The Forbidden City: The Magnificent Imperial Palaces of Dynastic China
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2024
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My Grandfather was stationed in China during WWII and he was able to tour the Forbidden City as he was a Navy CB. He did a visual survey and took photos of Forbidden City. I have all of his collected photos and albums from then. I'm going to have them professionally archived and digitally scanned so can be preserved. I'll send all that I have to Chinese Government for historical and cultural purposes.
Send copies to the Smithsonian and other cultural institutions, just in case China "restores" the place to something grander to brag about and sweeps evidence to the contrary away.
That is incredible, thanks for preseving this part of the history!
@@lordelliott42plaese don't drag your politics into history preservation. I'm not even sure how you can over-exaggerate history from copies of photos...
@@krash4291
I'm talking about the buildings, not the photos. The photos are presumably an accurate record. Also, that the communist party of China has lied about things to either save face or make things seem better than they are is not politics. It's fact.
Thank you!
Although the Forbidden City was saved, Old Summer Palace wasn't. It was built with completely different aesthetic, but the same level of extravagant.
I'm obsessed with chinese historical drama's and an replica of the forbidden city is very often used in those drama's. It's housed in the largest film location of china, Hengdian World Studios.
It also made me want to know more about chinese ancient architecture.
*Glad you're finally covering Ba Sing Se*
but jokes aside, The Last Emperor movie made me fall in love with this place. It's amazing how they built all of this and even larger palaces so many years ago. The Forbidden City's an architectural marvel
🤓 I got that reference! 🤓
There is no war in Ba Sing Se
its hard to believe non-whites can build complex buildings without a white man to show them.
@@esecallum way to bring race into it. I think most of us know that....
@@TotalDrganMania because white people invented everything. only we can invent.
Love these names.
I imagine the toilet to be also named, "The Throne of Massive Tranquility"
I don't know about Tranquility, but Enlightenment I can see that.
I see your racist comments. Names sound funny to Westerners who don't understand and don't respect Chinese culture.
@@litesp Dude, I'm from Tianjin.
@@litesp VIRTUE SIGNALER! PAY ATTENTION TO HOW GOOD A PERSON THIS IS BECAUSE THEY CALLED OUT SOMEONE ON A HARMLESS JOKE! PRAISE BE TO YOUR EXCELLENCE! You're just so much better than the rest of us, aren't you? How about you cut this crap out, and go focus on a REAL issue. Or you could always go back to spitting in the faces of MLK and Malcolm X with your "woke liberalism". Go fucking have another riot or something...
@@litesp You really want to do some good? Go looking for my missing tribal sisters. You know, the Mi'Kmaq women who have been kidnapped, sold into slavery, and murdered, FOR DECADES that no one talks about. I've never hear any of you "woke" people actually helping anyone. Hell, I just had a bunch come by my apartment to "help with the slumlord", and the losers couldn't even figure out when to meet. Stop crying out "racism" for comments, if you're not willing to go out and actually do something. Woke ass loser....
Top tip. If you visit The Forbidden City there are some "golden Tiles" you can not walk on, they're ceramic, but look like metal using a process that has been lost to time. HOWEVER if you nip around the corner to the Temple of Confucius you will find it is pretty quiet and has these tiles EVERYWHERE, even on the way to the bathroom so you can study them up close. They also have chiselled monoliths with texts carved in by the emperors past, just laying around, neglected.
Where are the monoliths?
They already restored the whole thing and now you are only able to see the tiles up close at the temple. Cettain parts of the palace were blocked just because it has the golden tiles so you can only view it from the distance.
I visited the forbidden city a few years ago and at the entrances, they had loudspeakers blasting “DO NOT TRUST VENDORS OFFERING TOURS, THEY ARE SCAMS” 😂
pretty much the entire country is a giant scam
@@Sardiatae Well to be fair the whole world is a giant scam.
@@HELLO7657 Yeah I heard they counterfeited the entire human existence as well, oh and maybe I'm a counterfeit person also.
