Gate
of Supreme Harmony ( Taihemen )
The
large courtyard beyond the Inner Golden Water River covers ten thousand
square meters.In Imperial China, the emperor was regarded as the Son of
Heaven. Born to rule the empire, he has the loftiest position, no one
and nothing could appear higher. so the large courtyard is treeless. Occupying
the centre of the northern side of this courtyard is Taihemen, the Gate
of Supreme Harmony.
Taihemen
(Gate of Supreme Harmony) is located in the north. It is guarded by
two bronze lions, one on each side. Lions were supposed to be
good doorkeepers because of their mighty and awesome look. They were
regarded by the ancient Chinese as divine animals, capable of warding
off evil spirits.
The
male lion is playing with a ball, which is said to represent the control
of the whole universe by the emperor. The female lion is playing with
a cub, which symbolizes prosperity of the royal family's offspring.
History
of the Gate of Supreme Harmony
The gate was burnt down in 1888, and rebuilt in the following year.
During the Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, this was where the emperor
held his court to handle the state affairs. The emperor would sit in
the gateway, accept documents from his ministers and make the decisions.
Beyond
the Gate of supreme Harmony, there is a courtyard, 10, 000 square meters
(12, 000 square yards) in area. When the ceremonies were held in the
Hall of Supreme Harmony, the civil and military officials stood in lines
in the courtyard with the high ranking officials in the front, all dressed
in their splendid ceremonial robes. A long whip cracked three times
as a signal and the whole assembly in unison performed the nine prostrations.
In
the courtyard,
there are big cauldrons for storing water against fire. There used to
be 308 in the whole palace but now only 231 are left. They were made
of iron, bronze or gilded-bronze. The iron cauldrons ere made in the
Ming Dynasty the bronze ones ere made in the Ming and Qing , and the
18 gilded ones were works of the Qing Dynasty.
Though
the Forbidden city was heavily guarded and surrounded by high walls
with watch towers, the emperor had the foundation beneath the courtyard
paved with fifteen layers of bricks in a special way: seven layers lengthwise,
and eight layers crosswise, one layer lengthwise upon one layer crosswise,
to prevent potential assassins from digging underground tunnels into
the palace.
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