Pod Insights Short History Of... The Forbidden City About this episode Nestled deep in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City stands as one of the world’s greatest architectural marvels. Built in the early 15th century as the secretive seat of imperial rule, it’s the largest palace complex anywhere in the world, and the biggest wooden structure on earth.
But how did an audacious coup lead to the construction of this mysterious compound? What was life like inside the gated city? And how did it survive revolution, civil war, invasion, and natural disasters, to remain relevant even today?
This is a Short History Of The Forbidden City.
A Noiser Production, written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to Dr Stephen Whiteman, a Reader in the Art and Architecture of China at The Courtauld Institute of Art.
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1:05 Speaker 02 It's January 1420, near a marble quarry around 40 miles southwest of Beijing, China.
1:13 Speaker 02 On the side of a wide, ice-covered road, a young man in his early twenties huddles among hundreds of other laborers.
1:21 Speaker 02 The bitter cold bites his cheeks, and his breath billows out in a huff of steam. He bounces on his heels to get the blood flowing, preparing himself for the monumental task ahead.
1:35 Speaker 02 At his feet lie several thick ropes, heavy with ice. They're all connected to an enormous wooden sled upon which sits a giant slab of rock.
1:47 Speaker 02 Around 54 feet long, nearly 10 feet wide, and just under 6 foot thick, this monolith weighs an astonishing 220 tons.
1:57 Speaker 02 The young man rubs his calloused hands together. His fingers roar from the cold and from gripping those coarse, freezing ropes.
2:07 Speaker 02 He's been working like this every winter for three years now. Transporting huge rocks from the quarry along these specially-created ice roads all the way to Beijing and the construction site of Emperor Yongle's palace complex.
2:23 Speaker 02 This slab of stone, though, is the final piece.
2:32 Speaker 02 By far the biggest and most significant, a block of solid marble. It's roughly hewn, but the winter sun still glints off its surface in places.
2:44 Speaker 02 Up on the road ahead, the foreman raises his arm with a shout. It's time.
2:51 Speaker 02 Moving as one, the laborers bend to pick up the thick ropes, hauling them over shoulders worn into ruts by previous drags. Once everyone is in position and ready, the foreman calls out again. A chorus of grunts erupts as the pulling team takes the strain.
3:12 Speaker 02 Other laborers throw water in front of the wooden sled, creating a slick path for the load to travel on. And with a low, grinding rumble, the great slab of marble begins to move.
3:25 Speaker 02 The men advance as one, in slow, deliberate steps, their boots crunching in the snow, taking care not to slip on the road.
3:34 Speaker 02 His muscles burning with the effort of getting the sled moving, the young man settles into his stride. The hardest part is over. Now they just have to keep this beast moving.
3:48 Speaker 02 But the weight of expectation bears down on him, as heavy as the stone he's dragging. Because this is more than just a slab of marble, destined to become a grand staircase. It is a final piece of the mighty construction in the capital, the symbol of Emperor Yongle's ambition and power. It's up to this young man and his fellow laborers to deliver it safely to the Forbidden City.
4:28 Speaker 02 Nestled deep in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City stands as one of the world's greatest architectural and cultural marvels. It's the largest palace complex anywhere in the world, and the biggest wooden structure on earth.
4:44 Speaker 02 The seat of imperial rule for nearly 500 years, this sprawling city within a city was home to 24 emperors, their families, entourages, and governments.
4:57 Speaker 02 Built in the early 15th century, its towering walls, red lacquered wooden buildings, and golden rooftops were once strictly off limits to all but the inner circle of the Chinese Empire.
5:10 Speaker 02 But how did an audacious coup lead to the construction of this vast, mysterious palace compound? What was life like in this gated city, where emperors ruled, concubines competed for power, and court dynamics were shaped by betrayal and intrigue? And how did it survive revolution, civil war, invasion, and a series of natural disasters to remain a monument of Chinese heritage even today?
5:39 Speaker 02 I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Network. This is A Short History of the Forbidden City.
5:54 Speaker 02 The story begins in the late 13th century. Having just conquered China, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Yuan Dynasty, establishes his capital on the site of present-day Beijing.
6:11 Speaker 02 Called Dadu, or Great Capital, it's built on an impressive grid system and on a massive scale to demonstrate Mongol supremacy.
6:22 Speaker 02 But when the Yuan Dynasty falls in 1368, after widespread civil unrest, a new dynasty is founded: the Ming.
6:35 Speaker 02 Having ousted the Mongols from Dadoo, the new emperor renames the city Beijing, meaning "pacified north", and sets about removing all traces of its former rulers.
6:50 Speaker 02 Dr. Stephen Whitman is a reader in the Art and Architecture of China at the Courtenelled Institute of Art.
6:56 Speaker 03 Basically, the site of Beijing had been a capital of a state of various empires off and on since the Bronze Age. And the city of Beijing itself was built on top of earlier Mongol and Jurchen capitals, in a slightly different location, but basically the same spot.
7:20 Speaker 02 The first Ming emperor destroys or restructures most of the imperial buildings of the former Mongol city. Then he promptly moves his court and the capital down south to Nanjing.
7:33 Speaker 02 By the time the emperor dies, his first son has also passed away. So the throne goes to his 15-year-old grandson. But this hierarchical slight doesn't go down well with the first emperor's fourth son, Zhu Di.
7:50 Speaker 02 He's been leading armies in the north, but now, less than a year into his young nephew's rule, Zhu Di launches a civil war under the pretense of rectifying the new government's wrongdoings.
8:07 Speaker 02 In 1402, after three years of fighting, Zhu Di finally captures the Chinese capital, Nanjing. His nephew, according to conflicting accounts, either flees in disguise or dies in the coup. In any case, Zhu Di declares himself emperor, adopting the reign title of Yongle and immediately sets about consolidating his power.
8:32 Speaker 02 His biggest initiative is to relocate the capital from Nanjing in the south, back up north to Beiping, which he will later rename Beijing.
8:42 Speaker 03 He was moving away from factional politics relating to brothers who were competing for the throne, and he moved north to sort of get closer to his own power base. And also, the Ming perceived military threats from Inner Asia, from Northeast Asia and Mongolia, and so he moved the court north for defensive reasons as well.
9:05 Speaker 02 To truly stamp his mark on his new capital, Yongle plans an immense, ambitious palace complex at the heart of the city. It will be a grand display of his strength and of the might and ingenuity of the Chinese people.
9:21 Speaker 02 It will be called the Purple Forbidden City. Forbidden because it will be the private space of the emperor and his court, and a city, of course. But why purple?
9:33 Speaker 03 The purple is associated with the North Star or the Polar Star, which is the residence of the mythical Jade Emperor, who is a sort of paradigm for all imperial rule. And so, the design of the Forbidden City positions the emperor in the north of the city, associated with the North Star, facing south, facing the population before him.
10:01 Speaker 02 To implement this majestic vision, he employs the best architects, designers, artisans, and master craftsmen, and gathers the very finest resources from across China.
10:13 Speaker 02 The striking white marble to be used for the palace's staircases, terraces, and foundation stones will be mined from quarries in the De Xiwu Hills, southwest of Beijing.
10:24 Speaker 02 To ship these colossal slabs, a unique transportation method is devised. In winter, the roads from the quarry to the construction site are deliberately frozen over to make the job of hauling the marble on enormous sleds that little bit easier.
10:41 Speaker 02 Immense timber beams and columns, some of the largest in the world, are sourced from the dense forests of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces over a thousand miles south.
10:53 Speaker 02 Moving these enormous logs, over 130 feet long, force Yongle's builders to come up with another marvel of engineering: the China Grand Canal.
11:09 Speaker 02 Longer than the Suez or Panama Canals, the waterway stretches over 1,100 miles, from the commercial center of Hangzhou in the south all the way to Beijing, and links the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers on the way.
11:24 Speaker 02 In total, over 100,000 of these huge logs are floated along the full length of the canal to reach the construction site. Then there's the glazed golden roof tiles, which are crafted in the emperor's kilns elsewhere and transported to Beijing with painstaking care.
11:44 Speaker 02 And the attention to detail doesn't stop with the building materials. The entire design combines cosmology and traditional harmonizing principles to create a masterpiece of sacred geometry. The city's architects plan it on a north-south axis to represent the balance between yin and yang. Every temple, building, and path will be aligned perfectly with the cardinal directions. Their placement and architecture, in which every tiny detail has significance, will serve to reflect the emperor's connection to heaven.
12:22 Speaker 02 The new city will be a microcosm, not just of Yongle's empire, but of the universe itself.
12:29 Speaker 03 It embodies the sacred or ritual geometry that is intended to reflect outwards, onto and sort of order the empire as a whole. It's the site of many, many rituals that are key to the emperor's ritual authority over the state, and it is in fact connected in a sort of network, almost a sort of nesting series of spaces that reach outwards. And so it's connected to other ritual and state places within Beijing itself, and then further out into the empire symbolically.
13:05 Speaker 02 The adherence to these traditional principles is drilled down to the very smallest details. The number nine, denoting eternity and imperial power, appears throughout the city's architecture. From the nine rows of golden nails on each door, to the nine mythical beasts perched atop the roof ridges of the most important buildings.
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15:23 Speaker 02 With the design, materials, and experts in place, construction begins in 1406. It will take 12 years to complete. But when it is done, it will be the defining symbol of Emperor Yongla's reign and a wonder to behold.
15:43 Speaker 02 The entire city is surrounded by gigantic walls made of rammed earth, reinforced on the outsides with brick and stone. Standing around 33 feet tall, they form a square to enclose the complex. Each side of the square is around 2,500 feet long, around seven modern football pitches. And the whole barricade is surrounded by a moat wider than an Olympic swimming pool is long. Entry, though not completely forbidden, is certainly by invitation only.
16:18 Speaker 03 We often think of the Forbidden City as a place of walls. You know, it's sort of an infinite number of walls that divide space, that close things off, that do create this sort of forbidden environment. But equally, we can also think of the Forbidden City as a place of gates and portals, places that people come and go through for all sorts of different functions.
16:45 Speaker 02 The main gate through those daunting walls is Meridian or Wumen Gate. This massive, five-arched gateway is a magnificent, imposing structure which faces south. It's reserved for the emperor, his close officials, and honored guests.
17:04 Speaker 02 Other visitors must use either the east or west glorious gates or the Gate of Divine Might to enter the city. Those permitted to enter via the Wumen Gates pass through the towering red walls into the outer court. An expanse of golden tiled roofs stretches out, casting reflections on the marble courtyards like dragon scales in the sunlight.
17:29 Speaker 02 A gently meandering man-made river, the Golden Stream, winds its way through the grounds.
17:37 Speaker 02 Bordered by marble balustrades and spanned by five intricately carved marble bridges, it's designed to represent the passage from the mortal world into the emperor's celestial domain.
17:52 Speaker 02 On either side of the courtyard, colossal red columns support roofs adorned with dragons, phoenixes, or the fearsome fish-dragon hybrid be Chi Wen, all mythical guardians of the emperor's realm.
18:07 Speaker 02 The more important the building, the more figurines it boasts. And the Hall of Supreme Harmony, rising on a three-tiered marble terrace, is the most decorated of all.
18:23 Speaker 02 While the outer court is a vast stage for lavish ceremonies and state functions, the inner court is a secluded realm, inhabited only by the emperor and his family.
18:36 Speaker 03 A combined aspects, I suppose, of Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, all into one. It was where the emperor lived. It was where his wives, the women of the court, lived. It was where he saw officials. It was where major rituals were performed. But it had both this sort of, essentially, private function and also a very, very public and ritualized function.
19:02 Speaker 02 Passing through the gate of heavenly purity to enter the sacred inner court is not only a physical transition, but a symbolic passage into the emperor's private world.
19:13 Speaker 02 Here, the scale becomes more intimate, with tranquil pavilions and elegant, intricately decorated halls. There are areas for entertainment, smaller temples for reflection and worship, and lush, manicured gardens.
19:29 Speaker 02 Every corner whispers of lives lived in seclusion, bound by duty and the weight of imperial tradition.
19:37 Speaker 03 These spaces are less open and more sort of maze-like. They consist of lots of little courtyards that basically resemble elite houses, you know, the homes of rich officials or rich merchants, in the sense that they are a series of halls arranged around a small courtyard in which a small family unit lives, or a series of halls that contain libraries or other objects or other things associated with the emperor's private life.
20:10 Speaker 02 From this inner court, the emperor's power will radiate outward through the more public areas of the Forbidden City, over the massive walls, out across Beijing, and into the country beyond.
20:28 Speaker 02 By 1421, the construction is complete. Finally, a procession from Nanjing carries Emperor Yongle and his family, court and government, to the Forbidden City.
20:44 Speaker 02 Safely moved in, he gets started developing his influence beyond China.
20:51 Speaker 02 Through his patronage of the famous Yunnan admiral Zheng He, he expands his country's maritime influence across the Indian Ocean. With his treasure ships dwarfing anything Europe has to offer, they travel far and wide, asserting the potency of the Ming Dynasty through trade and cultural exchange. At home, Emperor Yongle has ordered repairs and reinforcements to the Great Wall of China that had been damaged or neglected under the Yuan Dynasty. But he's still locked in frequent battles with the Mongols in the northern steppes.
21:31 Speaker 02 In August 1424, not three years after moving into the Forbidden City, Yongle dies during one of those military campaigns.
21:43 Speaker 02 As the 15th century gives way to the 16th, and then the 17th, China thrives. The Great Wall as we know it today, with its watchtowers and garrison stations, is completed. A porcelain boom sees the height of the Chinese blue-and-white pattern production. Literature, painting, calligraphy, all flourish.
22:07 Speaker 02 And yet, life in the Forbidden City flows as a relatively unchanged blend of opulence, ritual, and isolation.
22:18 Speaker 02 Each successive emperor lives in the Inner Court with his wives, concubines, his mother, the Empress Dowager, and a troupe of very carefully selected servants.
22:30 Speaker 03 Who the father of the emperor's children actually was was a very, very important issue. It had to be the emperor. And if it turned out that it actually wasn't, that it was the emperor's brother or uncle or nephew, that would in itself create a whole succession crisis. And so this was one reason why the Inner Court was so heavily controlled.
22:56 Speaker 02 As such, the only adult men allowed to stay inside the Inner Court are the thousands of eunuchs who attend to the emperor.
23:07 Speaker 02 These men, often from poor families, are castrated before adolescence and are raised for court service.
23:16 Speaker 02 Their roles variously include administrative record-keeping, archiving, managing the harem's, guarding the treasure vaults, or performing ceremonial duties. Some higher-ranking eunuchs are called on to lead military expeditions, like Admiral Zheng He.
23:34 Speaker 02 Others advise the emperor politically, or act as conduits between him and his scholars and bureaucrats.
23:42 Speaker 02 At the height of the Ming Dynasty, there are between 70,000 and 100,000 eunuchs employed across the empire, with a significant number of those living within the walls of the Forbidden City. Their proximity to the emperor makes them good gatekeepers, but their influence often leads to tensions with the Confucian scholar-officials who make up the government. Increasingly, eunuchs are sent out to liaise, negotiate, or present the emperor's directives, while the ruler himself remains ensconced in his inner sanctum.
24:17 Speaker 03 Famously, after the turn of the 16th century, after 1600, in the sort of lead-up to the fall of the Ming, the emperor stayed extremely isolated for many, many years within the Inner Court, not even coming out to sort of greet his officials for a number of years. If there was something that contributed to the fall of the Ming, that isolation either was a cause or a reflection of the effect.
24:44 Speaker 02 In 1627, following the death of his older brother, the Chongzhen Emperor inherits a court divided by political infighting and a country in poor health. And despite the name "Chongzhen", meaning "honorable and auspicious", his reign is anything but.
25:05 Speaker 02 Heavy taxation, government corruption, and mismanagement have led to widespread poverty, which, coupled with a series of droughts and famines, have destabilized the economy.
25:17 Speaker 02 There is also a threat that one of the more powerful eunuchs of the previous reign will challenge for the throne.
25:25 Speaker 02 The new emperor, beset by paranoia and determined to stem the decline of the Ming dynasty, turns his attention to the top ranks of his civil and military institutions.
25:37 Speaker 02 Rashly, he executes many of his top field commanders, including those with vital experience of defending against the troublesome Manchu forces who keep invading the northern frontier.
25:55 Speaker 02 Formerly a coalition of tribes from the northeast, by the mid-1630s, the Manchu have coalesced into a formidable force under the leadership of Hong Taiji.
26:07 Speaker 02 Once semi-nomadic horsemen and hunters, they have forged alliances with the formidable Mongol tribes and adopted advanced military tactics.
26:18 Speaker 02 Taking advantage of the crumbling Ming dynasty, they launch repeated incursions along the Great Wall, testing China's defenses and sowing chaos.
26:29 Speaker 02 As he notches up the victories, Hong Taiji's control grows.
26:35 Speaker 02 By 1636, he proclaims a new dynasty: the Qing. And though the Ming are still holding on to power by their fingernails, Hong Taiji declares himself emperor of this new house.
26:55 Speaker 02 Meanwhile, the struggling Ming armies, stripped of their skilled leaders, also find themselves faced with major popular uprisings. A number of rebel forces, driven by relentless famine and deprivation, take arms against the old Ming emperor in the Forbidden City and begin a drive to overthrow him.
27:18 Speaker 02 The rebellion spread from province to province, gathering momentum, largely under the leadership of one man: Li Zicheng.
27:28 Speaker 02 A former postal worker, who lost his job due to imperial cost-cutting measures, he manages to unify the rebels through his vision for economic and social reform.
27:39 Speaker 02 With Hong Taiji tying up the beleaguered Ming armies in the north, Li Zicheng expands his own forces. Soon, they are marching towards Beijing, meeting little resistance.
27:55 Speaker 02 But though the Ming emperor in the Forbidden City is already under pressure from the dual threat of the Manchu armies along the wall and the looming arrival of Li's rebels, a further peril now emerges.
28:10 Speaker 02 Initially breaking out in the northwest of the country, a major bubonic plague epidemic makes devastating progress through the country. By 1641, it's arrived in the capital.
28:23 Speaker 02 At its peak, the plague claims the lives of at least 200,000 people in Beijing alone. Even the impenetrable walls of the Forbidden City can do nothing to stop its spread. And with his critically weakened army, the emperor is in no position to resist invasion.
28:51 Speaker 02 It is the twenty-fifth of April, sixteen forty-four.
28:56 Speaker 02 Inside the sacred walls of the inner court in the Forbidden City, a young concubine smooths her formal gown over her narrow hips.
29:06 Speaker 02 The silk is soft against her skin, the deep, red fabric a vibrant contrast to her pale face.
29:14 Speaker 02 She is new to the court, a quiet shadow in this imposing palace, her name still unspoken on the emperor's lips.
29:24 Speaker 02 Hopefully though, she will meet him this morning.
29:30 Speaker 02 Outside, footsteps approach. The concubine shrinks back. Rumors of a coup have been whispered for weeks, and so far, everyone she's met has seemed unnerved and suspicious. Even as she was brought into the Forbidden City some days ago, she'd caught glimpses of the rebel forces gathering around Beijing. Armed peasants with fierce eyes.
29:55 Speaker 02 But surely they're no match for the emperor.
29:59 Speaker 02 Without a word, a court eunuch steps into the room and with a somber nod summons her out into the corridor.
30:08 Speaker 02 Dwarfed by her surroundings, she stares wide-eyed at the intricate carvings, the gleaming marble, the shining gold.
30:19 Speaker 02 Finally, the eunuch opens a huge set of doors and leads her into a vast, spectacular hall.
30:27 Speaker 02 Inside, she joins a group of other timid-looking concubines, all staring silently at their silk-slippered feet. The tension is palpable.
30:37 Speaker 02 Raising her eyes, the young woman recognizes Consort Yuan, the emperor's favorite. Beside her, two of the emperor's daughters, Princesses Jia Ren and Chang Ping. Both have tears brimming in their eyes.
30:54 Speaker 02 A pair of ornate doors swings open, and the silent room seems to hold its breath as the emperor enters.
31:04 Speaker 02 But this is not the man the young woman is expecting to see. His shoulders are stooped, his eyes hollow, as though his whole being is haunted by the weight of his crumbling empire.
31:17 Speaker 02 As the doors close behind him, the emperor draws his sword and points it at his consort and daughters.
31:25 Speaker 02 The sword shakes in his hand as he tells them that rebels have seized the city.
31:32 Speaker 02 He will die rather than surrender. It is a matter of honor.
31:40 Speaker 02 And where the emperor goes, his court must follow, even into death.
31:47 Speaker 02 Suddenly, the concubine is pushed backwards as the group recoils from the emperor's swinging blade. Consort Yuan tries to appeal to him, but it's too late. She is the first to fall to his sword. Her daughter lunges to help her, but the emperor strikes again, and the princess too is killed. His other daughter, Princess Chang Ping, raises her arm to protect herself. He slices it clean off.
32:16 Speaker 02 It will take her days to die from that wound, but she will inevitably join the rest of the fallen royal family.
32:26 Speaker 02 With a clatter, a smaller set of doors opens on the far side of the hall. Two eunuchs burst through. Loyalty swept aside, in the face of certain death, they shout for the women to run for their lives. The concubine is swept away with a fleeing group as Li Zicheng's rebels take the city.
32:52 Speaker 02 Having murdered the heir to his throne and most of his immediate family, the emperor hangs himself from a tree in the gardens before the rebels reach him. The Forbidden City, that symbol of Ming dominance, now begins a new chapter.
