The Forbidden City is a former Imperial palace used during the Ming and Qing dynasties, serving as the primary residence for the Emperor of China and his court. Located in Beijing, it is now a UNESCO site and a museum with an extensive collection of artwork and artifacts from the Ming and Qing periods.
Layout[]
The Forbidden City is a palace complex shaped as an immense rectangle with the main buildings positioned along a central axis. The rectangular perimeter is formed by a wall and its moat, and at each of the four corners is an enormous watchtower. It is partitioned between two zones: the outer court and an even more restrictive inner court.[1]
Its main gate is the Meridian Gate situated at the southern end in front of Tian'anmen Square.[1] From this gate, there is the first court and then another gate called the Gate of Supreme Harmony, which leads to the most iconic area at the heart of the palace,[1] the Hall of Supreme Harmony.[2] Deeper into the palace is the Gate of Heavenly Purity, the primary entryway to the inner court, which can also be accessed by three other gates. With 980 buildings, legend has it that it contains 9,999 rooms. Symbolism played a role in this number and a substantial one in the naming, colours, decorations, architecture, and layout of the palace.[1]
History[]
The Forbidden City was built at the beginning of the 15th century to serve as the primary residence for the Imperial family of the Ming dynasty and as the epicenter of government affairs. Heavily fortified, it was more than just a residence and was designed to offer them protection from those who would threaten their lives.[1] Unknown to most of its residents, the Forbidden City was situated atop the ruins of an ancient Isu site.[3]
Apart from the Emperor of China and his relatives, the Emperor's concubines lived there as well, and they were strenuously guarded by the eunuchs to ensure that they could not bear offspring with other men.[1] Some concubines who were children, like Shao Jun and Zhang Qijie, were essentially raised in the Forbidden City, and most rarely ever left it.[4][5] On one occasion in 1517, Shao Jun tried to help Qijie sneak out of the palace to see the outside world for the first time, but was unable to due to the latter's foot bindings which prevented her from climbing walls.[3]
During his reign, the Zhengde Emperor preferred a life of leisure outside the confines of the Forbidden City and spent little time in the Imperial capital[6] while his successor, the Jiajing Emperor, refused to live in it entirely so as to avoid his duties as ruler.[7]
Shadow war in the palace[]
The negligence of the Zhengde Emperor allowed the group of eunuchs known as the Eight Tigers to influence the government from behind-the-throne. As the leaders of the Chinese Rite of the Templar Order, the Tigers were locked in a shadow conflict against the Chinese Assassins who were also based in the Forbidden City. Since the Zhengde Emperor had left behind no heirs, there was a brief interregnum as the government decided upon his successor.[8] Having recently identified the Assassin Mentor to be the official Wang Yangming, the Tigers seized upon this moment of uncertainty to expunge the Assassins from the capital.[9]
By chance, the concubine Shao Jun discovered this plot and alerted Yangming,[9] who organized an attack first.[10] However, the Templars still prevailed and enacted their extensive and brutal purge, which saw countless Assassins, associates of the Brotherhood, and innocent sympathizers or dissidents executed via lingchi. The surviving Assassins withdrew from the Forbidden City with their allies, including Shao Jun, who was subsequently recruited and trained as an Assassin.[10]
Several years later, the Templars exploited the Great Rites Controversy to hunt the remaining Assassins.[11][12] Before leaving Beijing, Shao Jun sneaked back into the Forbidden City to visit her childhood friend Zhang Qijie, hoping to help whisk her away to freedom. Because Qijie by then was rising in the concubinage hierarchy and saw an opportunity to even become Empress, she was unwilling to forsake her life in the palace, so Shao Jun could only bid her farewell.[13]
Shao Jun being led into a trap at the Imperial Palace
In 1530, the Tigers Zhang Yong and Qiu Ju used Zhang Qijie, now Empress, to set a trap for Shao Jun in the Forbidden City. They had the Empress issue a secret message to Shao Jun alleging to have information on the whereabouts of Zhang Yong for her counter-hunt. The Assassin not only trusted her former best friend's word, but also returned out of fear that she would need to rescue concubines whose assistance to her could potentially have been discovered by the Templars.[14]
Although Shao Jun fell right into the Templars' trap, she was able to defeat Qiu Ju by dropping several lanterns on him while Zhang Yong fled. However, this caused the chamber to catch fire,[15] though Shao Jun and Empress Zhang were both able to escape with their lives while Qiu Ju was crushed by a falling pillar. Once they were safe, Shao Jun tried to convince Qijie to leave the Forbidden City with her, but the Empress declined, as she believed her situation would improve once all of the Eight Tigers were eliminated and the Jiajing Emperor started listening to wiser council.[16]
Post-Ming period[]
The Forbidden City remained standing and in use throughout the Ming dynasty, and when the Qing conquered China and established their capital in Beijing, they appropriated it as their Imperial palace in turn. In the present-day, the palace has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been converted into a museum displaying artifacts collected from the Ming and Qing periods.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Forbidden City features in the 2015 video game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China as a playable level in a few memories. It later appeared in the game's 2019 manga adaptation, Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun, although in this version, Shao Jun's fight against Qiu Ju takes place at the Inner Palace Flower Garden Villa rather than the Imperial Palace.
The English name for the palace, the Forbidden City, is a calque of its Chinese name Zǐjìnchéng (紫禁城, literally 'purple forbidden city').
Gallery[]
.jpg "An Old Friend China (2).jpg (290 KB)")
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun
Non-canonical appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: Forbidden City
- ↑
Forbidden City on Wikipedia
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun – Shao Jun and Qixie
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 1
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: Empress Zhang
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: The Zhengde Emperor
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: The Jiajing Emperor
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 5
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 6
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 7
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 9
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 10
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 11
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – An Old Friend
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Demon Fire
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun – To Each Her Own Arena
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