The+Forbidden+City+of+the+Ming

=**THE FORBIDDEN CITY**=

__//By Brandon M//__

The Ming dynasty was completely amazing. They had many different things but their best is the Forbidden City. The Ming dynasty began in 1368 and fell in 1644. The great and all-powerful Wu emperor who was the best Ming emperor who did not build the Forbidden City started the Ming dynasty. Here are some frequently asked questions on the Ming dynasty’s Forbidden City:

1) Q: How big is the Forbidden City?

A: The Forbidden City is seven hundred thousand square meters with eight hundred buildings and a total of nine thousand rooms. It is nine hundred sixty meters from North to South and seven hundred and fifty meters from East to West.

2) Q: When did the construction of the Forbidden City begin?

A: Construction of the Forbidden City began in 1406, which is the fifth year of Yongle’s reign.

3) Q: How long did it take for the Forbidden City to be built?

A: It took a long fourteen years to create the amazing Forbidden City.

4) Q: Who was involved and how many people did it take to build the Forbidden City?

A: It took an estimated one million workers, including the one hundred thousand artisans

5) Q: What was included in the design of the city?

A: Included in the city were the five element colors, and the ancient rules of spatial design, which was originated in the Han dynasty.

6) Q: How well was the Forbidden City protected?

A: forty-foot walls all around it protected The Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was also protected in case invaders tried to tunnel in. The paving of the Forbidden City lengthwise was seven layers thick, and it was eight layers thick crosswise.

7) Q: What dynasty was the Forbidden City built under?

A: The amazing Forbidden City was built under the Ming dynasty.

8) Q: Where in China exactly is the Forbidden City?

A: The Forbidden City is located in the middle of China’s capitol Beijing displays an amazing harmonious balance between buildings, that also has a less symmetrical layout.

9) Q: What is inside of the walls guarding the Forbidden City?

A: There are said to be five halls, seventeen palaces, and numerous other buildings. The Forbidden Palace is supposed to have nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine rooms. Some people say that there are nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine and a half rooms. The half room only houses a staircase. Depending on how you count the rooms there is really only nine thousand.

10) Q: Why do most things that have to do with Chinese history have the number nine?

A: Most things in Chinese history have to do with the number nine because the digit 9 was seen as a special, magic number, especially for emperors, because it is the highest value ordinal. Also, the word for nine in Chinese, 'jiu', is a homonym for 'long / lengthy'. The number of rooms has a further rationale: because the Forbidden City was on Earth, it was impossible to have 10,000 rooms, which would conflict with the number of rooms in the version found in Heaven because the number 10,000 symbolizes infinity.

Questions For the Reader:

1) When was the Forbidden City built?

2) How many men did it take to build the Forbidden City?

3) What did the builders of the Forbidden City do to keep out tunneling invaders?

=Map of The Forbidden City=



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