The Forbidden City (Chinese: 자금성 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) - 명·청나라 황제들 500년

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[디자인·건축 이야기] 자금성(紫禁城)

명·청나라 황제들 500년간 생활한 곳… 100만명 동원해 72만㎡로 지었어요

입력 : 2023.05.02 03:30 조선일보

자금성(紫禁城)​

▲ 중국 베이징에 있는 자금성의 모습. /위키피디아

지난 3월 28일 일본 음악가 사카모토 류이치가 별세했습니다. 그는 1987년 개봉한 영화 '마지막 황제'로 아시아계 최초 아카데미 음악상 수상 기록을 남겼습니다. 이 영화는 세계 최초로 중국 베이징 중심 자금성에서 촬영했어요.

자금성을 세운 사람은 명나라를 건국한 홍무제의 아들 영락제입니다. 그는 원래 '연왕(燕王)'에 봉해졌어요. 베이징 일대를 책임지는 제후였죠. 그러다 황제가 된 조카를 폐위하고 제위에 올랐죠. 그는 수도를 난징에서 자신의 정치적 배경인 베이징으로 옮기면서 새로운 궁궐 자금성을 기획했어요. 자금성은 현존하는 전 세계 궁궐 중 가장 규모가 큰 축에 속해요. 동서로 760m, 남북으로 960m에 달하고, 부지 면적은 72만㎡에 달합니다. 11m 높이로 성벽을 쌓았고, 너비 52m, 깊이 6m 해자(적의 공격을 막기 위해 성 주변을 둘러 판 연못)를 갖췄어요. 둘레가 총 4㎞에 이릅니다.

영락제는 자금성을 짓기 위해 중국 각지에서 엄청난 양의 고급 자재를 징발했어요. 중국 남서부 윈난성 밀림에서 수십만 그루의 나무를 베었어요. 채석장에서는 10만명을 투입해 건물 기단부와 조각용으로 쓰일 석재를 확보했죠. 쑤저우에서 생산한 최고급 벽돌 1억장, 다양한 색깔의 유리 기와 2억장 등 수많은 고급 건축 자재가 한곳에 모였어요. 남쪽에서 온 장인 10만명을 투입해 3년 6개월 만에 궁전을 지어 올렸다고 합니다. 자금성을 짓는 데 동원된 총인력은 100만명에 달했어요.

명나라를 밀어낸 청나라도 화려한 자금성을 황제가 머무는 정식 궁궐로 썼어요. 명·청 500년 동안 총 24명의 황제가 생활한 자금성은 중국 역사에서 빼놓을 수 없는 장소로 꼽힙니다. 1924년 청나라 마지막 황제 선통제가 쫓겨난 후 자금성에는 수백 년 동안 황제가 모아둔 희귀 고서화와 가구, 장식품이 남았어요. 중일 전쟁이 발발하자 강탈을 막기 위해 자금성 유물 중 옮길 수 있는 것들은 상하이 교회 창고로 가지고 갔어요. 대륙에서 집권한 국민당 정부는 수도 난징에 박물관을 지어 보물을 보관했죠. 그런데 1945년 일본이 패망하고 국민당과 공산당 간 내전이 일어났습니다. 국민당을 이끌던 장제스는 패색이 짙어지자 난징에 모은 유물 중 가치 있는 것들만 골라 대만으로 가지고 갔습니다. 현재 대만 수도에 있는 타이베이 고궁박물관이 중국 황실 유물을 대거 소장하게 된 배경입니다.

자금성은 1966년 문화대혁명 때 위기를 겪어요. 당시 마오쩌둥은 자금성을 완전히 밀어버리고 공산당 중앙 당사를 지으려는 계획까지 세웠어요. 저우언라이 총리가 강력히 반대해 다행히 실현되지 않았다고 해요. 1970년대 이후 자금성은 개·보수를 진행했고, 각지에 흩어진 유물을 모아 고궁박물원이라는 이름으로 운영하고 있습니다. 자금성은 1987년 유네스코 세계유산에 등재됐어요.

전종현 디자인·건축 저널리스트

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The Forbidden City (Chinese: 자금성 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng)

Forbidden City 紫禁城

"Forbidden City" in Chinese characters

Chinese name

Literal meaning "Purple [North Star] Forbidden City"

The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the 22 ha (54-acre) Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 69 ha (171-acre) Beihai Park, and the 23 ha (57-acre) Jingshan Park. It is officially administered by the Palace Museum.

