Forbidden City of China: The Greatest Palace Complex Ever Built
Our Lìshǐ
38,453 views
Everyday Beijing, about 45,000 people visit the forbidden city: The Greatest Palace Complex Ever Built in Human history.
One million workers built it. Fourteen years of construction. Over 980 buildings arranged across 720,000 square metres, an area so large you could fit the entire Vatican City inside it three times over and still have space left.
Twenty-four emperors lived here. Some of them barely ever left. One of them became emperor at the age of two and was still calling himself emperor from inside these walls at 18, even though the dynasty had already collapsed six years earlier.
This video explains the entire history of China’s Forbidden City.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:29 What Is The Forbidden City?
02:22 Yongle - The Man Who Built the Forbidden City
05:11 The Architecture
10:22 Life Inside The Forbidden City
15:51 Dynasties And Drama
21:02 The Palace Almost Didn't Survive
25:14 The Palace Today
28:14 Conclusion
Sources and References
Primary Historical Sources
Ming Shilu (明實錄) — Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty. The official day-by-day chronicle of the Ming imperial court, compiled by court historians after each emperor's reign.
Qing Shilu (清實錄) — Veritable Records of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing equivalent of the Ming Shilu.
Ming Shi (明史) — Official History of the Ming DynastyCompiled under the Qing Dynasty (completed 1739).
Academic Books
Geremie R. Barmé — The Forbidden City (2008)Harvard University Press / New Directions in Narrative History - Harvard University Press
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt — Chinese Imperial City Planning (1990),University of Hawaii Press
Frederick W. Mote — Imperial China 900–1800 (1999)Harvard University Press. Publisher: Harvard University Press
Mark C. Elliott — The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (2001)Stanford University Press.
Encyclopedic References
UNESCO World Heritage List — The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)Inscription: 1987. Official UNESCO citation describing the complex as the largest and best-preserved wooden structure complex in the world, and an outstanding example of Chinese traditional architectural achievement.
🔗 UNESCO Official Entry
Nexus Network Journal — Capozzi, R. et al. (2021).
Encyclopaedia Britannica — Forbidden City. 🔗 Britannica: Forbidden City
Association for Asian Studies (AAS) — China/Ming-Qing Resources. 🔗 Association for Asian Studies
Smarthistory — Forbidden City (authored by Peng). Peer-reviewed open-access art history resource.
🔗 Smarthistory: Forbidden City
Further Reading:
Edward Dreyer — Early Ming China: A Political History 1355–1435 (1982)Stanford University Press.
Shih-shan Henry Tsai — Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle (2001)University of Washington Press.
Palace Museum Yearbook (故宫博物院院刊). Academic journal published by the Palace Museum itself.
Online Databases
JSTOR — Ming-Qing Studies. Access academic articles from the Journal of Asian Studies, Late Imperial China, Ming Studies, and other journals through JSTOR.🔗 JSTOR
China Biographical Database (CBDB)Harvard University / Academia Sinica. A free database of biographical information on historical figures in Chinese history from 600–1900. 🔗 CBDB
Digital Silk Road — Chinese Historical Maps.
National Palace Museum Taipei — Digital Collection. The Taipei collection (the 2,972 crates evacuated in 1949) is partially digitised and searchable online. 🔗 NPM Taipei Digital Collection
AI usage:
All video ideas and topics on this channel are created by me. AI is used as a tool to assist with research and script development and voiceover. It’s also used to enhance historical images or paintings, and generate visuals for scenes where needed.
20 Comments
There is a 16th-century Ming Dynasty painting acknowledging the architect, is kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. It depicts the chief architect Kuai Xiang standing proudly before the monumental Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) at the newly constructed Forbidden City in Beijing.
I hope that China continue its fight to preserve its history .
Xie Xie {* Bows Again *}
May serenity and peace always find you in good keeping...
Seoul had some amazing palace complex, but can't beat forbidden city scale
Forbidden City of China: The Greatest Palace Complex Ever Built
Our Lìshǐ
38,453 views
Everyday Beijing, about 45,000 people visit the forbidden city: The Greatest Palace Complex Ever Built in Human history.
One million workers built it. Fourteen years of construction. Over 980 buildings arranged across 720,000 square metres, an area so large you could fit the entire Vatican City inside it three times over and still have space left.
Twenty-four emperors lived here. Some of them barely ever left. One of them became emperor at the age of two and was still calling himself emperor from inside these walls at 18, even though the dynasty had already collapsed six years earlier.
This video explains the entire history of China’s Forbidden City.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:29 What Is The Forbidden City?
02:22 Yongle - The Man Who Built the Forbidden City
05:11 The Architecture
10:22 Life Inside The Forbidden City
15:51 Dynasties And Drama
21:02 The Palace Almost Didn't Survive
25:14 The Palace Today
28:14 Conclusion
Sources and References
Primary Historical Sources
Ming Shilu (明實錄) — Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty. The official day-by-day chronicle of the Ming imperial court, compiled by court historians after each emperor's reign.
Qing Shilu (清實錄) — Veritable Records of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing equivalent of the Ming Shilu.
Ming Shi (明史) — Official History of the Ming DynastyCompiled under the Qing Dynasty (completed 1739).
Academic Books
Geremie R. Barmé — The Forbidden City (2008)Harvard University Press / New Directions in Narrative History - Harvard University Press
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt — Chinese Imperial City Planning (1990),University of Hawaii Press
Frederick W. Mote — Imperial China 900–1800 (1999)Harvard University Press. Publisher: Harvard University Press
Mark C. Elliott — The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (2001)Stanford University Press.
Encyclopedic References
UNESCO World Heritage List — The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)Inscription: 1987. Official UNESCO citation describing the complex as the largest and best-preserved wooden structure complex in the world, and an outstanding example of Chinese traditional architectural achievement.
🔗 UNESCO Official Entry
Nexus Network Journal — Capozzi, R. et al. (2021).
Encyclopaedia Britannica — Forbidden City. 🔗 Britannica: Forbidden City
Association for Asian Studies (AAS) — China/Ming-Qing Resources. 🔗 Association for Asian Studies
Smarthistory — Forbidden City (authored by Peng). Peer-reviewed open-access art history resource.
🔗 Smarthistory: Forbidden City
Further Reading:
Edward Dreyer — Early Ming China: A Political History 1355–1435 (1982)Stanford University Press.
Shih-shan Henry Tsai — Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle (2001)University of Washington Press.
Palace Museum Yearbook (故宫博物院院刊). Academic journal published by the Palace Museum itself.
Online Databases
JSTOR — Ming-Qing Studies. Access academic articles from the Journal of Asian Studies, Late Imperial China, Ming Studies, and other journals through JSTOR.🔗 JSTOR
China Biographical Database (CBDB)Harvard University / Academia Sinica. A free database of biographical information on historical figures in Chinese history from 600–1900. 🔗 CBDB
Digital Silk Road — Chinese Historical Maps.
National Palace Museum Taipei — Digital Collection. The Taipei collection (the 2,972 crates evacuated in 1949) is partially digitised and searchable online. 🔗 NPM Taipei Digital Collection
AI usage:
All video ideas and topics on this channel are created by me. AI is used as a tool to assist with research and script development and voiceover. It’s also used to enhance historical images or paintings, and generate visuals for scenes where needed.