Editing Forbidden City (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Forbidden City}}
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[[File:北京宫城图轴.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The Forbidden City as depicted in a [[Ming dynasty painting]]]]
[[File:Die Gartenlaube (1853) b 445.jpg|thumb|A depiction of the Forbidden City from the German magazine {{lang|de|[[Die Gartenlaube]]}} (1853)]]
[[File:Vue prise en ballon du Palais Impérial à Pékin.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Forbidden City (1900 or 1901)]]

When the [[Hongwu Emperor]]'s son Zhu Di became the [[Yongle Emperor]], he moved the capital from [[Nanjing]] to Beijing, and construction began in 1406 on what would become the Forbidden City.<ref name="Yu 18">p. 18, {{cite book |last=Yu |first=Zhuoyun |title=Palaces of the Forbidden City |year=1984 |publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=0-670-53721-7}}</ref>

Construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers.<ref name="Yang 15">p. 15, {{cite book |last=Yang |first=Xiagui |others=Li, Shaobai (photography); Chen, Huang (translation) |title=The Invisible Palace |year=2003 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=7-119-03432-4}}</ref> Material used include whole logs of precious ''[[Phoebe zhennan]]'' wood ({{zh|c={{linktext|楠|木}}|p=nánmù|labels=no}}) found in the jungles of south-western China, and large blocks of marble from quarries near Beijing.<ref name="CCTV">{{cite video |people=China Central Television, The Palace Museum |date=2005 |url=https://www.cctv.com/history/special/C15041/01/index.shtml |title=Gugong: "I. Building the Forbidden City" |medium=Documentary |location=China |publisher=CCTV |access-date=22 July 2018 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731180128/https://www.cctv.com/history/special/C15041/01/index.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The floors of major halls were paved with "golden bricks" ({{zh|c={{linktext|金|磚}}|p=jīnzhuān|labels=no}}), specially baked paving bricks from [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]].<ref name="Yang 15" />

From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the [[Ming dynasty]]. In April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by [[Li Zicheng]], who proclaimed himself emperor of the [[Shun dynasty]].<ref>p. 69, Yang (2003)</ref> He soon fled before the combined armies of former Ming general [[Wu Sangui]] and [[Manchu people|Manchu]] forces, setting fire to parts of the Forbidden City in the process.<ref>p. 3734, {{cite book |last=Wu |first=Han |author-link=Wu Han (PRC) |title=朝鲜李朝实录中的中国史料 (Chinese historical material in the Annals of the Joseon Yi dynasty) |year=1980 |publisher=Zhonghua Book Company |location=Beijing |id=CN / D829.312}}</ref>

By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, and a ceremony was held at the Forbidden City to proclaim the young [[Shunzhi Emperor]] as ruler of all China under the [[Qing dynasty]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Muoruo |last=Guo |author-link=Guo Moruo |title=甲申三百年祭 (Commemorating 300th anniversary of the Jia-Sheng Year) |work=New China Daily |date=1944-03-20 |language=zh}}</ref> The Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings to emphasise "harmony" rather than "supremacy",<ref name="CCTV2" /> made the [[nameplate]]s bilingual (Chinese and [[Manchu language|Manchu]]),<ref>{{cite news |title=故宫外朝宫殿为何无满文？ (Why is there no Manchu on the halls of the Outer Court?) |url=https://ha.people.com.cn/news/2006/06/16/109613.htm |work=People Net |date=2006-06-16 |access-date=2007-07-12 |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201185034/https://ha.people.com.cn/news/2006/06/16/109613.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref> and introduced [[Shamanism|shamanist]] elements to the palace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://125.35.3.4/China/phoweb/BuildingPage/1/B488.htm |title=坤宁宫 (Palace of Earthly Tranquility) |access-date=2007-07-12 |author=Zhou Suqin |publisher=The Palace Museum |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095215/https://125.35.3.4/China/phoweb/BuildingPage/1/B488.htm |archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref>

In 1860, during the [[Second Opium War]], Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war.<ref name="CCTV11">{{cite video |people=China Central Television, The Palace Museum |date=2005 |url=https://www.cctv.com/history/special/C15041/01/index.shtml |title=Gugong: "XI. Flight of the National Treasures" |medium=Documentary |location=China |publisher=CCTV |access-date=22 July 2018 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731180128/https://www.cctv.com/history/special/C15041/01/index.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1900 [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] fled from the Forbidden City during the [[Boxer Rebellion]], leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year.<ref name="CCTV11" />

