Welcome to the research guide for L01 444: The Forbidden City. You can use the navigation on this guide to find resources. Please let Joan or Jenny know if you need any assistance!

Course Description: Home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), the Forbidden City today occupies the heart of Beijing and comprises the largest ensembles of pre-modern architecture in China. This seminar examines the origins of the palace, its construction in early Ming, the coded symbolisms of its plan and decoration, the rituals of court, and the lives of its denizens, from emperors (including Pu Yi, the "last emperor") to concubines, from Jesuit missionaries to eunuchs. The course also considers the twentieth-century identity of the site as a public museum and the backdrop to major political events, as well as its role in the urban design and contemporary art of twenty-first century Beijing.  

"Forbidden City (Beijing, China)" by Michael McDonough is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0