Son of Heaven in the Center

Architecture reflects culture.The ancient Chinese buildings contained rich symbolic meanings which could be regarded as a unique architectural language.The palaces of the Forbidden City represented the wills of the Emperor and embodied fully the imperial architectural language.

Son of Heaven in the Center

“If never see the splendor of the imperial residence，how could one know the supremacy of the Son of Heaven？”The city planning of Beijing centered on the Forbidden City.The emperor resided in the center of the capital which symbolized the legitimacy of his imperial power and the right he owned on behalf of the Heaven.

Some say the shape of the three-tier terrace of the Forbidden City indicates（master）to show that the emperor was the master of all the people.The three-tier terrace is much higher than the ground which symbolizes a link between the Heaven and the Earth.Others say that it is in the shape of（earth）indicating that all the land on the earth belonged to the emperor.Above the terrace，there is the Hall of Supreme Harmony（Taihe Dian）with a width of 11 bays and a depth of 5 bays，the roof of which is held up by 72 huge columns.The Hall of Supreme Harmony is featured with the highest level of double-eaved hip roof which fully represents the supremacy of the imperial power.

If we look at the names of the Halls in the Outer Court such as the Hall of Central Harmony（Zhonghe Dian），the Hall of Preserving Harmony（Baohe Dian），the Ha11 of Literary Brilliance（Wenhua Dian）and the Hall of Martial Valor（Wuying Dian）and that in the Inner Court including the Palace of Heavenly Purity（Qianqing Gong），the Palace of Earthly Tranquility（Kunning Gong），the Gate of Solar Essence（Rijing Men）and the Gate of Lunar Essence（Yuehua Men），we can see the main point is to show that the imperial power was bestowed from Heaven and the imperial buildings a meeting point of Heaven，Earth and the human being.

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