Panorama: Palace Museum,the Forbidden City

Built from 1406-1420 during the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Palace, popularly known as the Forbidden City, was the permanent residence of the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). It covers over 720,000 square meters of floor space, with more than 8,700 rooms, surrounded by city wall as high as ten meters and a city moat as wide as 52 meters. It can be divided into the front and the back parts. The front part or the Outer Court where emperors held important ceremonies consists of the three great halls of Tai He Dian, Zhong He Dian and Bao He Dian, which form the main body, and Wen Hua Dian and Wu Ying Dian, which are arrayed like wings on the sides. The back part or the Inner Court, where emperors handled routine state affairs and lived with their wives and concubines, consists of Qian Qing Gong, Jiao Tai Dian, Kun Ning Gong, Yang Xin Dian as well as six east and west palaces and the imperial garden--Yu Hua Yuan.

The Imperial Palace is the largest and most complete ancient imperial complex so well preserved in China. It embodies collectively ancient Chinese traditions and architectural art. In 1961, it was proclaimed an important cultural site under state protection, and was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1987.

A total of 24 emperors lived here since the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty(Emperor Yongle Zhudi), 14 of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) and 10 of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). For a short time at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Palace was occupied by peasant rebels led by Li Zichen. It ended its historical mission as the imperial palace after the revolution of 1911 when the Qing Dynasty--the last dynasty in China--was overthrown. The front part or the Outer Court of the Imperial Palace was opened to the public as the Museum of Antiquities in 1914, and the Palace Museum was established in 1925.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, extensive renovation has been carried out on the Imperial Palace structures and much attention paid to the arrangement, restoration, and exhibition of precious cultural relics. Some halls and palaces have been opened to the public in their original state with their former ornamentation and daily-use utensils on display; others exhibit special art treasures, such as jewelry, ancient paintings, bronzes, ceramics, handicrafts, clocks and watches, presenting the age-old and splendid historical civilization of China.