After being the home of 24 emperors — 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty — the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with the abdication of [[Puyi]], the last Emperor of China. Under [[Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication|an agreement]] with the new [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use,<ref>p. 137, Yang (2003)</ref> until he was evicted after a [[1924 Beijing Coup|coup]] in 1924.<ref name="Yan4">{{cite book |last=Yan |first=Chongnian |author-link=Yan Chongnian |title=正说清朝十二帝 (True Stories of the Twelve Qing Emperors) |url=https://archive.org/details/zhengshuoqingcha0000yanc |year=2004 |publisher=Zhonghua Book Company |location=Beijing |isbn=7-101-04445-X |language=zh |chapter=国民—战犯—公民 (National – War criminal – Citizen) |url-access=registration}}</ref> The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925.<ref>{{cite news |author=Cao Kun |title=故宫X档案: 开院门票 掏五毛钱可劲逛 (Forbidden City X-Files: Opening admission 50 cents) |url=https://culture.people.com.cn/GB/22226/53974/53977/3750782.html |work=Beijing Legal Evening |publisher=People Net |date=2005-10-06 |access-date=2007-07-25 |language=zh |archive-date=1 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201175346/http://culture.people.com.cn/GB/22226/53974/53977/3750782.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1933, the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese invasion of China]] forced the evacuation of the national treasures in the Forbidden City.<ref>See map of the evacuation routes at: {{cite web |url=https://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration/about/tradition.htm |title=National Palace Museum – Tradition & Continuity |access-date=2007-05-01 |publisher=National Palace Museum |archive-date=20 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320073822/http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration/about/tradition.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Part of the collection returned at the end of [[World War II]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration/about/tradition.htm |title=National Palace Museum – Tradition & Continuity |access-date=2007-05-01 |publisher=National Palace Museum |archive-date=20 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320073822/http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration/about/tradition.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1948 under orders of [[Chiang Kai-shek]], whose [[Kuomintang]] was losing the [[Chinese Civil War]]. This relatively small but high quality collection was kept in storage until 1965, when it again became public as the core of the [[National Palace Museum]] in [[Taipei]].<ref name="Three">{{cite news |title=三大院长南京说文物 (Three museum directors talk artefacts in Nanjing) |url=https://www.people.com.cn/GB/paper447/10416/949293.html |work=Jiangnan Times |publisher=People Net |date=2003-10-19 |access-date=2007-07-05 |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201133727/https://www.people.com.cn/GB/paper447/10416/949293.html |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref>

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some damage was done to the Forbidden City as the country was swept up in revolutionary zeal.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jie |last=Chen |title=故宫曾有多种可怕改造方案 (Several horrifying reconstruction proposals had been made for the Forbidden City) |url=https://news.eastday.com/eastday/node81741/node81803/node112035/userobject1ai1829390.html |work=Yangcheng Evening News |publisher=Eastday |date=2006-02-04 |access-date=2007-05-01 |language=zh |archive-date=27 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527175620/https://news.eastday.com/eastday/node81741/node81803/node112035/userobject1ai1829390.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Cultural Revolution]], however, further destruction was prevented when Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] sent an army battalion to guard the city.<ref>{{cite news |first=Yinming |last=Xie |author2=Qu, Wanlin |title="文化大革命"中谁保护了故宫 (Who protected the Forbidden City in the Cultural Revolution?) |url=https://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/68742/69115/69120/5005812.html |work=CPC Documents |publisher=People Net |date=2006-11-07 |access-date=2007-07-25 |language=zh |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402115513/http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/68742/69115/69120/5005812.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Forbidden City was declared a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1987 by [[UNESCO]] as the "Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties",<ref>The Forbidden City was listed as the "[https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/439.pdf Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326110017/https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/439.pdf |date=26 March 2009 }}" (Official Document). In 2004, [[Mukden Palace]] in [[Shenyang]] was added as an extension item to the property, which then became known as "Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang": {{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/439 |title=UNESCO World Heritage List: Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang |access-date=2007-05-04 |archive-date=5 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505084440/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/439 |url-status=live }}</ref> due to its significant place in the development of [[Chinese architecture]] and culture.

In the early 21st century, the Palace Museum carried out a sixteen-year restoration project to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1911 state, with the goal that 76% of the palace would be open to the public by 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gjdx.dpm.org.cn/ |title=Forbidden City restoration project website |access-date=2007-05-03 |author=Palace Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421023644/https://gjdx.dpm.org.cn/ |archive-date=21 April 2007}}</ref> As a result of that project, the Shoukang Palace was officially opened to the public in 2013, after initially being displayed in its original state. A sculpture museum was opened in the Cining Palace in 2015. Also opened in 2015 were the precincts around Cining Palace, the Yanyin Building and the Donghua Gate.<ref>{{cite web |title=故宫慈宁宫花园明年8月开放 拟推年票定价300元 |work=People's Daily |date=18 August 2014 |url=http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0818/c70731-25482127.html |access-date=1 May 2021 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002073634/http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0818/c70731-25482127.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the 5 November 2024, 100 years was marked since the expulsion of the last [[Emperor of China]], [[Puyi]], from the palace by [[Republic of China (1912–1949)| republican forces]], led by [[Feng Yuxiang]].