The Forbidden City, now located in the middle of Beijing, was the home to twenty-four emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). It took sixteen years to build the palace, and it is fit for a true god. The Forbidden City covers an area of about one hundred and seventy-eight acres. The palace earned its name because it was so extravagant that ordinary people were forbidden from it. In the Forbidden City, there was an Inner Court and Outer Court. The inner sanctum rooms were forbidden to women except to the Empress on her wedding day. Near the end of the eighteenth century about 9,000 people lived in the Forbidden City made up of guards, servants, eunuchs, concubines, civil servants and the Royal Family. In 1601, a priest brought the first mechanical clock into the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the scene of many significant events affecting the course of Chinese history. Today, the Forbidden City still contains some of the the world’s finest art, artifacts, and a great number of treasures from people who lived there and from military campaigns. The Forbidden City has had a huge affect on the Ming dynasty, China, and the world.
