Palace Museum

　　On October 10, 2017, the Palace Museum announced that starting from that day, online ticket sales had officially transitioned from trial to full implementation.

　　The Palace Museum is a comprehensive museum in China established on the basis of the imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties and their collections. It is situated in the heart of Beijing, facing Tiananmen Gate to the front, backing onto Jingshan Hill to the rear, adjacent to Wangfujing commercial district to the east, and near Zhongnanhai to the west. In 1961, it was designated by the State Council as one of the first group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level. In 1987, the Palace Museum was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

　　According to ancient Chinese astronomy, the Purple Star (Polaris) is located in the center of the sky—the abode of the Heavenly Emperor. By analogy, the residence of the earthly emperor was also called the Forbidden City. After seizing the throne, the third Ming emperor, Zhu Di, decided to move the capital to Beijing and began constructing this palace, which was completed in the 18th year of the Yongle reign (1420). In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution overthrew China’s last feudal monarchy—the Qing Dynasty. In 1924, the deposed emperor Puyi was expelled from the palace. Over the roughly 500 years before and after, 24 emperors lived and ruled here.

　　The Forbidden City is surrounded by 10-meter-high walls and a 52-meter-wide moat. The city is 961 meters long from north to south and 753 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of 720,000 square meters. There is a gate on each side of the wall, with the southern Meridian Gate (Wumen) and the northern Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen) now exclusively used for visitor access. The layout of the palace buildings extends from the central axis to both sides. With red walls, yellow tiles, painted beams, and carved rafters, the complex is resplendent and magnificent. The halls and towers vary in height, presenting a grand and imposing sight. In the glow of sunrise and sunset, it resembles a fairyland on earth. The southern half of the city centers around the three great halls—Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian), and Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian)—flanked by the Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhua Dian) and the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Dian). This section was used for imperial court ceremonies and is known as the “Front Court.” The northern half centers around the three rear palaces—Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), Hall of Union (Jiaotaidian), and Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong)—as well as the Six Eastern and Six Western Palaces and the Imperial Garden. To the east lies the Hall of Ancestral Worship (Fengxian Dian) and Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huangji Dian), while to the west are the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian), Hall of Joyful Longevity (Yuhuage), and Palace of Compassion and Tranquility (Cininggong). This area served as the residence of the emperor and empresses, and the venue for ceremonies, religious activities, and daily governance, known as the “Rear Palace.” The total floor space of these two palace complexes reaches 163,000 square meters. The entire architectural layout is rigorous and orderly, with every brick and tile adhering to the hierarchical rituals of feudalism, reflecting the supreme authority of the emperor. During the feudal imperial era, ordinary people could not and dared not approach it.

　　After the Xinhai Revolution, although the palace should have been entirely nationalized, according to the "Articles of Favorable Treatment of the Qing House" drawn up at the time, the deposed emperor Puyi was allowed to “temporarily reside within the forbidden quarters”—that is, the Rear Palace. The then government decided to move artifacts from the Chengde Mountain Resort (Rehe) and the Shenyang Imperial Palace to the Front Court section of the Forbidden City, establishing the “Museum of Ancient Artifacts” in 1914. Puyi remained in the palace, continuously colluding with remnants of the fallen Qing dynasty in an attempt to restore the monarchy. Under the pretenses of rewards, pawn loans, and repairs, he took numerous artifacts out of the palace, drawing serious public concern. In 1924, Feng Yuxiang launched the “Beijing Coup,” expelling Puyi from the palace and forming the “Committee for the Disposition of the Qing Imperial Household” to take over the Forbidden City and inventory its contents. After a year of intensive preparations, a grand inauguration ceremony was held on October 10, 1925, in front of the Hall of Heavenly Purity, announcing the official establishment of the Palace Museum. News of the opening was broadcast nationwide. On the first day, crowds flocked to see the mysterious palace and its treasures. Beijing was deserted, traffic came to a standstill, and it became front-page news in all major newspapers.

