ThePalaceMuseum11.TheoriginofthenameItisbelievedthatthePalaceMuseum,ortheForbiddenCity,gotitsnamefromastronomyfolklore(天文學的民間傳說）,Theancientastronomersdividedtheconstellations（星座）intogroupsandcenteredthemaroundtheZiweiYuan(NorthStar).TheconstellationcontainingtheNorthStarwascalledtheConstellationofHeavenlyGodandstaritselfwascalledthepurplepalace.2Becausetheemperorwassupposedlythesonoftheheavenlygods,hiscentralanddominantpositionwouldbefurtherhighlightedtheuseofthewordpurpleinthenameofhisresidence.Infolklore,theterm“aneasternpurplecloudisdrifting”becameametaphor（隱喻）forauspicious（吉祥的）eventsafterapurplecloudwasseendriftingeastwardimmediatelybeforethearrivalofanancientphilosopher,LaoZi,totheHanghuPass3Here,purpleisassociatedwithauspiciousdevelopments.Thewordjin(forbidden)isself-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-limitstoordinarypeople.42.ThehistoryofTheforbidden

cityTheforbiddencity,alsoknownasthepalacemuseum,iswhere24emperorsoftheMingandQingdynastiesruledChinafrom15thcenturytotheearly20thcentury.ItisthelargestandmostwellreservedimperialresidenceinChinatoday.In1987,theUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganizationrecognizedtheForbiddenCitywasaworldculturallegacy.5

UnderMingEmperorYongle,constructionbeganin1406.Ittook14yearstobuildtheForbiddenCity.ThefirstrulerwhoactuallylivedherewasMingEmperorZhudi.Forfivecenturiesthereafter,itcontinuedtobetheresidenceof23successiveemperorsuntil1911whenQingEmperorPuyiwasforcedtoabdicatethethrone（退位）.6

7Color’ssymbolTheredandyellowusedonthepalacewallsandroofsarealsosymbolic.Redrepresentshappiness,goodfortuneandwealth.YellowisthecoloroftheearthontheLoessPlateau,theoriginalhomeoftheChinesepeople.YellowbecameanimperialcolorduringtheTangdynasty,whenonlymembersoftheroyalfamilywereallowedtowearitanduseitintheirarchitecture.8ShapeTheForbiddenCityisrectangularinshape.Itis960meterslongfromnorthtosouthand750meterswidefromeastwest.Ithas9900roomsunderatotalroofarea150000squaremeters.A52-meter-wide-moatencirclesa9.9–meter-highwallwhichenclosesthecomplex.9Wholescene10Theensemble(整體布局）Traditionally,theForbiddenCityisdividedintotwoparts.TheOuterCourtandInnerCourt.

TheInnerCourtincludesthenorthernsections,andwastheresidenceoftheEmperorandhisfamily,andwasusedforday-to-dayaffairsofstate.

TheOuterCourtwaswheretheemperorexercisedhissupremepoweroverthenation.1112

Thepalace13TheHallofSupremeHarmony（太和殿）14

EnteringTaihemen,youwillseeTaihedian(HallofSupremeHarmony)acrossthespacious(寬敞的）square,whichcoversof30,000squaremeters.Standingonathree-tiermarbleterrace（大理石平臺）,thisgrandesttimber（木制的）frameworkeverinChinaisoverwhelming（壓倒性的）.

15TheHallofSupremeHarmony,alsocalledtheThroneHall,isthelargesthallintheForbiddenCity.Withaconstructionareaof2,377squaremeters,thedouble-eavedhallranksthehighestamongpalaces.16PalaceofHeavenlyPurity1718ThepalaceofHeavenlyPurity

istheplaceforemperorsofMingandQingDynastiestolive

anddealwiththedaily

affairs

.“Qian"

means

"day“,while"Qing"

means"t-horough"

.Thenameisthesymbolof

clear

sky,national

stability,anditalsosymbolsemperors‘doing

areastheclearsky.19EXHIBITIONS20Along

the

River

During

the

tomb-sweeping

dayIt’s5.28meterslong,thereare814humans,28boats,60animals,30buildings,20vehicles,9sedanchairsand170treesdrawn.ItcapturesthedailylifeofpeoplefromtheSongperiodatthecapital,Bianjing,today‘sKaifeng.ThethemecelebratesthefestivespiritandworldlycommotionattheQingmingFestival。清明上河圖21Theentirepiecewaspaintedinhandscrollformatandthecontentrevealsthelifestyleofalllevelsofthesocietyfromrichtopooraswellasdifferenteconomicactivitiesinruralareasandthecity.Thepaintingisfamousbecauseofitsgeometricallyaccurateimagesofboats,bridges,shops,andscenery.Becauseofitsfame,ithasbeencalled"China'sMonaLisa".清明上河圖22Fromit，wecansee，teahouse；酒肆，bistro；飯館，diner；以及汴河上的拱橋archbridge；成群結伴去進行springouting踏青的人們；以及各色人物，有小商小販，vendorsandpeddlers；街頭賣藝者，jugglers；貧民和乞丐，paupers；游方和尚，monks，占卜算命者，fortunetellersandseers；旅館老板，innkeepers；工匠，metalworkersandcarpenters等等，令人眼花繚亂，目不暇接。清明上河圖23242526Next,therearesomeotherfamousexhibitions.TheyshowChinesesplendidcultureandlonghistory.Theyshouldbeprotectedcarefully.27Name:金甌永固杯Dynasty:QingHeight:12.5cmDiameters:8cmItstandsforstatepoliticalpower.28

乾隆款金甌永固杯為故宮宮廷文物的代表作。

“金甌”寓意國家政權，取名“金甌永固”則反映永遠鞏固地保持政權的一種愿望。29青銅之寶酗亞方樽為故宮青銅器的代表作品。青銅器的產生是古代中國從野蠻時代走向文明時代的重要標志之一。30張成造款雕漆云紋盤為故宮漆器的代表作品。Height:3.3cm，Diameter:19.2cm.31

Name:青玉云龍紋爐Dynasty:SongHeight:9cmDiameter:12.8cm.32掐絲琺瑯纏枝蓮紋象耳爐。Dynasty:YuanHeight:13.9cmDiameter:16cm33

法帖之寶---西晉陸機的《平復帖》34

黑漆彩繪樓閣群仙祝壽鐘為故宮鐘表的代表作。Height: