Unraveling the Threads
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Unraveling the Threads Ming Identity in the Forbidden City’s symbolism MA Asian Studies: History, Arts and Culture Thesis Student: Daphne Neven Student number: s0938297 Thesis Supervisor: Dr. M. J. Klokke Deadline: 15 July 2016 Version: Final Word Count: 14419 (including footnotes, excluding biography) Fig. 1. Meridian Gate, the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Introduction The Forbidden City in Beijing, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built between 1406 and 1421, and remains to this day an important monument of classical Chinese culture. Its history spans two dynasties, over six hundred years, the rule of twenty-four emperors and was the setting of countless political and historical decisions that changed the course of Chinese history. These days, the site is a major tourist attraction, and the palatial complex and its museum draw in a staggering fifteen million visitors per year1. Both foreign and domestic visitors flock to the former quarters of the imperial court to get a taste of the life of the Chinese emperor, to visit the mysterious complex that for five hundred years was off limits to the public, a mysterious world beyond closed gates. The palatial complex itself is portrayed by UNESCO as embodying ‘the traditional characteristic of urban planning and palace construction in ancient China’ and as ‘the exemplar of ancient architectural hierarchy, construction techniques and architectural art.’2 The complex is arguably the paragon of Chinese culture, embodying not only the highpoints of classical techniques and art, but emphasizing strict social hierarchy and political power throughout its entire design. I will argue that it represents the world as it was seen in early Ming dynasty thought. One research question forms the foundation of this thesis: what does the Forbidden City represent? I will be looking into what is revealed about certain ideas, ideas that were prevalent in the early 15th century China, in the layout and overall design of the Forbidden 1 Visitor count 2013: 15,340,000. Source: www.travelandleisure.com 2 For the full description of the Forbidden City on the UNESCO website, visit: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/439 1 City complex. Various insights will be offered on what events and social practices influenced the proportions and structuring of the Forbidden City as it was originally built, and to what extent these insights were unique for this complex. Over the past six hundred years, many alterations have been made to the Forbidden City complex. Structures have been demolished, changed, rebuilt, redecorated, and renamed over time, either due to damage or a new emperor’s orders, but the essential layout of the palatial complex remains the same. The ideas that underlie certain architectural decisions appear to have remained more or less the same over time. Most of the important buildings follow the same style of architecture, giving the Forbidden City a certain atmosphere of continuity, of timelessness. This is not to say that there are no exceptions. For instance, the Palace of Tranquil Longevity built from 1771 onwards is said to resemble the Palace of Heavenly Tranquility, but features spectacular European-style trompe l’oeil wall paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), a Jesuit missionary whose art was well-loved by the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) (Zhu, 2014) (fig. 2). Throughout the centuries, the Forbidden City has developed an identity of its own, every emperor adding contemporary touches to a classical, largely unchanging foundation as it was constructed by its original planner: the Yongle Emperor (1360-1424). It is this background, therefore, that I will be looking into. Fig. 2. The Theatre Room in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, featuring spectacular trompe l’oeil painting by Giuseppe Castiglione. What I am referring to with the term ‘foundation’ encompasses more than simply its literal meaning of load-bearing structures in the ground. In this context it means something along the lines of the Forbidden City’s general setup, the way it was originally laid out on top of the 2 ruins of the Yuan dynasty palatial complex that came before it (South China Morning Post, 2016). It refers to the general north-south axis of the Ming-dynasty complex and the main buildings that were constructed along this axis, it refers to the proportions of not only the structures themselves, but also the courtyards that separate them. However, I will also be discussing the tiered platforms on which most buildings are built and the steps leading up to them, along with their balustrades and other smaller components. What separates the architectural features that I will be discussing from those that I will not be discussing is my belief that the mentioned features have remained mostly unchanged, and if they have been changed since the early Ming dynasty, their symbolic meaning has remained the same. These features all refer to the underlying idea of how architecture should represent something bigger than itself, an idea that seems common in classical Chinese architecture and that will be discussed later on. Furthermore, given the massive scale of the palatial complex and the abundance of references to classical Chinese thought in symbols, and given the word count limit of this thesis, it has been necessary to make decisions about what would and what would not be mentioned. Quite simply put, it was decided that looking into large, often-occurring architectural features that shaped the initial look of the Forbidden City would prove more efficient for a thesis of this length than looking into details and separate features of all buildings. It has been pointed out before that symbol and symbolism are difficult terms to work with, and require sufficient definition. What I mean when I use the word symbol in the context of this thesis is a material object or image that refers to an abstract idea or phenomenon that is not directly derivable from the object or representation itself. The term ‘architectural symbolism’ then, refers to aspects of architecture that are not only functional, but maintain their functionality while also being a reference to an abstract idea. For example, a double-eaved roof, like the ones found on the Forbidden City’s most important buildings, is not only practical, but also shows which buildings are most important. It is an example of architectural symbolism. A dragon can be seen as a symbol representing the emperor (fig. 3). The dragon and the emperor are not exactly logically linked, but can be connected because classical Chinese culture has made one a symbol for the other. Another example could be the size of a courtyard vis-a-vis another courtyard, symbolically representing the male and female principle. Hopefully, this definition will help keep the reader from becoming entangled in different interpretations of the term. It is a very widely applicable definition, and for the sake of this thesis, that is exactly what it needs to express. 3 Fig. 3. The emperor’s Dragon Throne. Dragons were often used to symbolically represent the emperor. Furthermore, I would like to point out to the reader that the story of what lies behind the Forbidden City architectural features in terms of symbolism is an epic, rather than a novel. Looking into the very origins of some of the most commonly occurring symbols has proven to be an adventurous undertaking. These origins entails stories of war, politics, religion, shamanism, and are inspired by the oldest of Chinese classics, ancient forms of divination and classic power struggles. By the time the Forbidden City was being constructed, the epic of symbolism already spanned several millennia. Hopefully it is understandable then, that not all of these origins and their developments can be discussed in this thesis. An attempt will be made to give an overview of where some of the Forbidden City’s symbols come from, and in what way these origins are relevant to the way the Forbidden City was shaped during its construction, but there is always more research to be done. The reason that this thesis focuses on symbolism in the Forbidden City in Beijing is, first of all, personal academic interest. Personal acquaintances recounted their visits to the complex with much enthusiasm, having been awed by the sheer scale of the buildings. They spoke about its symbols and the explanations of them that have become all but common knowledge, and can be found on most tourist websites of the Forbidden City. The 9x9 grids of gilded doornails on the most important gates, expressing the wish for the emperor’s longevity (the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of nine is the same as long-lasting). The prevalent depictions of dragons, which are representations of the emperor. The red color of the walls, which in a bright hue represents good fortune, but which, according to a Chinese 4 friend of mine, represents ‘old things’ when of a vermillion shade. The more I heard these examples repeated, the stranger they began to sound. Surely the 9x9 grids of doornails had some function, other than expressing a wish for longevity? Surely there had to be a reason that the emperor was represented by a dragon? And why was it that my friend associated that beautiful deep red with ‘old things’? Because of these questions and many more like it, the decision to go with this topic for this thesis was an easy one to make. Although I must admit that I have never had the chance to visit the Forbidden City myself, I have tried to make up for that by delving into the topic with reckless abandon, soaking up whatever information was available. Through this approach, I have managed to create a fairly good idea of the kinds of ideas that have inspired classical Chinese architectural symbolism, although it is likely only a fraction of the full symbolic vocabulary that was available to architects at the time of its construction in the early fifteenth century.