I've made counterfeit money when I was 5 but I'd think everyone would agree that in no way would that piece of paper with crayon scribbles would ever be circulated as proper currency. I never had a counterfeit egg before, maybe cause you really don't see them in properly regulated distribution facilities.
Oh wait, you're a Anti Foreign Colonizationist, makes sense now, just say some foreign thing is bad and you're better than easily colonize it, genius.
Doesn't matter if its China or not, many things that can be counterfeited have be counterfeited all around the world, so really, people just need to stay vigilant, and if you're scammed, too bad, get on with life.
Also you don't need the "yes really" in parenthesis, people know... all it does to some is make it sound like you're trying to win a losing argument by reiterating things you've already addressed, which doesn't contribute anymore than there already was, and evidently more so for such an mundane item of discussion.
Also, get Gaijined. Tried to shoot the ZTZ99's side but failed to even aim cause servers... (Inside joke regarding OP's nickname); Try to find the analogy though won't you.
Let's not get ahead ourselves here, the reason they tell you to not take those tours is because they would guide you around for a little while before taking you to a shopping center they get sponsored by where you can only get genetic souvenirs.
The same goes for almost all the free tour guides anywhere in the world.
@@HELLO7657 *Condescendingly: oH nO... I'm tRiGgErEd... CaUsE of cOurSe I'D be a dUmbAsS bigOtEd mEsS wOulDn't I? Right. I'm concerned as I see some negative prejudice from you.
The palace during the Tang Dynasty called the Da Ming Palace is meant to be five times larger than the Forbidden city
you get it！
because at that time there were still many giant trees in central part of China
Yea but we don’t have anything left from it. So it doesn’t matter
Who destroyed it?
The reason why the Ming palace is smaller than the Tang palace is because of DEFORESTATION. They ran out of wood and resources
@@imb5128 Several famous warlords in the Tang Dynasty of China destroyed the palace in Xi'an by burning and demolishing it. It was about five times larger than the current Forbidden City in Beijing.
Fun fact there was a endemic species of deer to the Forbidden city, those deer are thought to be a precursor to currently existing species that were bred in captivity in their original form and were the pets of the imperial family so to speak. When the peasant rebellion took the complex the deer either were killed and eaten by the rebel army or escaped and were eaten by the starving peasantry as they had no instincts for self preservation being pampered their entire lives.
lol Like us humans now?
10:44 When you give you sibling an unplugged controller and they think they are still playing.
It's also good for riot control too.
We will build an even bigger palace
A Supreme Leader deserves a Supreme Palace
Damn right he does.
And then Hotei can visit and play Battle Without Honor or Humanity there live.
You should disguise it as a ski resort
Your palace better have wifi
Damn right! Go for it!
Forbidden city: 150,000 square metres
Villa of Roman Emperor Hadrian: 1,000,000 square metres
Golden Palace of Nero: 1,214,056 square metres
Weiyang Palace of Emperor GaoZu: 4,800,000 square meters
Daming Palace of Emperor Taizong: 3,110,000 square meters
Malkata palace of Pharoah Amenhotep III: 3,600,000 square meters+. So far we've only found the middle lake and the 30,000 square meter central palace
Ancient Emperors apparently didn't know the meaning of the word "restraint"
holy moly man wow,forbidden city is massive and still it's nothing compared to the rest of these.
Xianyang palace from qin was about 2000 times larger than forbidden city. But it was a myth.
The question is where is the villa of Emperor Hadrian? This is the greatness of the Forbidden City..
F* rome
Do u think only rome & Chinese had palace😂
To the Sound Editors: That opening score gets me everytime, well done.
Any idea what the name is of that opening score? I love it.
I got to experience a personal tour of the Forbidden City in March 2012. Absolutely amazing.
i love my country sm, the forbidden city is breathtaking. But I feel sad when I think about how so much more beautiful it would be if they hadn't destroyed so much
What do you mean? The forbidden city is in perfect and original condition. It hasn't been damaged. Do you mean everything else in china that was destroyed?
The reason The Forbidden City was preserved through the cultural revolution is basically down to how Mao Zedong saw himself.
Some pretence here: my mum runs an urban planning design studio in Shanghai. One of her older colleagues (and mentor) was actually a junior architect back in the days of Mao, who in turn was the student of one of the lead urban planners of Beijing back in the 1950s. They passed down this following story by word of mouth, so take it at face value. But personally I think it makes sense, so here it is.
So the story goes that Mao and his cabinet was deciding on where the political centre of the PRC is going to be. The city was going to be Beijing (as in Beijing metropolitan area) - that was already decided, but the senior urban planners and architects were split down the aisle when it comes to the question: either to build around the old imperial city centre (i.e. The Forbidden City), or to preserve the old imperial city centre as it was, and build a brand new modern capital some 20km away. Of course all this was discussed behind closed doors, among senior professionals and top officials, but the point is it eventually came down to a stalemate.
So one day over the dinner table, a senior urban planner was chatting with Mao when he laid out the two opposing plans. Plan 1, keep using Zhongnanhai (the lake to the immediate east of The Forbidden City) and the building complexes associated with it as the political centre. Note that this was basically "the office area" for many previous emperors. Plan 2, preserve the old political centre and move away; build a new one. Mao tried to stay neutral, saying that it's a professional issue and therefore professionals should decide. But later on during the dinner let slip one line (quite possibly under the influence of alcohol): "All past emperors worked out of Zhongnanhai, so why can't I?" And thus the issue was decided - plan 1 it is. It's clear to most people that Mao Zedong very much wished to be seen as the emperor - there is even speculation that had his son not died in the Korean War, the leadership position of the PRC would have become hereditary, much like DPRK.
It has to be said that the original reason this story was even passed on was funnily trivial - traffic congestion. Beijing was (and still is) infamous for it. Many of my mum's seniors lamented that Mao decided to intervene in this professional matter, which is fundamentally the root cause of the terrible traffic conditions these days. However coincidentally, this decision quite possibly single-handedly saved The Forbidden City from destruction 20 years later during the Cultural Revolution, as it *still was* (still is) the active political centre, which explains why a whole battalion was sent to defend it.
Anyways, here's my fun little side story. Hopefully you enjoyed reading and have a good day.
Very well put together lie. Typical communist, sounds good but full of s**t
thanks for sharing that information, I sound like something that a dictator would do
@@FlyingNimbus601 lol you sound like you need counseling
@@scheimong you sound like a liar. So I guess we both need counseling.
A case of a dictator - Everything to do with the old, previous bad regime must be destroyed, except for what I have of it.
Didn't see it mentioned. But they have found out the way this city was built it is earthquake proof up to magnitude 9 plus.
Thank you Simon 🙏another great informative and entertaining video from you & the team 👌
Thank you, Simon.
I wonder why all Chinese and Russian themed video ALWAYS mention about oppresion, level of poverty and death during time of changes. But When it is western-countries video - he never begin with - This is US - the land where was a bloody civil war caused hundereds of thousands of deaths, the country where 40 millions of people use stamps for food, country that still have racial tensions (to say the least). Or France - where French revolution caused mass slaughter and massacres with thousands of death, the country where bloody regime opresses peaceful demonstrations.
Oh right because it's only propaganda if unwanted information given by countries which policies you don't like. Keep the good work.
Who does not know of the continuing racial tensions in the U.S. or the fact that the peasantry were starving in France before the French Revolution. Numerous movies have been made about both.
@@cajunlinks Pretty sure he has covered any number of atrocities by 'western countries' multiple times, so I'm not sure what sort of reality this person is living in.
(Forgive me for commenting on you, best not to talk to the nutter slobbering in the back of the train, if yanno what I'm sayin')
He always covers the bloody past. You're just pissed because, with Russia and China, there's the bloody present as well
@@cajunlinks yes and everyone knows about the atrocities China has done. It is just unnecessary to mention it in every video about China.
If he is going to continue doing that then why not introduce every vid about the US by mention every atrocity they have commited.
