The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) sits at the heart of Beijing’s Imperial City. For over 500 years, from 1420 to 1924, it served as the home of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty emperors and the political center of China. Today, the Palace Museum runs the site, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It is the largest surviving royal palace complex in the world.

Construction ran from 1406 to 1420, after the Yongle Emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. The complex is said to have 9,999 rooms, though recent counts put the number at 8,886, spread over 72 hectares (720,000 square meters, or 180 acres). The palace showcases the wealth of Chinese emperors and traditional palatial architecture, influencing building styles across East Asia and beyond. Since 2012, it has averaged 14 million visitors each year, with over 19 million in 2019.

The name “Forbidden City” comes from its massive size and strict access rules: only the emperor, his family, and eunuch servants could enter, and unauthorized entry meant immediate execution. The Chinese name, Zijincheng (紫禁城), first appeared in 1576. “Zi” (purple) refers to the North Star, known in ancient China as the Ziwei Star, the heavenly home of the Jade Emperor; the Forbidden City was seen as its earthly counterpart. “Jin” means forbidden or taboo, and “cheng” originally meant fortress but now means city. Today, the site is commonly called Gugong (故宮), or “Former Palace,” and the museum is the Palace Museum (故宮博物院). In earlier dynasties, it was also known as Danei (大内) or Palace City (宮城).

The Yongle Emperor began building in 1406 after moving the capital from Nanjing. Over a million workers labored for 14 years, using precious Phoebe zhennan wood from southwestern China’s jungles, large marble blocks from quarries near Beijing, and “golden bricks” (jinzhuan)—specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou—for the main halls’ floors. From 1420 to 1644, it was the Ming seat of power. In April 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng captured it, declared himself emperor of the Shun dynasty, then fled before Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting parts of the palace on fire. By October, the Manchus controlled northern China, and the young Shunzhi Emperor was proclaimed ruler of all China under the Qing dynasty in a ceremony at the Forbidden City. The Qing renamed some buildings to stress “harmony” over “supremacy,” added bilingual Chinese and Manchu nameplates, and introduced shamanist elements. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces occupied the palace until the war’s end. In 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi fled during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by treaty powers until the following year.

After housing 24 emperors—14 Ming and 10 Qing—the Forbidden City lost its political role in 1912 when the last emperor, Puyi, abdicated. Under an agreement with the Republic of China, Puyi stayed in the Inner Court while the Outer Court opened to the public, until he was evicted after a 1924 coup. The Palace Museum was established in 1925. In 1933, Japan’s invasion forced the evacuation of the palace’s national treasures. Part of the collection returned after World War II, but the rest was moved to Taiwan in 1948 under Chiang Kai-shek’s orders, as his Kuomintang forces lost the Chinese Civil War. That smaller but high-quality collection remained in storage until 1965, when it was put on display again.

The Forbidden City was among the first sites on China’s national priority protection list in 1961, and UNESCO recognizes it as the world’s largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures. It holds deep cultural significance for the Chinese people, who see it as a link to their ancestors.