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Forbidden City

Type Object Region China Time 1406

The imperial palace complex built in Beijing by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, also known as the Palace Museum, the world's largest and best…

Timeline

  1. 1406–1420Forbidden City · Dongcheng DistrictThe Yongle Emperor ordered Kuai Xiang and others to oversee the work, mobilizing over a million craftsmen and laborers nationwide to build the Forbidden City on the site of the former Yuan Dadu palace. The layout of court in front and residence behind, ancestral temple left and altars right was established, and the three great halls—Taihe, Zhonghe, and Baohe—along with the inner court palaces were completed in succession.
  2. 1421–1424Hall of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City · Dongcheng DistrictThe Chengzu of Ming formally moved the capital to Beijing, holding court assemblies in the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden City, which became the empire's political center. In the late Yongle reign, major ceremonies and receptions of foreign envoys were held in the palace.
  3. 1425–1430Forbidden City · Dongcheng DistrictThe three great halls had suffered fire damage in the late Yongle reign; during the Xuande reign the court gradually repaired them and perfected palace furnishings and institutional regulations. By around 1430 the Forbidden City had basically regained full function, becoming the place where the emperors of the Hongxi and Xuande reigns handled government and lived.

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