The Palace Museum, also known as the Purple Forbidden City, was the imperial palace in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is the largest and best-preserved palace complex in the world today. Its name, on the one hand, comes from ancient Chinese astronomers' belief that God's abode or the Purple Palace, the pivot of the celestial world, is located in the Pole Star (the middle of the Ziwei Star), at the center of the heaven. Hence, as the son of God of Heaven, the emperor should live in the Purple City. On the other hand, except for palace maids, eunuchs and guards, ordinary citizens without special orders of the emperor were not allowed entering the Forbidden City. Therefore, palaces in the Ming and Qing dynasties are called both the Forbidden City and the Purple City.

It took 14 years to complete the magnificent palace. Construction began in 1406, and finished in 1420. One year after completion, Emperor Yongle moved his capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Since then, 24 emperors have lived at the Forbidden City, 14 during the Ming Dynasty and 10 during the Qing Dynasty.

750 meters wide and 960 meters long, the Forbidden City covers an area of over 720,000 square meters. It has four great gates. Surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat, the fabulous city has four delicate and lovely turrets overlooking both the inside and outside.

There are more than 8,700 wooden rooms in the Forbidden City. Most of them have yellow-glazed tiles, a color that only emperors were allowed to use on their roof. These colorfully painted and embellished rooms, from the northern Drum Tower and the Bell Tower to the Southern Gate of Everlasting Stability (Yongdingmen), are divided symmetrically into northern and southern halves. Once inside, visitors will see the layers of halls and palaces spreading out on either side of a central axis. As products of the wisdom of many designers, their splendid buildings represent the unique features of the traditional Chinese architecture and indicate the incredible creativity of the ancient Chinese people. This pearl of Chinese cultural heritage retains its original arrangements of the Ming dynasty, reconstructed after being destroyed by several fires. Most of the existing buildings now open to tourists were reconstructed during the early Qing Dynasty.

Generally designed to the principles of the Front court, Rear Market, Ancestral Sacrifice on the left and Altar on the right, in many ways the Forbidden City reveals ancient Confucian ideas. Therefore, the court-where officials discussed political affairs-was located in the southern or front section, of the Forbidden City. A large trading market, which provides daily necessities for the court, was situated in the rear part of the city. On the left was the Imperial Ancestral Temple, where the emperor offered sacrifices to his ancestors. This is now the Working People's Cultural Palace. On the right was the Altar to the god of Land and Grain, where the emperor displayed his reverence to the god. This is now Zhongshan Park.

The Forbidden City has two courts, the Inner Court and the Outer Court, separated across the middle between the south and north ends. The Outer court mainly consists of the Meridian Gate and the Three Front Halls, flanked by the Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhuadian) and the Hall of Martial Spirit (Wuyingdian), which witnessed various ceremonies and political activities during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The inner court mainly comprised the Three Back Halls, Imperial Garden, Hall of Mental Cultivation and Palace of Abstinence, which are flanked by the Six East Halls and the Six West Halls. This was where the emperor handled political affairs and was the residential area for the emperor an d his empresses and concubines.

In comparison with other contemporary palaces, the Forbidden City laid more stress on balance and independence, and embodied more cultural perspectives of the specific ethnic group. Just as Joseph Needham wrote in his book, History of Chinese Science, each part of the Forbidden City is well balanced and independent, contrary to other palaces in the Renaissance Age. The Palace of Versailles is attached to the city as just an object. Whereas tin far-reaching and complicated Chinese architecture, the palace is an organic part of the whole city, combining deep deference to nature with lofty significance. Great overall arrangements have reached the highest level, far above any other culture.

The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing Dynasty, exiling the last emperor Pu Yi to palaces at the rear of the Forbidden City. The Three Great Halls in the Imperial Palace opened as exhibition hall of antiquities in 1914. Ten years later, Feng Yuxiang mounted a coup in Beijing and banished the last emperor from the palace. The Palace Museum was established on Oct. 10, 1925, and in 1961, the State Council listed the Forbidden City as a place to be given special protection. It was listed in 1987 as World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.

As one of the world-renown royal palaces, the Forbidden City has played an important role in the world architectural history. The almost 1 million rare treasures and cultural relics on exhibition there have attracted many tourists both from home and abroad.