The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The complex consists of 980 buildings,[4] encompassing 9,999 rooms and covering 720,000 m2 (72 ha)/178 acres.[5][6] The palace exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and the traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Since 2012, the Forbidden City has seen an average of 14 million visitors annually, and received more than 19 million visitors in 2019. In 2018, the Forbidden City's market value was estimated at 70 billion USD, making it both the world's most valuable palace and the most valuable piece of real estate anywhere in the world.

The Forbidden City in Beijing is one of the largest and most well-preserved wooden structures in the world. It was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961.

Etymology

The common English name "Forbidden City" is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng; lit. 'Purple Forbidden City'). The name Zijin Cheng first formally appeared in 1576.[10] Another English name of similar origin is "Forbidden Palace".

The name "Zijin Cheng" is a name with significance on many levels. Zi, or "Purple", refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure (Chinese: 紫微垣; pinyin: Zǐwēiyuán), was the realm of the Celestial Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin refers to a prohibition or taboo (often used in signs saying "no entry" or "no smoking" or "X is prohibited"). Cheng means a castle, fortress, or fortification.

Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng (故宫), which means the "Former Palace". The museum which is based in these buildings is known as the "Palace Museum" (Chinese: 故宫博物院; pinyin: Gùgōng Bówùyùan).

In Ming and Qing, the Forbidden City was also known as Da Nei (大内) or "Palace City" (宫城).

History

Main article: History of the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City as depicted in a Ming dynasty painting

A depiction of the Forbidden City from the German magazine Die Gartenlaube (1853)

When Hongwu Emperor's son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and construction began in 1406 on what would become the Forbidden City.

Construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers.[14] Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood (Chinese: 楠木; pinyin: nánmù) found in the jungles of south-western China, and large blocks of marble from quarries near Beijing.[15] The floors of major halls were paved with "golden bricks" (Chinese: 金磚; pinyin: jīnzhuān), specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou.

From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty. In April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty. He soon fled before the combined armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting fire to parts of the Forbidden City in the process.

By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, and a ceremony was held at the Forbidden City to proclaim the young Shunzhi Emperor as ruler of all China under the Qing dynasty. The Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings, to emphasise "Harmony" rather than "Supremacy", made the name plates bilingual (Chinese and Manchu), and introduced Shamanist elements to the palace.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war. In 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year.

After being the home of 24 emperors – 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty – the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, until he was evicted after a coup in 1924. The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925. In 1933, the Japanese invasion of China forced the evacuation of the national treasures in the Forbidden City. Part of the collection was returned at the end of World War II, but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1948 under orders of Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang was losing the Chinese Civil War. This relatively small but high quality collection was kept in storage until 1965, when it again became public, as the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some damage was done to the Forbidden City as the country was swept up in revolutionary zeal. During the Cultural Revolution, however, further destruction was prevented when Premier Zhou Enlai sent an army battalion to guard the city.

The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO as the "Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", due to its significant place in the development of Chinese architecture and culture. It is currently administered by the Palace Museum.

In the early 21st century, the Palace Museum carried out a sixteen-year restoration project to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1912 state, with the goal that 76% of the palace would be open to the public by 2020. As a result of that project, the Shoukang Palace was officially opened to the public in 2013, after initially being displayed in its original state. A sculpture museum was opened in the Cining Palace in 2015. Also opened in 2015 were the precincts around Cining Palace, the Yanyin Building and the East Glorious (Donghua) Gate.

Structure

The Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), the northern gate

Plan of the Forbidden City. Labels in red are used to refer to locations throughout the article.

- – - Approximate dividing line between Inner (north) and Outer (south) Courts.

A. Meridian Gate

B. Gate of Divine Might

C. West Glorious Gate

D. East Glorious Gate

E. Corner towers

F. Gate of Supreme Harmony

G. Hall of Supreme Harmony

H. Hall of Military Eminence

J. Hall of Literary Glory

K. Southern Three Places

L. Palace of Heavenly Purity

M. Imperial garden

N. Hall of Mental Cultivation

O. Palace of Tranquil Longevity

The Forbidden City is a rectangle, measuring 961 m (3,153 ft) from north to south and 753 m (2,470 ft) from east to west. It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms. The layout of the Forbidden City activated and protected the imperial code of ethics as a physical installation. The courtyard was built on a massive, luxurious scale but it has the appearance of an ordinary quadrangle courtyard. A common myth states that there are 9999 rooms including antechambers, based on oral tradition, and it is not supported by survey evidence. The Forbidden City was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City.

The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. The central north–south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to Yongdingmen. To the north, it extends through Jingshan Hill to the Bell and Drum Towers. This axis is not exactly aligned north–south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees. Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan dynasty to be aligned with Xanadu, the other capital of their empire.

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