Each corner of the Forbidden City has a unique corner tower. Below is seen the moat surrounding the palace which is 3,800 metres long and 52 metres wide.
Intruders were discouraged by guards in watchtowers with bow and arrows. Legend has it that the emperor gave craftsmen only nine days to design the corner towers. With still no ideas after eight days, the craftsmen were sitting in a teahouse hoping for an idea. An old peddler selling a cricket cage approached them and was quickly sent away. But he smiled and said, "Look closely, this is no ordinary cricket cage." In fact it was finely crafted and had 9 beams, 18 columns and 72 ridges. It was taken as the model for the towers. The peddler was actually master craftsman Lu Ban who became an immortal.
Yellow is a royal colour, thus the colour of the roof tiles. The red colour of the walls symbolize happiness and auspiciousness.
Marble for the palace came from outlying areas of Beijing and coloured stones and granite from Hebei province. During Beijing's cold winters the roads were splashed with water so sleds could move the huge chunks of rock. Wells were dug every 500 metres along the way especially for the purpose. In summer logs were used to roll the rocks along. This might take hundreds of people for large rocks.
Animal ornaments commonly decorate the corners of roofs. The more animals the more important the building. On the far left is a dragon and on the right an immortal rides a phoenix.
Dragon heads are used as water spouts as in Chinese mythology Paxia, the sixth of the dragon's nine sons, loves water.
The Imperial Garden is where members of the imperial household came to relax. Alabyrinthh of old trees,pavilionss and flowers the footpaths are paved with mosaic patterns made from small stones. At the Mid-Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the eighth lunar month) the emperor and empress came to the garden to view the full moon.
Weaving its way through the imperial gardens is a path one kilometre long of paved mosaics. The path has over 720 pictures and patterns. Some are are historical stories, pictures of people, animals and folk customs.
There was an assassination attempt in the imperial gardens in 1803 on Emperor Jiaqing when an armed stranger chased him. He was rescued by his ministers.
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