　　Initial inventories showed that the cultural relics left behind by the Qing imperial household totaled over 1.17 million pieces, as recorded in the 28-volume “Inventory Report of the Committee for the Disposition of the Qing Imperial Household” published in 1925. These included ritual bronzes from the Three Dynasties, ancient jade artifacts, calligraphy and paintings from the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, ceramics from the Song and Yuan, enamelware, lacquerware, gold and silverware, bamboo, wood, ivory, horn, and gourd carvings, metal and bronze religious statues, along with a vast array of imperial robes, textiles, and furniture. Precious stones and treasures abounded—all the wealth of the land seemed gathered here. In addition, there were extensive collections of books, documents, and archives. As a result, the Palace Museum established departments for Antiquities, Library, and Archives, each organizing personnel to continue sorting the collections, setting up exhibition rooms, holding various displays, and publishing numerous periodicals to disseminate information. All efforts flourished brilliantly, attracting a gathering of scholars and reaching a peak of cultural activity.

　　On the eve of the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese imperialism had invaded China’s northeast and was advancing toward North China, creating a critical situation. To protect the Palace Museum’s artifacts from war destruction or looting by Japan, the museum decided to relocate them southward. From February to May 1933, important relics were packed into 13,427 crates and 64 packages and transported in five batches first to Shanghai, then to Nanjing. A storage facility for artifacts was built in Nanjing, and the Nanjing Branch of the Palace Museum was established. In 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan. The relocated artifacts were again moved in three routes, eventually arriving in Sichuan and stored in Baxian, Emei, and Leshan. After the war ended, the artifacts were regrouped in Chongqing and returned to Nanjing in 1947. As the People’s Liberation Army was about to cross the Yangtze River, between the end of 1948 and early 1949, the Nanjing-based Nationalist government selected 2,972 crates of artifacts to be shipped to Taiwan. A new museum was later established in Shilin, outside Taipei, where the artifacts went on public display. The bulk of the remaining artifacts were gradually returned to the Palace Museum after 1949, totaling over 10,000 crates. However, 2,221 crates remain sealed in Nanjing under the custody of the Nanjing Museum. Throughout more than ten years of brutal warfare, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of Palace Museum staff, not a single piece of the massive collection was lost or damaged—their spirit and deeds are truly moving. Yet due to the war, the artifacts were dispersed across different locations. This invaluable part of China’s traditional culture belongs together and is inseparable from the architecture of the Forbidden City. It is believed that one day, they will be fully reunited.

　　After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the staff of the Palace Museum threw themselves into work with renewed vigor. They removed weeds, dredged waterways, and cleared garbage. In the early 1950s, over 250,000 cubic meters of century-old refuse were cleared from the palace grounds, giving the complex a completely renewed look. The Palace Museum adopted the principle of “prioritizing protection, focusing on key restorations, overall planning, and gradual implementation” for ancient building maintenance. After decades of effort, many dilapidated, leaky, or nearly collapsed halls and pavilions were repaired and repainted, regaining their former glory. Lightning protection systems were installed on the tall buildings, while massive investments were made in fire prevention, theft prevention, monitoring systems, and high-pressure firefighting water pipe networks to better protect the ancient structures. Especially after the reform and opening-up, with strong support from the government, the moat surrounding the Forbidden City was thoroughly renovated, better showcasing the grandeur of the former imperial city.

　　In terms of artifact work, the focus in the 1950s and 1960s was to recount, register, classify, and archive the old Qing imperial collections, correcting past inaccuracies and adding missing items—for instance, discovering an ivory mat wrapped in straw mats in a pile of odds and ends, or finding a set of paintings believed to be the “Six Arhats” by Tang dynasty artist Lu Lunhua beneath the floorboards during the restoration of the Shufangzhai Theater. Over more than ten years, a total of over 710,000 pieces of Qing imperial artifacts were sorted. At the same time, through state allocations, public donations, and private contributions, over 220,000 new artifacts were added, significantly filling gaps in the original collection in terms of eras and categories. These included painted pottery from the Stone Age, bronzes and jades from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, pottery figurines from the Han dynasty, stone Buddhist statues from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, tri-colored glazed pottery from the Tang dynasty, and more. Among the newly acquired ancient calligraphy and paintings, several masterpieces drew particular attention—such as Lu Ji’s “Pingfu Tie” and Wang Xun’s “Boyuan Tie” from the Jin dynasty, Gu Kaizhi’s “Nymph of the Luo River” scroll, Zhan Ziqian’s “Spring Outing” scroll from the Sui dynasty, Han Gan’s “Night-Shining White” and Dai Biaoyuan’s “Five Oxen” from the Tang dynasty, Du Mu’s “Farewell Poem at the Lingering Garden” and Han Huang’s “Five Oxen” from the Tang dynasty, Han Gan’s “Night-Shining White” and Dai Biaoyuan’s “Five Oxen” from the Tang dynasty, Li Gonglin’s “Illustrations to the Odes of Five Horses” from the Song dynasty, Ma Yuan’s “Listening to the Qin” and Xia Gui’s “Pure and Remote View of Streams and Mountains” from the Song dynasty, Ni Zan’s “Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains” and Wang Meng’s “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” from the Yuan dynasty, Shen Zhou’s “Copying Huang Gongwang’s Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” and Shi Tao’s “Call for the Recluse” from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and others—all highly celebrated. Among them, the first two were stolen from the palace by Puyi under the guise of rewarding his brother Pujie and later scattered among the public, only to be returned to the collection.

