The architectural art of the Forbidden City is mainly the art of group combination, and the connection, transition and transformation between groups constitute a rich spatial sequence. The Forbidden City is generally divided into two parts: the front court in the south and the back bedroom in the north. In the south, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Baohe are the centers, and on both sides, the Wenhua Hall and the Wuying Hall are the places where the emperor went to court to receive greetings, meet ministers and hold large-scale ceremonies. Built on an I-shaped three-story platform more than 8 meters high and surrounded by stone railings, the Three Great Halls are the most spectacular buildings in the Forbidden City, showing extraordinary lofty status. Among them, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the highest-ranking and largest building in the Forbidden City and the largest existing ancient wooden structure in China. The northern half is centered on Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, Kunning Palace, Housangong, Dongfang Palace, Xigong and Royal Garden, with Fengxian Hall and Palace on the east and hall of mental cultivation, Yuhua Pavilion and Cining Palace on the west. It is the place where the emperor and his empresses, princes and princesses live, hold sacrifices and religious activities and handle daily affairs.
It consists of the overture of Tiananmen Square, Duanmen and Wumen, the transition of Taihe Gate, the climax of Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall and Baohe Hall, the climax of Gan Qing Palace after the transition of Gan Qing Gate, and the end of the Imperial Garden. Form mainly refers to the overall outline of the building. The buildings in the Forbidden City are magnificent and huge. The length from north to south is 96 1 m, and the width from east to west is 753 m, covering an area of more than 720,000 square meters, with a total construction area of10.6 million square meters and more than 8,700 existing houses. Surrounded by a wall about 10 meters high and a moat 52 meters wide. There are city gates around the city wall, with the main entrance of the Forbidden City at the noon gate in the south, the Shenwumen in the north, the Donghuamen in the east and the Xihuamen in the west. The whole building space of the Forbidden City is rich in changes, large in scale and gorgeous in appearance, followed by its owner, showing a solemn and exclusive grandeur for the emperor. Proportion mainly refers to skillfully handling the proportional relationship between various parts of the building, the ratio of length, width and height in the building, the ratio of concave and convex, the ratio of virtual and real, etc. , all directly affect the beauty of the building.
The harmonious proportion of the whole building of the Forbidden City is amazing. Taking the roof form, the most prominent feature in the appearance of ancient buildings in China, as an example, the roofs of the three halls facing the outside world (Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe) are different. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is a roof with double eaves, the Hall of Zhonghe is a pyramid roof with four corners, and the Hall of Baohe is a sloping mountain with double eaves. The application of different roof forms, in addition to the influence of feudal hierarchy, also makes these three closely connected palaces more distinct through the obvious contrast of architectural image. Especially the four towers of the Forbidden City, the roof structure is more complicated and ingenious, the proportion of each part is coordinated, the cornices are beautiful and the shapes are exquisite and unique, which has become the symbol of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Balance mainly refers to the symmetry of architecture in composition, including the relationship between front and back, left and right, and up and down. Balance and symmetry often give people a sense of seriousness and increase lofty aesthetic feeling. As a complete building complex, the Forbidden City is very balanced and symmetrical, in which each building extends from south to north on a central axis, and the center of the whole building complex is the tall Hall of Supreme Harmony, which extends from south to north.
The architectural layout of the Forbidden City Palace extends along the north-south central axis to the east and west sides. Rhythm refers to the orderly repetition of walls, columns, doors and windows of buildings through regular changes and arrangements, resulting in a kind of rhythmic beauty or rhythmic beauty. It is at this point that architecture and music are similar, so people describe them as solidified music and flowing architecture respectively. Mr. Liang Sicheng, a famous architect in China, once studied the colonnade of the Forbidden City and found a very obvious sense of rhythm and rhythm. From Tiananmen Gate to Wumen Gate, there is an obvious sense of rhythm, and the columns on both sides are arranged rhythmically to form a continuous spatial sequence. Color often constitutes a unique artistic image of architecture, giving people a unique aesthetic feeling and unforgettable impression. The yellow glazed tile roofs of the main buildings of the Forbidden City in Beijing are resplendent, and the scarlet columns, doors and windows, and eaves are painted in turquoise with some gold. Against the background of the white abutment, the outlines of various parts of the building are more vivid and unique, thus making the building more magnificent.
Using these strong colors in architecture can achieve such a perfect artistic effect. As an organic part of architecture, it also plays an important role in creating architecture, which can add luster to architecture. The architecture of the Forbidden City attaches great importance to the decoration of the roof. It not only makes upturned cornices at the corners, but also uses various carvings and paintings for decoration, and often adds gorgeous animal decorations on the roof. Even the doornails arranged on the doors of the Forbidden City have a very strong national cultural connotation as decoration. In short, it is through the coordination and unity of space, shape, proportion, balance, rhythm, color, decoration and other factors that the unique spatial modeling beauty of the Forbidden City architectural art is formed. The halls and terraces are patchwork and magnificent. The architecture of the Forbidden City embodies the excellent tradition and unique style of China's ancient architectural art, and is a classic of China's ancient architecture.