@@vulpes7079 and there isn’t a bloody present with the US and her allies and Israel? There is an extraordinary bloody and grusome present with the US and the apartheid state of Israel.
The video forgot to mention how the Forbidden City was turned into a museum after Puyi's abdication and the monumental task to safe guard the treasures of said palace from the Japanese. To date all of the collections were saved but many of them were evacuated to Taipei, Taiwan after the Communist won in 1949.
You should take a look at the Prelude FLNG ship. It is absolutely massive! It's designed to be a mobile natural gas processing plant.
Ideas for new videos:
Palmanova
Venice
Messina Strait bridge
Misc Italian renaissance cities: Bologna, Milan, Pavia, Urbino…
European fighter jets: Tornado, Typhoon, Tempest
Leopard tanks
Great video Simon!
Simon keeping his beard in tip-top shape to sell those beard oils, baby!
"Those weird spikes meant to keep pigeons off"
I remember when they first popped up. We have some under bridges here in the US, and I knew a dude who thought they were to prevent people sleeping under bridges. He wasn't very bright. Like a 2 watt bulb.
Could you do a video about Harbin's winter ice festival? It supposed to be the largest ice sculpture project every year in the most northern big Chinese city.
I was born in harbin and I used to go to winter Ice festival when I was a kid, they have Disney scale castle made entirely out of ice... then I left there when I was 5 and haven’t been back during winter time ever since :(
Hey Simon, look into the schollkopf disaster...it's quite a sight. We would go down there and wander around as kids until it became even more dangerous than it was
Many many thanks really enjoyed this
The palace survives because Zhou En-Lai, the premier, order PLA to stand guards at its door, because it is a national museum.
I imagine lot of people realised the shit they were in. You see some people have guts, and more important a soul with inteligence.
@@ryushogun9890 Indeed, if not for Zhou En-Lai more historical sites and artifacts could be destroyed by the Red Guards.
@@muic4880 I was legit just reading a book that mentioned this detail and decided to watch a video on the forbidden city. Funny how this is the first comment I see. 🤣
All you need to know about Forbidden City: czcams.com/video/feQAyNKd6HU/video.html
Needs more info on the actual construction techniques, that's super interesting in wooden Chinese buildings
Made of wood. Wow! I'll bet there is no smoking allowed in the Forbidden City.
It's glazed and painted so it's not easy to set alight
20million out of 1.4 billion living in poverty is still a miracle compared to the US
damn fine video whistler ...your turning into ( with great love and admiration ) the world history
cliff notes ...carry-on my brother ...peAc3 , davis
Amazing place. The Last Emperor is a beautifully shot movie. Good vid. Keep at it!
As always very well done good sir 👍
Outstanding!
Got to love Simon , In a 1970s Open University geeky geography teacher at inner city comprehensive , drives a Saab 96 how long will this one last kind of way. BLESS HIM
Excellent video as always.
Question: have you ever considered doing a video on the Welland Canal and/or the St Lawrence Seaway project. A series of lift locks to better enable shipping in North America. The Welland Canals in particular have existed since the mid 1800s and have moved four times, with a fifth planned in the next 30 to 40 year.
Rather than making a video of the Welland Canal, it is better to make a video of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the longest canal in the world. It is 1,800 years earlier than the canal you mentioned.
I grew up right next to the Forbidden City. Thx for the coverage! It's an absolutely beautiful place.
You didn't
The forbidden city kinda looks like a palace of Japanese arena of samurai
Excellent job. The movie "the last empire " was one of my favorite s.
Great forbidden video!
Good show! Suggestion for future video, Prague Castle. It was finished in 1418, and is also 600 years old.
Math checks out 🧐
I was there in 2018, at the Castle grounds for the 600th anniversary. So, technically Prague Castle is now 603 years old; as of time of this comment. The Castle is epic & beautiful, full of history, and still in use. But, mostly just a tourist trap these days.
