Constructed 1406–1420 in Beijing, the Forbidden City housed Ming and Qing courts until 1912. Axial halls, yellow‑glazed roofs, and vast courtyards encoded imperial ritual and cosmos. Now the Palace Museum, it preserves the world’s largest ensemble of ancient wooden architecture, balancing conservation with scholarship and mass visitation.
Commissioned by the Yongle Emperor (Ming dynasty), the palace city rose between 1406 and 1420 as Beijing became the imperial seat. Laid out on a strict north–south axis within walls and a moat, the complex aligned rulership with cosmic order—Heaven above, the Son of Heaven below, mediating between realms.
The southern Outer Court staged state rituals in a sequence of vast courtyards culminating at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The northern Inner Court housed the emperor’s residence, ancestral worship, gardens, and offices of daily governance. Yellow glazed tiles (reserved for the emperor), vermilion pillars, and marble terraces codified hierarchy in color and stone.
Architecture here is choreography: axial gates, numbered bays, and carefully framed thresholds directed movement and deference. Master carpenters (the Yingzao tradition) crafted bracket sets, timber frames, and painted polychromy that still define the city’s visual language. The palace regulated time (imperial watches, rituals) and knowledge (archives, workshops) as much as it did space.
After the 1644 Manchu conquest, the Qing continued to rule from the palace until the 1911–12 revolution ended imperial rule. The last emperor, Puyi, remained in a portion of the Inner Court until 1924; in 1925 the Palace Museum opened, transforming a once‑forbidden precinct into a public institution of conservation and research. UNESCO inscription (1987) recognized its Outstanding Universal Value as the largest preserved ensemble of ancient wooden architecture.
From fires and war to weathering and tourism, the Forbidden City has endured repeated threats. Modern conservation addresses timber decay, roof tile weathering, seismic retrofits, and collections care, while improved interpretation and ticketing manage millions of annual visitors through rotating gallery routes and seasonal caps.
