The name Forbidden City is translated from the Chinese ‘Purple Forbidden City’ the ‘purple’ representing the constellation of the North Star, which in traditional Chinese astrology was the residence of the Celestial Emperor. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420. Over a million workers manipulated large quantities of rare Phoebe Nanmu wood from south-west China and locally quarried marble to form the basis of what was to become the world’s largest palace complex. A space that was off-limits to commoners for over five centuries saw 23 terrestrial emperors enthroned, but the full coherence of the edifice changed in 1912, with the abdication of boy emperor Puyi and the confining of the imperial family to the rear quarters. By 1925 the site had become the Palace Museum.
The short-lived museum was forced to pack up many important artifacts in 1933 when the Japanese invaded. Many of these treasures eventually accompanied the nationalists to Taiwan, when they fled the communists in 1948. Nearly two million exquisite masterpieces remain scattered among 980 surviving buildings from Tang ceramics to ancient jade and bronze wares. The palace resides on a physical meridian line that cuts through the heart of city, divided by the outer court to the south, designed for affairs of state and the inner court to the north planned as a residence. The Hall of Supreme Harmony dominates the outer court as the largest surviving wooden structure in China. The architecture is steeped in religious and philosophical principals placing emphasis on imperial power. Most tiles are yellow, the colour associated with emperors, and sloping roofs are adorned with lines of mythical creatures. A man riding a phoenix is always at the outer tip, followed by an imperial dragon, phoenix, lion, celestial horse, and so on. The importance of a building is denoted by the number of beasts. In 1987 the Forbidden City was declared a world heritage site, being listed by UNESCO as having the largest collection of preserved wooden structures in the world.