Lol good rec given that Simon lives in Prague
@@jordanwilliams9300 was just thinking the same thing 😂
Im obsessed with the forbidden City cuz it is so beautiful 🤩
I've been there and it's absolutely staggering how huge it is. I overheard another tourist saying "I thought Versailles was a palace, this is something else." An unforgettable trip.
Yea, we went on a Tuesday. It's really busy on a Tuesday!
Great! Thank you
A video about the space needle would be cool! Been up in a few times but I have no idea about the building process
Whats a space needle?
It's in Seattle, USA. It was built for its 1962 World's Fair.
I have also been up it. Quite impressive.
Hats off to you for having the bravery to talk out loud the Taiwan Taboo Topic!
Now his social credits points in China has dropped to -10000
Let's do this thing; I mean let's really do it......whaddaya say we get N. Korea involved while we're at it? 🤣👍
Why is Taiwan Taboo?
@@blueberrypirate3601 "Taiwan Taboo" was the name of my college trip-hop acapella death reggae band.
@@blueberrypirate3601 Ask Tibet
It's a historical fact that they didn't build this city on rock 'n roll.
love your videos
Making a request for Tōdai-ji
The Buddhist Temple in Nara, Japan.
Please add playlists on your channels with ALL of your videos. I love turning these on as I fall asleep and you get more hits / play time.
Cixi Empress Dowager!!! You have to do one on her.
The British gave her a train as a gift but she didn't like the noise so she had it pulled by eunuchs.
“Nothing is finer than waking up in chiner in the morning “
Dude the upload time on all channels is on point like 2 minutes from one another hahaha
I noticed it too i wonder why.
@@aryaaswale7316 Simple, he wants to upload them all at the same time.
@@aryaaswale7316 he pre uploads them then releases them all at the same time. You can schedual uploads so videos release at certain times regardless of when you upload it. Its how youtubers can go on holiday and stuff - they just release their backlog over that time and get back to work when they get back.
Ladies and Gentlemen; we caught ‘em!
Oh no it's not that simple it not only his channels but also a lot of other channels that upload at this exact time. Ex ted ed, tom Scott, its okay to be smart etc
Good video 👍
Please do one on the biggest modern palace in the world: Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei
Video suggestion: dont know if it is good for mega projects but a video on the falkirk wheel would be cool
Back in the days of my parents who were born and raised in Beijing, you can visit the place as easy as going to a park and take photos on the emperor's throne. It's a place where kids can visit afterschool. Nowadays to just get inside the square in front of the Forbidden city you'd need to line up for security checks and go through another security check to enter the palace itself. This will take you an hour in minimum and many buildings aren't open to tourists inside.
開放初期確實如此 你很幸運
I would love to see an episode about the Suez canal. As well as one on the Panama canal. This is off topic from this video, but this is the most recent video.
I've been to the Forbidden City as well, 2007. It is truly a sight to see.
he did it already,sort of....look for the deadliest construction projects on sideprojects.
@@xiro6 . Thank you for letting me know. I just watched because you mentioned it. Since he also covered the Transcontinental Railroad in deadliest as well as in Megaprojects, I'll hope he'll cover these two as well. Fingers crossed.
5 gates lead into the city, the Meridian gate, the gate of Devine might, the East and west Devine gates and the fire exit
Thanks
The forbidden city is one of my favourite architectural masterpieces!
Ok wumao
@@RedRocketthefirst ok homeless bot
@@directxxxx71 How am i a bot? 🤣
@@RedRocketthefirsthow tf is appreciating art considered wumao
@@skraskraa._.5371 Because It's only ok to appreciate European art. 🤷♀
Its a remarkable place and I am glad that China is restoring and preserving it. Ruling classes and politics aside, these buildings are a testament to the people and craftsmen that built them and that's a good reason to keep them and look after them.
You forgot that it gives China a wildcard policy slot.
Check out the music video for "From Yesterday" by 30 Seconds to Mars for some absolutely stunning visuals of the Forbidden City
Link it
The Last Emperor was a fantastic film.
