 The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Forbidden City is located in the middle of Beijing, China. It now houses the Palace Museum.
The site where the Forbidden City stands today was part of the imperial city during the Mongol Yuan dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty succeeded it, the first Hongwu Emperor moved the capital from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the south, and in 1369 ordered that the Mongol palaces be razed. His son, Zhu Di, was created Prince of Yan with seat in Beijing. A princely palace was built near the site. In 1402, Zhu Di usurped the throne and became the Yongle Emperor. Soon after, he made Beijing a secondary capital of the Ming empire, and construction of the palace that would become the Forbidden City started in 1406. |