　　To protect this vast collection of ancient treasures, large-scale renovations were carried out on the original storage facilities from the 1950s to 1960s, implementing various moisture-proof and pest control measures. In the 1990s, new artifact storage facilities were built, capable of housing over 600,000 items. These new facilities maintain constant temperature and humidity, feature fire and theft prevention, and use modern automated technology to ensure the safety of the artifacts. Since 1950, an artifact restoration workshop was established, expanded in 1980 into the Department of Cultural Relics Conservation Science and Technology. Leveraging traditional craftsmanship and integrating advances in natural science, the department has restored over 110,000 damaged artifacts for the museum and partner institutions over the decades.

　　To bring the museum’s treasures to the public, in addition to preserving and restoring original displays in halls such as the Three Great Halls, the Three Rear Palaces, and the Six Western Palaces, the Palace Museum has periodically opened specialized exhibition halls for bronzes, ceramics, crafts, calligraphy and paintings, treasures, and clocks. Temporary exhibition spaces have also been created for thematic shows—such as recent exhibitions like “Comparison Exhibition of Authentic and Fake Ancient Paintings and Calligraphy,” “Comparison of Authentic and Replica Ancient Ceramics and Kiln Site Materials,” “Exhibition of Qing Imperial Packaging Art,” and “Exhibition of 50 Years of Acquired Artifacts”—all widely welcomed by audiences. The museum also hosts touring exhibitions from other domestic museums and international collections. To meet public demand, the Palace Museum organizes small-scale artifact exhibitions in provincial and municipal museums and is invited to hold various forms of exhibitions abroad—especially frequent since the reform and opening-up. Countries visited include the UK, USA, France, former USSR, Germany, Austria, Spain, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and more. Each exhibition has sparked immense interest among local audiences, allowing people worldwide to learn about China’s long history and splendid culture, contributing to friendly relations and cultural exchange.

　　In recent decades, the Palace Museum has received an average of 6 to 8 million domestic and international visitors annually. With the growth of tourism, visitor numbers continue to rise, showing enduring global interest in the Forbidden City.

　　Beyond serving visitors directly, the Palace Museum also publishes various books, albums, and periodicals to introduce its architecture and collections to society. Major publications include “The Palace Museum Collection of Famous Paintings,” “Selected Porcelains from the Palace Museum,” “National Treasures,” “The Forbidden City Palaces,” “Life in the Qing Imperial Court,” “Treasury of National Treasures,” and the 60-volume “Complete Collection of Treasured Artifacts in the Palace Museum” (18 volumes published so far), among countless others. Regular publications include “The Palace Museum Journal” and “The Forbidden City.”

　　Starting in 1997, to adapt to the needs of deeper reform and opening-up, the museum underwent major organizational restructuring. The previously separate departments of conservation, exhibition, and research were reorganized into the Department of Ancient Objects, Department of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphy, Department of the Imperial Court, and Department of Exhibition and Education. A new Information Center was established to advance the museum’s digital initiatives. Investments were made to introduce modern technology, launching a fiber-optic computer network system and various management databases within the museum, as well as establishing the Palace Museum’s official website via the global internet. The website you are now visiting allows people far and wide to explore this mysterious palace online, catching a glimpse of its magnificent architecture and rich collections.

The Palace Museum isAAAAAa top-tier attraction

The Palace Museum is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Palace of Purity and Harmony (Zhongcui Gong)

Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian)

Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen)

Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian)

Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huangji Dian)

Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Dian)

Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong)

Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong)

Palace of Compassion and Tranquility (Cininggong)

Studio of the Three Rarities (Sanxitang)

Hall of Mental Cultivation

Palace of Longevity and Health

Imperial Garden

Palace of Eternal Longevity

Meridian Gate

Palace Museum

Palace Museum

Palace Museum

Forbidden City