and about half a mile wide containing about 240 acres of ground. Two and a quarter miles of ramparts