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34:37 Speaker 04 You know, it's the time of the year when I'm always on the lookout for fresh fall options for my wardrobe. And I think I just found my new favorite sweater at Quince. It's the Cotton Fisherman Crew. It's relaxed, it's cozy, but yet still polished. It's one of those versatile pieces you can wear everywhere, to the office, out running errands, or a night out with friends. And as we head into the holiday season, this is definitely one I'll be adding to others on my list. See, Quince focuses on high-quality staples made with premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere, 14-karat gold, and Italian leather. All timeless, versatile pieces that feel special to unwrap and become everyday favorites long after the holidays. Their cashmere sweaters start at just $60, and the lineup doesn't stop there. They have premium down jackets...
35:20 Speaker 04 Wool outerwear and cashmere accessories. Everything you and your loved ones need to stay warm and look put together all season long. And when it comes to gifting, Quince has a lot more than clothing. Think fine jewelry, leather bags, hotel-quality bedding, chef-grade cookware, and five-star luggage. Basically, plenty of ways to find something special for everyone on your list. So give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com and get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. It's now available in Canada and the UK, too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know what short history of. It's the best way to support the show.
36:03 Speaker 02 Having slid his rebellious feet under the imperial table, Li Zicheng's capture of the capital is a pivotal moment in Chinese history, marking the end of the Ming Dynasty. However, his hold on Beijing and the rule of his self-proclaimed Shun Dynasty is particularly short-lived. Taking advantage of the fall of the Ming, those Manchu forces who have been terrorizing the northern frontiers are about to make their own move on Beijing. Before 1644 is out, a new dynasty occupies the Forbidden City, the recently established Qing.
36:43 Speaker 03 We talk about the Qing Dynasty starting in 1644. The Qing Dynasty was actually declared in 1636, and 1644 is the time when they cross the Great Wall and they take over Beijing. What they do is they occupy the Forbidden City. And that's because they aren't just... To say that they're conquering the Ming, of course, that's what the Qing is doing. It's conquering the Ming, but it's also succeeding the Ming. And what they have to do to secure the Mandate of Heaven, to demonstrate that they have secured the Mandate of Heaven, the sort of divine right to rule, is they have to show themselves as successors to the Ming. And part of that is occupying the site of the Ming. Part of that is taking control of important ritual elements, things like the seals of
37:28 Speaker 03 state, but also taking control of the Imperial Art Collection and all sorts of other things.
37:41 Speaker 02 Unfortunately for the Qing, their founder Hong Taiji died suddenly the year before this triumphant entrance into Beijing.
37:50 Speaker 02 His successor is his five-year-old son, who will be guided by a regent in the shape of his uncle, Prince Dorgon. In the short term at least, Dorgon will prove to be the steadying force the Qing need to consolidate its power grab.
38:06 Speaker 02 To introduce stability from the start, he insists, against the wishes of other Manchu princes, that the Forbidden City remain the dynastic capital and that most Ming officials are reappointed to their previous positions. He also drastically reduces the reliance on eunuchs, who many see as a corrupting force.
38:28 Speaker 03 The Qing at least initially shrunk the size of those eunuch populations because rightly or wrongly, they believed that corruption in the eunuchs, over-reliance on eunuchs who they viewed as emasculated and therefore weaker, was one of the things that had weakened and ultimately led to the fall of the Ming.
38:49 Speaker 02 Although he's seen as instrumental to the young emperor's rise, it is only after Dorgon's sudden death during a hunting trip in 1650 that the Shunji Emperor, still aged only 12, gradually begins his personal rule.
39:08 Speaker 02 Stepping in to help with the big decisions now is his mother, the Empress Dowager.
39:16 Speaker 03 The Empress Dowager plays a very important role in the court. She is the only person to whom the emperor kowtows. Qing emperors were very, very connected to their mothers and archives tell us that they literally went to see their mothers sort of every day to greet them and ask them how they were. They played a very, very important role in the court's life in that regard.
39:41 Speaker 02 But the young emperor's reign is cut short when he dies of smallpox at the age of just 24. He in turn is succeeded by his third son, who will rule for over six decades as the Kang Shi Emperor.
39:59 Speaker 02 In those sixty-one years, the longest of any emperor in Chinese history, the Kang Shi Emperor will help to stabilize Qing rule after its chaotic start. Only seven when he takes the throne. He has four regents by his side. With their help, and later through his own strong leadership, he manages to quell any lingering resistance from Ming loyalists and crush several major rebellions from regional leaders wanting independence.
40:30 Speaker 02 He also expands his empire's borders by successfully annexing Taiwan and securing Qing control over Tibet, Mongolia, and parts of Central Asia.
40:41 Speaker 02 Embracing Western technology and science, he welcomes Jesuit missionaries from Europe, from whom he learns about astronomy, mathematics, and cartography. He's also a strong patron of arts and learning. He commissions the Kang Shi Dictionary, which will become a cornerstone of Chinese lexicography, and creates libraries within the Forbidden City to promote learning. His love of the arts changes the face of the previously restricted Inner Court of the Forbidden City.
41:14 Speaker 03 In the rear court, the so-called Inner Court, we often think was completely inaccessible to anyone except the emperor, his wives and children, his mother, and eunuchs. That's not entirely true. Over time, other people were brought into the Inner Court for specific events: celebrations, festivals, theater performances and banquets especially. The Qing practiced a form of emperorship that was somewhat more convivial, that involved more hosting and banqueting and theater entertainment, things like this. And so, they tended to, at least on occasion, bring people for that type of event in the Inner Court.
41:58 Speaker 02 His long reign ushers in a golden age for the Qing dynasty, with reduced taxes, support for agriculture, and a growth in population. The Forbidden City continues as the seat of imperial government, but thanks to the patronage of the Kang Shi Emperor, it also becomes a hub of Chinese and Manchu cultural heritage, helping to bridge the divide between the emperor and his people.
42:28 Speaker 02 As the Qing dynasty reaches the height of its strength in the 18th century, its self-sufficient economy and vast resources make China a dominant force in Asia.
42:40 Speaker 02 Trade with Europe is heavily controlled under the Canton system, which restricts foreign merchants to a single port in Guangzhou and allows the Qing to tightly regulate the lucrative export of tea, silk, and porcelain.
42:57 Speaker 02 At this stage, China has little need for European imports. Traders from the West are forced to buy goods with silver rather than exchanging their own wares, leading to an uncomfortable trade imbalance.
43:11 Speaker 02 Seeking to reverse the deficit, Britain begins selling the opium being processed in India to the Chinese traders. Soon, addiction in China becomes widespread.
43:27 Speaker 02 The resulting surge in demand for the narcotic undermines the Qing economy, draining its silver reserves.
43:36 Speaker 02 Seen as a luxury good, its prolific use among palace officials and the Inner Court has an almost immediate effect on the decision-making, corruption, and efficiency of the government. The emperor, himself no fan of the drug, needs to act.
43:54 Speaker 02 Concerned about the outflow of silver to the British and desperate to halt the destruction being wrought on his people by drug dependency, the emperor issues an edict he hopes will end the opium trade.
44:07 Speaker 02 But when the British find their stock of opium confiscated without any compensation, they respond with military force.
44:20 Speaker 02 The first opium war erupts, seeing a Qing navy of mostly wooden sailing junks completely outclassed by the British Royal Navy.
44:31 Speaker 02 Even in ground battles, the Qing forces are no match for Britain's muskets. After just under three years of war, in 1842, the Qing surrender. A significant blow for this proud emperor.
44:50 Speaker 02 The resulting Treaty of Nanjing is the first in a series of unequal treaties to be imposed by foreign powers. It demands war reparations and the opening up of at least five treaty ports to Western trade. Most importantly, it forces the Qing government to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain, ensuring that she can continue to trade opium freely without Qing interference.
45:18 Speaker 02 This shaming loss of sovereignty marks the start of what the Chinese will come to refer to as "The Century of Humiliation." But the Qing are not ready to hand over the reins to these foreigners just yet.
45:35 Speaker 02 The beginning of the 20th century is marked by a fiery uprising, known as the Boxer Rebellion. Fueled by anti-foreign sentiment and a desire to reclaim some sovereignty, the uprising is led by a secret group of martial arts practitioners by the name of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fist, nicknamed "The Boxers."
45:59 Speaker 02 While the Qing government would prefer a more conciliatory approach, the Boxers want action. They start targeting foreign missionaries, diplomats, and Chinese Christians, whom they blame for the country's decline.
46:14 Speaker 02 Initially, the official response from inside the Forbidden City is to demonstrate loyalty to the foreign powers and crack down on the Boxers.
46:25 Speaker 03 The Boxers represented a scale of uprising that put real pressure on the Qing state, on Qing resources, on Qing sort of military capacity, but also that that happened in concert and indeed that the Boxers were in part a response to serious issues around famine.
46:50 Speaker 03 And so that the second half of the 19th century, the Qing faced a series of famine crises and food crises. The narrative long was that the Qing fell because of the impact of Western pressure and Western incursion and things like the Opium Wars. That those were certainly impactful but relatively minor in comparison to the scale of the problems presented by famine and by not just the Boxers but a whole series of internal rebellions in the second half of the 19th century.
47:25 Speaker 02 In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion engulfs Beijing, supported from inside the Forbidden City by the powerful Empress Dowager Sisi. When Sisi pulls the government's stance into line with her own, the Qing officially side with the Boxers.
47:44 Speaker 02 Once in Beijing, the Boxers lay siege to the Legation Quarter, a walled area just outside the Forbidden City which houses the embassies, banks, churches, and other institutions of a number of foreign nations.
48:00 Speaker 02 For 55 days, this quarter becomes the focal point of the rebellion against the foreigners, with Boxer and Qing troops attacking a small defensive force of around 400 diplomats, soldiers, and civilians. With water and supplies dwindling inside the Legation Quarter, an eight-nation alliance, including forces from Britain, Russia, and Japan, finally send reinforcements to crush the rebellion. Though the Forbidden City remains untouched, the damage to the Qing dynasty is irreparable.
48:38 Speaker 02 The rebellion ends with the signing of the punishing Boxer Protocol, which demands that China pays 450 million taels of silver, the equivalent to about 10 billion pounds today, to the foreign powers who suppressed the uprising. Key officials who supported the rebellion are exiled, military defenses are destroyed, and arms imports are banned for two years.
49:05 Speaker 02 The population, still struggling with famine and an economy now stretched even further, feel that the imperial court has failed them. The Qing must have lost the mandate of heaven.
49:19 Speaker 02 It's time for change.
49:27 Speaker 04 You know, it's the time of the year when I'm always on the lookout for fresh fall options for my wardrobe. And I think I just found my new favorite sweater at Quince. It's the Cotton Fisherman Crew. It's relaxed, it's cozy, but yet still polished. It's one of those versatile pieces you can wear everywhere, to the office, out running errands, or a night out with friends. And as we head into the holiday season, this is definitely one I'll be adding to others on my list. See, Quince focuses on high-quality staples made with premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere, 14-karat gold, and Italian leather. All timeless, versatile pieces that feel special to unwrap and become everyday favorites long after the holidays. Their cashmere sweaters start at just $60, and the lineup doesn't stop there. They have premium down jackets, wool outerwear, and cashmere accessories.
50:12 Speaker 04 Everything you and your loved ones need to stay warm and look put together all season long. And when it comes to gifting, Quince has a lot more than clothing. Think fine jewelry, leather bags, hotel-quality bedding, chef-grade cookware, and five-star luggage. Basically, plenty of ways to find something special for everyone on your list. So give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com and get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. It's now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know what short history of it's the best way to support the show.
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51:19 Speaker 02 In October 1911, after another decade of uprisings, an army garrison mutinies in Wuhan, some 650 miles from the Forbidden City, and demands the overthrow of the beleaguered Qing. Immediately, other similar revolts break out around the country. The Qing court tries to negotiate with the rebels, but to no avail. The revolutionary forces create a provisional coalition government in Nanjing, and on the 1st of January 1912, they declare the establishment of the Republic of China.
51:54 Speaker 02 Inside the Forbidden City, Pu Yi, the six-year-old child emperor, whose story will later be told in Bernardo Bertolucci's epic biopic, The Last Emperor, is forced to abdicate. 2,000 years of imperial rule are finally at an end.
52:12 Speaker 02 But where many would expect the palaces and temples of the old empire to be destroyed, in fact, the Forbidden City remains relatively untouched, and the young emperor unharmed.
52:24 Speaker 03 The overthrow of the Qing and its replacement by the Republican government involved a treaty, and Pu Yi was granted the right, at least for a while, to remain with a sort of skeleton court in the Forbidden City and to retain a certain status as the former emperor of the former Qing dynasty. And had certain benefits and rights granted to him by the Republican state.
52:54 Speaker 02 Now, the Forbidden City becomes a poignant embodiment of China's fractured identity.
53:02 Speaker 02 A relic of a bygone era, sitting in the midst of a city grappling with a volatile present and an uncertain future. Puyi and his diminished royal household are allowed to remain in the Inner Court, still protected by a lingering respect for the sanctity of the palace, but cut off from true power.
53:25 Speaker 02 Meanwhile, the city around them is rocked by intense political instability, as the republic tries to establish a cohesive government. The economic strain hasn't eased, and foreign governments continue to dominate. The power vacuum left by the collapse of the Qing has opened the door to competing warlords vying for control.
53:48 Speaker 02 In 1924, the latest of these to take control of Beijing finally brings an end to the peaceful agreement with Puyi.
54:01 Speaker 02 It's a crisp morning in early November 1924.
54:07 Speaker 02 Heavy boots echo across the marbled courtyard, breaking the sacred stillness of the Forbidden City's Inner Court.
54:16 Speaker 02 A eunuch stands, shoulder to shoulder with a couple of colleagues, forming a feeble defensive line in front of the imperial residence.
54:26 Speaker 02 Since the first emperor set foot inside this Inner Court, it has been a place of sanctuary, with entry forbidden to all common men. Not anymore.
54:37 Speaker 02 Right now, troops of rough soldiers from the National People's Army are marching through this sacred space with grim purpose, disregarding centuries of tradition.
54:50 Speaker 02 As they approach, the eunuchs are forced to step aside. They no longer have any authority here. They can only watch as the soldiers force open the doors to the palace.
55:03 Speaker 02 Just moments later, the eighteen-year-old Emperor Pu Yi is led out.
55:09 Speaker 02 His youthful face is stoic and composed, betraying just the briefest flicker of anxiety as he and his young wife are led down the steps.
55:20 Speaker 02 The eunuch feels a lump rise in his throat as he watches Pu Yi leave the palace that has been his shelter since birth.
55:29 Speaker 02 As a magpie shrieks from the golden rooftop, the last emperor is led from the city. There are shouted orders from the soldiers, and the eunuch stumbles forward as a rough hand pushes him on to join the sorry procession.
55:45 Speaker 02 All around them are the cries of courtiers being cleared out of the sacred enclave. Never again will the once glorious Forbidden City be home to an emperor.
55:58 Speaker 02 As he says his own silent farewell, the eunuch can only wonder what will happen to the palace city now.
56:14 Speaker 02 Pu Yi will face exile for a time in Japan, but his long and eventful life after abdicating is another story in itself.
56:24 Speaker 02 Fortunately, the Forbidden City is once again spared from destruction or vandalism.
56:31 Speaker 03 He remained relatively untouched and the Republican government had established it as a museum and a sort of state collection. And our earliest post-Xin catalogs of the contents of the Forbidden City are this sort of fascinating set of catalogs made by the Republican government in the late teens through the mid twenties that just seek to account for what's in the Forbidden City in terms of objects, furniture, paintings, whatever.
57:05 Speaker 02 In 1925, the Forbidden City opens to the public as the Palace Museum, dedicated to preserving the artifacts and history of China's imperial past. Finally, visitors from across the country can explore the rich history, architecture, and cultural treasures once preserved for the elite few.
57:28 Speaker 02 For the next two decades, the fractured nation struggles to repair itself. But amid the chaos of bickering warlords and foreign interventions, revolutionary ideals begin to take root.
57:41 Speaker 02 In the countryside, whispers of land reform and worker solidarity gain momentum, while urban centers simmer with discontent against corruption. It's in this volatile landscape that the Communist Party of China begins its ascent, promising a new vision for a nation in turmoil.
58:02 Speaker 03 So, the Communists came to power in 1949, and the Cultural Revolution began in 1966 and lasted for a decade until Mao's death in 1976. And during that period, my sense is that the government followed a sort of interesting dual strategy. On the one hand, the policy very much was to attack and destroy the so-called Four Olds, of which things associated with what was called feudal China or dynastic China, including works of art and temples and architecture and all sorts of things, were to be smashed.
58:45 Speaker 03 And I say "smashed" both figuratively and quite literary. But the government also protected certain key cultural institutions and cultural environments. The Forbidden City absolutely was one of them. Zhou Enlai particularly, who was the premier, recognized that destroying things like the Forbidden City and the art contained within it would not only be terrible for Chinese society and Chinese culture, but would make China look terrible internationally. And so, spaces like that were protected. Unbelievable, unimaginable amounts of art, unimaginable lives were destroyed, but the Forbidden City itself was protected.
59:30 Speaker 02 In place of destroying the Forbidden City, the new Communist Party recognizes its significance as a powerful symbol of China's cultural heritage, better to preserve it as a source of national pride and a reminder of the nation's resilience.
59:49 Speaker 02 The Communist Party centered their seat of government in Tiananmen Square, a new public space just outside the gates of the Forbidden City and on the former site of many of the Qing government offices.
1:00:02 Speaker 03 China has a very, very long history of new governments occupying the seats of old governments, of capitals being built on capitals, of palaces being built on palaces. In creating this public space, the Communist government, on the one hand, cleared away the structures, the infrastructure, the site of the sort of heart of Qing bureaucracy, right? But on the other hand, they directly occupied the government space that had been used by the Qing. They just took over that. People at the time, they associate that area with government, with authority, with power. And so the idea that a new government
1:00:46 Speaker 03 would move into that same sort of powerful space but create it anew at the same time is a very effective strategy.
1:00:56 Speaker 02 Even though the government's decisions are now made outside of its walls, the complex still endures as a monument to China's imperial past, the continuity of its civilization, and the authority of the state.
1:01:10 Speaker 02 And it's not the last time the Forbidden City will evolve.
1:01:15 Speaker 02 By the late 1980s, China is opening up to the world again. As an irreplaceable cultural treasure, in 1987, the Forbidden City is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1:01:29 Speaker 03 1987 is a period of reform in China. Mao has passed away and the leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, is seeking to create a series of economic reforms, but also to create a series of cultural reforms that will allow China to connect more effectively with the outside world. And so UNESCO, in that context, UNESCO World Heritage status should probably be understood as part of the process by which China integrates more broadly with the world community through the structures of the US.
1:02:11 Speaker 02 In recent decades, extensive restoration and conservation efforts have been undertaken to preserve the Forbidden City for future generations.
1:02:20 Speaker 02 Built to signify the emperor's divine right and absolute power, it now stands as one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, attracting millions of visitors annually. And though it no longer forms the bridge between the imperial rulers and the heavens, the Forbidden City still offers a crucial key to understanding and appreciating China's rich history and culture.
1:02:44 Speaker 03 It's a sort of magnificent place and it's a relic or a survival of an extraordinary empire or a series of empires and culture that is very much, in some respects, a living culture in China and that many, many Chinese simply feel great pride about the Forbidden City, just as the British might about Buckingham Palace or Americans might about the White House. We think of it, according to its sort of name, as it being forbidden and at one level it really was. But at another level, it was the sort of the beating heart at the center of this huge circulatory system of ritual, of objects, of people, of symbolism.
1:03:29 Speaker 03 It was, and it kept so much of that going in such important ways.
1:03:42 Speaker 02 Next time on Short History, we'll bring you a short history of Ludwig van Beethoven.
1:03:48 Speaker 06 Go to a Mozart concert and at the end of it, sit back and the music has washed over you. Everything is right with the world. Go to a Beethoven concert and your knuckles should be white gripping your chair. What has he done? Where has he taken me? I've never heard anything so exciting in my life. That's the big difference and that, I believe, is what set Beethoven apart. Because he breaks the rules, his music is as fresh today as it was when he wrote it over 200 years ago. And that is what I believe makes him the greatest of them all.
1:04:25 Speaker 02 If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noiser.com/subscriptions for more information.
1:04:38 Speaker 04 You know, it's the time of the year when I'm always on the lookout for fresh fall options for my wardrobe. And I think I just found my new favorite sweater at Quince. It's the Cotton Fisherman Crew. It's relaxed, it's cozy, but yet still polished. It's one of those versatile pieces you can wear everywhere. To the office, out running errands, or a night out with friends. And as we head into the holiday season, this is definitely one I'll be adding to others on my list. See, Quince focuses on high-quality staples made with premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere, 14 karat gold, and Italian leather. All timeless, versatile pieces that feel special to unwrap and become everyday favorites long after the holidays. Their cashmere sweaters start at just $60 and the lineup doesn't stop there. They have premium down jackets, wool outerwear, and cashmere accessories.
1:05:23 Speaker 04 Everything you and your loved ones need to stay warm and look put together all season long. And when it comes to gifting, Quince has a lot more than clothing. Think fine jewelry, leather bags, hotel-quality bedding, chef-grade cookware, and five-star luggage. Basically, plenty of ways to find something special for everyone on your list. So give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com and get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. It's now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know Short History of. It's the best way to support the show.
1:06:00 Speaker 01 The Secret Society of Semi-Home Made, listen up. Sam's Club has pre-made dishes for a Thanksgiving feast that's ready in two hours, all while tasting suspiciously homemade. Come join us. Sam's Club. Individual oven times may vary.
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