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Shanghai• EAST
CNINA SEA
• Hong Kong

DESIGN PRINC IPLES
The harmonious principle of Yin and Y ang IS Henry (Aixinjueluo) Puyl as< ended the Qing
centra l to Chinese design. The F orbidden City is throne in 1908 at the age or three. His brief reign
ended on February 12, 1912, when he abdi<ated
arranged symmetrically on a north-south axis , in favor of the R epubll< or C hina. Puyi remained
with hall entrances facing south to avoid the a virtual prisoner In the pala<e until1924, when
malign Yin e ffects -cold wind, evil spirits , and he fled to the Japanese <on<ession in Tianjin.
He never returned to the Forbidden City
barbarian warriors--that come from the north. and died <hildless and anonymous in
Odd numbers represent Y ang, the masculine 1967 after world ng lor seven years
element assoaated wth the emperor Hence as a gardener at the Beijing
the freq;ent occurrence of three, fwe, seven, Botani<al Gardens.
and the hi!:flest (and therefore best) Slngle-dgrt Hervy P~l. the boy emperor
odd number-nine-in arclitectural details tt
is sa1 d that the palace has 9,999 rooms, and as
nine times nine is especially fortunate, impe rial
doors us ually have 81 golden studs.

SERV ING THE EMPEROR
Because of the dual role of the Forbidden C ity-
as the liv1ng quarters of the imperial family and
the center of administration- eunuchs, the
only male servants allowe d in the palace, were
in a un1que position. Allowed access to the
emperor's family, a few influential eunuchs
w1elded great power, siphoning off vast
fortunes from the imperial coffers. The fate of
the majority, though, was similar to that of a
slave. Higher up the socia l s cale, the emperor's
concubines lived in a series of palaces beside
the Inner Court At night, the emperor would
decide which concubine would s leep with him,
and the number of times a concubine was
chosen determ1ned her soda! stancjng

THE INNER COURT
The structure of the Inner Court mirrors that of
the Outer Court, but on a s maller scale T here In 1644, as peasant rebels were
are three main Inner Court palaces-the P a l ace
storming the capita!, the I ast M i ng
of H eavenly f.1Jrity was originally used as the emperor, Chong Z hen, killed his
imperial s leeping quarters, and later for the daughter and concubines before
reception of imperial offici a is. Beyond this fleeing the Forbidden Palace to
palace lies the H all of Union, which was used hang himself on nearby Coal Hill.
as a throne room by the empress, as well as a
deposito!)' for the imperial seals used to s1gn
offioal documents. Still farther on, the Palace
of Earthly Tranq;illity served as living quarters
for the M1ng empres ses. Behind the lmer Court
is the Imperial Garden. On erther side of the
s tate apartments were the residences of the
imperial family and their attendants-reputed
to number as many as 9,000 by the 1700s.