Gugun Museum
Gugong Museum or "Purple Forbidden City" is a palace quarter in the center of Beijing. For a long time it served as the residence of a dynasty of emperors. Historians claim that 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled the Celestial Empire from here. The Forbidden City was the first Chinese site to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is officially included by UNESCO as one of the world's largest collections of surviving ancient wooden buildings.
Brief history
The Gugun Museum was built in the early 15th century and is considered one of the best preserved imperial palaces. The Purple Palace got its name from the consonance of two words: in Chinese, the pronunciation of the word “purple” coincides with the name of the North Star. According to legend, 9,999, 5 rooms were created in the complex. The Emperor wished to build a palace like that of the Jade Lord, with 10,000 rooms. With this action he angered the Deity, people said: even though the Chinese emperors were the Sons of Heaven, they should not be forgotten, so the number of rooms in the Gugun Museum was made a little less. In fact, there are only 8,707 of them.
Architecture features
The Gugong Museum is a unique system of various signs; it is the semantic center not only of Beijing, but of all of China. If you look at the museum from above, not excluding the city gates, you will get the hieroglyph “middle”. This symbol is important in Chinese philosophy. The Purple Palace is an example of traditional Chinese architecture. Many architects and architects worked on its plan, and more than one hundred thousand craftsmen worked on its implementation. For example, the columns of the most important halls of the Gugun Museum were carved from solid “Chinese laurel” logs. And the floors were decorated with “golden bricks.” Each batch took months to make, and a metallic ringing sound was heard when the brick was struck.
Attractions of the Gugun Museum
The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the ceremonial center of imperial power. There is a caisson built into the ceiling, decorated with a dragon, from whose mouth candelabra in the form of metal balls erupt, it is called the “Mirror of Suanyang”. The size of the hall is amazing
The hall of ancestral worship. In ancient times, it was used to store sacrifices for deceased ancestors and pay homage to them. Today it houses a collection of watches. It includes 185 watches from the imperial collection, as well as foreign exhibits.
Wall of Nine Dragons. According to legend, the dragon was a deity and had absolute power. For a long time he was the mascot of China. The length of the wall is 29.4 m, and 9 dragons are depicted on it. The central one is yellow and symbolizes imperial power. The role of the wall is to drive away evil spirits from the entrance to the Palace of Serenity and Longevity
Jadeite cabbage, made from a single piece of jadeite, the master used all the flaws and defects to give the stone 100% resemblance to Chinese cabbage.
