An invitation to teach Watercolor in Loudi City, Hunan Province, China gave me the opportunity to visit Beijing for a couple of days. The Forbidden City was one of the places we visited while in Beijing.
Date(s): May, 2013. Album by John E. Keller. Photos by John E. Keller. 1 - 20 of 45 Total. 1028 Visits.
enlarge 67KB, 640x425 1 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (1 of 42) The Forbidden City was just that...forbidden for anyone but the family, servants, and confidants to ever enter. Also, if you were part of the servant entourage, you never left the walls of the city. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. Constructed in the early 1400's, the complex consists of nearly 1000 buildings and covers nearly one million square feet.
enlarge 74KB, 425x640 2 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (2 of 42) The children in China were beautiful...and there are a lot of children in China, even with their one-child-per-family law. I was told that, in most cases, if you have a second child you will lose your job, or worse. There are exceptions for people with money and/or connections.
enlarge 55KB, 640x425 3 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (3 of 42) Entering the main gates that are adjacent to Tian'an Men Square.
enlarge 57KB, 640x425 4 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (8 of 42) This photo was taken after entering the main gates.
enlarge 75KB, 640x425 5 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (4 of 42) Of the thousands who visited the Forbidden City while we were there, most were Chinese, a few with obviously strong cultural roots.
enlarge 115KB, 640x425 6 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (5 of 42) The architectural details are phenomenal. Having taught several Interior Design courses and designing homes for people over the years, I have a great appreciation for the exotic detail, as you can tell from the number of architectural detail photos in this album.
enlarge 58KB, 640x425 7 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (6 of 42) Inside the Forbidden City, there were lakes and bridges designed to give pleasure to the royal occupants.
enlarge 63KB, 640x424 8 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (7 of 42)
enlarge 64KB, 640x425 9 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (9 of 42)
enlarge 66KB, 640x425 10 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (10 of 42) I'm told that all of the trees were removed during the ruling families use of the Forbidden City, as trees were a place where an enemy could hide. I'm not sure how they would have entered in the first place, as it is surrounded by a very high wall and a very wide moat that I was also told was stocked with crocodiles.
enlarge 127KB, 640x424 11 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (11 of 42) The support that transfers the weight of the roof to the columns is referred to as a "dougong". Many are much more elaborate then this one. They are a complex, nail free, ornamental architectural element.
enlarge 76KB, 640x424 12 DSC 0262 In this photo, you can see the"flying eaves" and "dougong", decorative roof supports that parallel the "capital" of columns in the Western world.
enlarge 67KB, 640x425 13 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (12 of 42)
enlarge 61KB, 640x425 14 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (13 of 42)
enlarge 72KB, 640x425 15 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (14 of 42) The number of little creatures on the ends of the "flying eaves" reflects the importance of the building and its occupants.
enlarge 56KB, 640x425 16 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (15 of 42)
enlarge 129KB, 640x425 17 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (16 of 42)
enlarge 92KB, 640x424 18 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (17 of 42)
enlarge 54KB, 640x425 19 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (18 of 42)
enlarge 74KB, 640x425 20 Forbidden City, Beijing, China (19 of 42)
