The Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and was the place where the emperors lived.
Now the Forbidden City has become a tourist attraction for tourists from all over the world to see, and people can't help but marvel at the grandeur of the Forbidden City, and at the same time have many questions. For example, where did the wood come from when the Forbidden City was built? Hundreds of years later, why is it that the wood is still intact and does not rot?
To understand these problems, we must first start with the builders of the Forbidden City.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was stationed in Beiping Mansion, he was the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, ranked fourth.
Zhu Di's ambition was great, and after the Battle of Jingjing, he became the emperor, set up Beijing as the accompanying capital, and began to build the imperial palace in Beijing, which is the origin of the Forbidden City.
In fact, the Forbidden City in Beijing is not the first to be built, its style is based on the Nanjing Forbidden City, including the Forbidden City is also based on the Forbidden City of Nanjing.
With the gradual improvement of the Beijing Imperial Palace, Zhu Di began to move the capital, and since then the Beijing Forbidden City has become the political center of the country.
In the eighteenth year of Yongle, Zhu Di issued an edict to move the capital to Beijing.
Since then, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties have lived in the Forbidden City until the Xinhai Revolution, which lasted for nearly 500 years.
Although this imperial palace is carved and magnificent, it was built when it was exhausted of manpower and material resources, and there are many untold stories behind it, especially the materials used in the construction of the Forbidden City, which are very durable, these are not ordinary wood, but the result of careful selection.
So where does all this wood come from? Why can it survive hundreds of years without decay? The past is poignant.
According to historical records, Beijing is the starting point of Zhu Di's army, and is also known as the "Land of Longxing", so the construction of the Forbidden City is rare in the world.
First of all, Zhu Di sent many court officials to travel all over the country.
Wherever timber is abundant, they have received the emperor's decree to prepare for large-scale timber mining and are responsible for the collection and transportation, especially the primeval forests in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places.
At that time, the main selected woods were mainly Nanmu and Chinese fir, because these two kinds of wood are known for their hardness and corrosion resistance, especially the best golden silk Nan in Nanmu is a treasure in wood.
However, this kind of tree often grows in the deep mountains and rivers, and the environment is harsh, so it is not easy to cut down, so in order to flatter the emperor, the local government has recruited a wide range of conscripts into the mountains to cut wood, and it is said that the number is as high as hundreds of thousands.
You must know that in ancient times, there were no roads, and there were no modern auxiliary equipment in the mountains, so they basically relied on manpower to cut down, so the work of collecting materials was extremely difficult.
At that time, the trees were cut down using the soil method, and it took months to get a good finished log. Not only that, but these loggers are also exposed to wolves, tigers, leopards, and poisonous insect plagues.
Because of these hardships, many people go into the mountains and never come back.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", "thousands of people enter the mountain, five hundred go out of the mountain, and the mourning can be known." This shows the tragic situation at that time, and can also witness the bitterness and helplessness of the people at the bottom.
However, Zhu Di did not care about the people's suffering, in order to build the palace as soon as possible, he sent a capable ** responsible for transportation, and the timber cut from all over the country was continuously transported to Beijing.
The work continued for several years, and the amount of timber felled far exceeded the required amount.
On this basis, Zhu Di also gathered skilled craftsmen from all over the world, sifted and sifted, selected and selected, and finally selected the best wood, it is said that the age of Nanmu trees at that time was more than 100 years.
With these timbers, construction of the Forbidden City finally began in 1406, a work that took 14 years and was finally completed in 1420.
In fact, wood is only the foundation, and there are many other reasons why the Forbidden City has been able to stand tall and weathered.
The Forbidden City has been built for more than 600 years, and many Chinese and foreign tourists wonder why the wood of the Forbidden City does not rot.
There is an old Chinese saying: "It is up to people to make things happen, and it is up to heaven to make things happen." ”
The wood used to build the Forbidden City is made of natural origin and is the material of choice. The wood is hard and resistant to decay, but it is by no means rotten, and even the best wood will not help if it is not protected.
So there are many other reasons besides the factor of the material itself.
First of all, the geographical environment, Beijing is different from the south, the winters here are cold and dry, the summers are rarely hot and humid, and due to the climate, the number of termites in Beijing is scarce, so the wooden buildings are not easy to be destroyed.
If you look closely, you can also find that the exterior and interior walls of the Forbidden City have many pores, which are also important factors in prolonging the life of wood.
In modern times, global warming has threatened ancient buildings such as the Forbidden City, but fortunately, today's technology is advanced enough to compensate for the impact of climate change.
Secondly, wooden buildings are very afraid of water.
Many ancient buildings are often destroyed after being soaked in heavy water. But for hundreds of years, the Forbidden City has remained as safe as ever, thanks to the original builders.
As we all know, the Forbidden City is high in the north and low in the south, which creates a certain drainage slope.
The roofs of the palaces in the Forbidden City are all steep and gentle, so that rainwater can drain down quickly.
In addition, the large buildings in the palace are often built on high platforms, and the foundations are erected on the ground, so that they can effectively prevent water and moisture.
Finally, war is the biggest threat to ancient buildings, and many buildings have been destroyed in the war, but the Forbidden City has its own special features.
As everyone knows, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by Li Zicheng, Wu Sangui was angry and turned into a red face, leading the Qing soldiers into the customs, and Li Zicheng was powerless to resist.
The Qing people entered the Forbidden City, and there was no large-scale war damage, and the Qing Dynasty repaired the Forbidden City several times for more than 200 years. Until the Xinhai Revolution, the last emperor Puyi also abdicated peacefully, and because of this, the Forbidden City was able to avoid war and survive to this day.
To sum up, the wooden buildings of the Forbidden City have been preserved to this day, although the wood is excellent, but more of them are man-made protection and God's favor.
The ancients wrote a poem: "Sad Qin and Han meridians, the palace and thousands of rooms have been made of soil" shows the cruelty of history, but everything has two sides, history is both cruel and sometimes benevolent.
The Forbidden City can last for a long time, which is not only a witness to history, but also the luck of our contemporaries, from this magnificent palace, we can vaguely imagine the prosperity and glory of the past.