Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Inside the Forbidden City 1, Secrets

Posted on June 26, 2020June 26, 2020 by Dharma Documentaries
The first of two films looking at all aspects of the great palace in Beijing and its fortunes over the centuries.

Inside the Forbidden City, Secrets

This is a film in two parts made by CCT (China Central Television) and distributed by NatGeo to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the building of the Forbidden City in Beijing which housed the Emperor of China for the next 500 years, and is one of the largest palace complexes in the world.

The first part looks at the history of how the city of Beijing was built up and renovated with a new palace complex by Emperor Zhu Di in the 15th century when China was the richest country in the world.

The magnificent palace itself reflected that status, and was built after pulling down the smaller palace of Genghis Khan from an earlier period. It took around 14 years to build and employed tens of thousands of people in its construction, and included some amazing architectural feats, such as the solid tree pillars, and a solid single piece stone ramp 54ft long.

The film explains the history of the founding of Beijing as the new capital, the building of the palace and the new city and the various fortunes that it has gone through in the past 600 years.

We also see some records of the last of the emperors, Puyi, and the power behind the throne, Empress Dowager Cixi. We learn something of the life of the Emperors and their daily work, and find out about the symbolism of the decoration, and the wonderful art works that were commissioned.

 

if the video does not appear on the page, please first try reloading the page, and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

TAGS:
Culture, Architecture, China, Palaces

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Comments do not appear straight away, but are moderated before publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/4Ce

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Related Posts

  • Inside the Forbidden City 2, Survival
  • Dorothy Wong, Buddhist Pilgrim-Monks, 2
  • Dorothy Wong, Buddhist Pilgrim-Monks, 1
  • Yu Garden, Shanghai
  • Xuan Zang Memorial Centre, Nalanda
  • Forbidden City, Beijing (Expoza)
  • Chengde, China (Expoza)
  • The Lost Temple
  • Art of Faith, Buddhism
  • Saving the Great Wild Goose Pagoda

Recent Posts

  • Angkor Wat, Ancient Hydraulic City
  • The Magical Mountain of Tibet
  • Lords of Water
  • Radioactive Waste, A Nuclear Nightmare
  • Beyond Boundaries, Buddhist Art of Gandhāra
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 3
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery 3, 45-88
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery 3, 1-44

Random Posts

  • Legend of Dajian Huineng
  • How Thai Forest Buddhism Came to British Columbia
  • Path to Enlightenment, 1/4
  • Tibetan Buddhism in Europe
  • If a Tree Falls, A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
  • Monastery Life in Burma
  • The Monsanto Papers
  • The Dalai Lama, Inner Peace and Non-Violence
  • Indiana Jones 12, The Treasures of China
  • Yunnan, China (Expoza)
© 2023 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme