Forbidden City

Overview

In the context of Chinese history and culture, the Forbidden City generally refers to the Ming and Qing dynasty palace complex within the Forbidden City in Beijing, now managed by the Palace Museum. Construction of the Forbidden City began in the Ming dynasty, and after the Qing dynasty entered the Central Plains, it continued to serve as the imperial residence, administrative center, and venue for important ceremonies. The Forbidden City is not only an architectural heritage site but also a crucial site for understanding Qing dynasty etiquette, politics, and multilingual culture.

Plaques and signs in various languages, including Manchu and Han, can be found within the Qing palace buildings. Their script and placement are related to the building's function, but not every building retains its original state. When studying a particular plaque, one should verify its location, production date, later repairs, and museum explanations; one cannot determine its origin solely based on a modern photograph.

The Palace Museum's collection of artifacts and related historical archives provides a wealth of materials for Qing dynasty research. It is important to distinguish between the Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei, as they are not the same institution. For the study of Manchu culture, the Forbidden City's importance lies in the mutual corroboration between its material palace culture and official documents.

The Forbidden City in Beijing, as a physical space, primarily refers to the palace complex of the Ming and Qing emperors, where they resided, governed, and held major ceremonies. The contemporary Palace Museum, on the other hand, is the institution that manages, researches, and displays related cultural relics. Although located in the same area, they are not the same historical concept. The palace buildings were constructed during the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty continuously maintained and adjusted their uses, leaving behind various ceremonial and textual relics.

Manchu plaques, inscriptions, and some documents within the Forbidden City reflect the multilingual use of the Qing court. Seeing Manchu script does not necessarily mean that the building was originally constructed during the Qing Dynasty; some Ming Dynasty buildings had plaques added or their names changed during the Qing Dynasty. Determining the age of the script requires combining architectural history, repair records, and analysis of the craftsmanship of the artifacts, rather than drawing conclusions solely based on the presence of Manchu script.

The Forbidden City also serves a contemporary public cultural and educational function. When studying the collection, the officially published artifact numbers and catalogs should be used first, distinguishing between original artifacts, replicas, exhibition images, and fixed decorations on historical buildings, avoiding the mixing of different levels of evidence.

The Forbidden City, as an architectural space, must first be distinguished from the modern "Palace Museum," a collection and research institution. The Forbidden City in Beijing was initially built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty and later became the Qing Dynasty imperial palace; the establishment of the Palace Museum in 1925 marks its place in the history of modern cultural institutions. The palace plaques, furnishings, and repair marks that visitors see today often date from different eras and cannot be considered a unified work completed in one period.

From the perspective of Manchu culture, the Forbidden City is particularly worthy of study in terms of its bilingual Manchu and Han scripts, Qing Dynasty court rituals, imperial administrative spaces, and institutional systems. When studying a specific plaque, one should identify whether it is an original or a later addition, what script is used, whether there are archival records, and the plaque's location and function. Only in this way can the common question of "why is there Manchu script in the Forbidden City" be transformed into a historical explanation with material evidence and provenance.

UNESCO introduces the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Shenyang Imperial Palace as interconnected Ming and Qing Dynasty palace heritage sites. Both bear witness to the establishment and expansion of the Qing Dynasty, but their architectural periods, layouts, and palace functions differ. When studying Manchu royal culture, if we only consider the Forbidden City in Beijing as the sole setting, we may easily overlook the historical significance of Shenyang in the early Qing Dynasty; conversely, we cannot simply say that the Shenyang palace is a smaller replica of the Forbidden City in Beijing.