Make the destroyed Summer Palace next :D
I thought the summer palace was actually a lot prettier and more impressive than the forbidden city... The latter was mainly a whole lot of empty space... In terms of engineering and arts, the visible parts of it were underwhelming to be honest.
Omg yes the old summer palace
@@BamBoomBots from what I gather and watched it was the first Western style palace with the 12 zodiac water fountain? I believe your right.
@@Starwarroir The place I was talking about had a very large lake and a big park/forest in it. The buildings only constituted a small part of it but I thought those were prettier than the forbidden city as well. At least I was told I visited the summer palace there.
@@BamBoomBots yea it I know it all got burn down during the war
I was hoping for more info about its construction.
Excellent guide 👍 video 📹 👌 super
Simon could you do pre-burning of London? Interesting figures etc. 😁
Chaotic? Beijing is far too be chaotic with it's perfect grid plan !
Hey Simon, I'm a big fan of all of your videos and channels. You asked for suggestions for ideas for videos, and I have two big ones that hardly get any mention at all.
The first is the Kalinin K-7 Russian aircraft, which was so large that it had the equivalent of howitzers mounted on it, and required a massive crew to operate. It actually worked, and was used, but seemed to be a victim of poor planning and poor design.
The other idea is the Walls of Benin, which dwarf the Great Wall of China in size, scope, and length. Based on whichever statistics you look at, The Walls of Benin are considered to be the actual largest human-made structure known to ever exist.
The Great Wall is 21,196 kilometers long, and it is only 7,000 kilometers from China to Britain. Do you still think that the Great Wall of Benin will be longer than that of China?
"Well we named the north and south doors, what do we do now about east and west?
"It's Friday at 4:59, glorious entrances works for me"
"Done. Have a good weekend Dave"
Amazement
When will you do the Houses of Parliament in the uk who built it why was it built how much did it cost please please simon do this
Holy shit! The explosion from 1626 reminds me so much of last year explosion in Beirut but even worse as 20k people died.
Please do the awesome battle of the Somme Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector
Thank you
I didn't know the thing about the birds. cool
Simon, you are such a great host. I appreciate all the effort you and your writers do to create these illuminating quick-bites of history.
14:17 "Just don't say that to the Chinese" was exactly my thought before you said it 😅
it's impressive that it was built 600 years ago
Nothing says "Sod off peasants!!!" like a big f-off compound of palaces... :P
I hope that they have fire brigades on standby in the complex. With all that old, dry wood - any fire will need to be stomped on instantly or it'll spread uncontrollably.
Would love another 5 year plan video! Last one was awesome!
8 Nation alliance looks like central casting for a circus 🤡🎪
You did this, I think you should also do the Chinese Cultural Revolution
right cuz you literally can't say anything nice about China without bringing up something horrible.
Whatever UNESCO says it is indeed the largest collection of ornate wooden *sheds* in the world.
It is perhaps a little sad that historical parts of the buildings are run through by so many tourists, myself included, it's taken an obvious toll on the site which is sad to see. On the other hand its wonderful that the place can finally be visited by so many. China: so full of contradictions...
Last emperor was a phenomenal movie.
In this movie, he bought a ticket in 1960s to enter his childhood home. Little do I know, i'm about to do the same shit for mine in shanghai. Fucking unreal.
14:05 In 1933, Taiwan (Island of Formosa) was part of Japan, which had taken the island in 1895 from China during the First Sino-Japanese War.
It would be cool if they would explore the tomb
Video Idea: Washington State Ferry System, the largest in the US and arguably the world. Over 24 million passengers annually
i watched the last emperor, it was great
Growing up with the movie "The Last Emperor" hard to imagine this Palace full of Glory/full of people!
soo much harmony.....,
noice
I feel as though the title should have read “The end of the Wing Dynasty and the Fate of the Forbidden City”. I may sound knit picky but the title posted seemed, to me anyway, to suggest an inside tour of the place.
do the Old Summer Palace next
The anti bird thing is genius without sacrficing looks
The last true relic of Old China.🙏🙏