Exploring the virtual Ming and Qing dynasties through The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time

Over six hundred years after the original Forbidden City was constructed in China, visitors were invited to pass through the vermillion Meridian Gate of a virtual Forbidden City, a joint project of the Palace Museum and IBM.  The new virtual world not only provides visitors with the opportunity to marvel at the beautifully rendered architecture but examine cultural relics, observe and even engage in activities enjoyed by emperors and their families and learn more about the history of the Ming and Qing imperial dynasties.

I have not yet made my first visit to the real Forbidden City (it's definitely on my list of planned heritage site visits, though).  But I was excited to get a virtual preview, especially from the comfort of my computer without enduring hours in the cramped seat of a 757.

I installed the software required to interact in the virtual palace and chose an avatar of an imperial woman costumed in a robe that looked like one worn by a doll in my historical doll collection, my Qing dynasty-inspired Chinese Princess of the World Barbie released by Mattel in 2002.  

I logged in and found myself standing in a plaza looking up at the massive vermillion Meridian Gate.

Getting Around the City

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My selection buttons at the right allow me to navigate quickly within the Forbidden City using the Map feature, Search for specific locations or artifacts by keyword, change the view of my virtual camera, take a picture of the scene I am exploring, lead a group of my friends to my favorite sites within the palace, open my scrapbook to review information snippets I have saved there, open a chat window to interact with characters or visitors I meet along the way, or seek help.

The first button activates the Map feature.  The small map that pops up on the first click is just an overview of the site with your location indicated.  However, if you click on View Detailed Map, you will be presented with more ways to locate features and information.  You have the option to use a keyword search box, a list of objects color coded by type of item and sortable by Title or Type, a legend with checkboxes to turn on or off categories of objects to display on the map and a zoom tool to zoom in or out.  If you select a building, artifact, scene or acitivity, a little box pops up with the title of the object and a thumbnail image of it.  If you click on the blue button with circle bisected with a right pointing arrow you will be taken to the location of the item you have selected.

Although I decided to "walk" through the palace first without the aid of the teleportation services of the Map tool, I found the Map particularly useful after my first sortie to help me quickly navigate back to something I wanted to study again or to find things I knew existed but could not find without assistance.  To begin walking I only had to press the arrow keys on my keyboard in the direction I wished to go, bearing in mind that the computer assumed my avatar was facing the direction of travel.  

To get the first image where I am looking at myself in front of the Meridian Gate, I had to walk toward the gate then turn my avatar 180 degrees, click the View icon and select the "View Self" (first view icon on the left) camera angle. Then I used the "Move" control to lower my camera angle so I could zoom in on my avatar's face.  

If you want to view the palace around you as if you are looking through your own eyes, select the second from the left "First Person" view angle. If you want to see your avatar walking ahead of you select the third view option from the left, the "Third Person" angle.  I like to use the Third Person angle if I am going to approach a visitor so I can judge the distance between us to maintain a respectful distance.  I can also click on the "Bow" button to greet the person properly and I can see myself bow more easily in third person.    

I took a picture for my scrapbook by clicking the Picture icon, entering a caption, then clicking "Save to Scrapbook". You also have the ability to add tags for future searching and Send to A Friend, either through email or through a Facebook interface.  Unfortunately, I could not get the Send to a Friend option to work for me.  I use Thunderbird as my mail client and Google Chrome as my default browser. Maybe it has been designed for use with Firefox and Gmail or some other combination.

Guided Tours 'v' Sandbox Exploring

The introductory instructions suggested I seek out a tour guide dressed in red who would lead me through specific portions of the palace complex and provide a cultural context to the architecture and artifacts I would find along the way.

But I became quickly disoriented and decided I would rather explore the site myself to became familiar with my surroundings and the arrangement and direction of most of the main buildings first, then consult a tour guide to learn more details about areas I had visited.  This is just my own personal preference that I use when I physically explore a real site or even a large museum exhibit.  I typically do not like to wander about glued to an audio guide, but rather like to move from gallery to gallery exploring each display case individually paying particular attention to detail whether an item is considered worthy of note to an audio guide or not.  If I notice a particularly interesting item that I would like to know more about and it has an audio guide number displayed, I may dial it up and listen for a few minutes.  But I prefer to explore at my own pace without prompting by a disembodied narrator.

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So I began again, passed through the Meridian Gate and walked across the courtyard toward the bridges that spanned the Golden River that winds its way through channels crafted to coax the river in the desired south to north direction through the Forbidden City.

The river is spanned by five bridges. The center bridge was used exclusively by the emperor, the two bridges on either side of the center bridge were reserved for members of the royal family. The remaining two outside bridges could be used by ordinary officials.

The bridges are carved from marble and decorated with motifs of dragons and the Phoenix. In addition to enhancing the city view, the river also served as a fire hydrant. The bridges represent the five Virtues emphasized by Confucius: benevolence, righteousness, rites, intelligence and fidelity. They pointed symbolically to Heaven, because the emperor considered himself the Son of Heaven.

"The courtyard beyond covers a space of 10,000 square meters. There are no trees on the square since in ancient China emperors considered themselves as Sons of Heaven, born to reign over the country, so they should occupy the highest position. Nothing was allowed to overwhelm the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the highest building in the Forbidden City and trees were no exception." - Architectural structures of significance in the Forbidden City by Daniel Archer

 Then I crossed the bridge and approached the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

"The ground in the palace was laid in a very special way to protect assassins from digging tunnel into the palace. It is filled seven layers lengthwise and eight layers crosswise totaling fifteen layers and special bricks were made to create a soothing and pleasant sound when walked on. The rooms on each side were said to serve as warehouses for storing such items as fur, porcelain, silver, tea, silk, satin and clothes." - Architectural structures of significance in the Forbidden City by Daniel Archer

As someone who loves animals and mythical beasts depicted in historical art, of course I had to stop and carefully examine the bronze lions guarding the entrance to the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

 By clicking on the lion I was able to read information about the beasts including the detail that the lion on the left was discernible as a female because she had her paw resting on a sprawling cub, symbolizing a prosperously growing imperial family, while the male lion on the right had his paw atop an embroidered ball representing worldwide dominion.  I added the information to my scrap book.  Then I clicked on the button labeled Examine.  A 3D image of the lion popped up that I could rotate and move similar to a Quicktime VR object.  A slider let me zoom in and out for closer inspection the the sculpture's details.

 I continued on through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  This structure houses the Imperial Dragon Throne made of namu wood and gilded with gold.  

"Construction of the hall started in 1406 and was refurbished many times later and the present hall was rebuilt in 1695. As the heart of the Forbidden City, the so-called Golden Carriage Palace was the place where emperors received high officials and practiced their rule over the nation. Important and significant ceremonies such as the new emperor’s ascending to the throne, emperors’ birthdays and wedding ceremonies and other important occasions such as Winter Solstice, the Chinese New Year and dispatching generals into war fields were also held in the hall."

Daniel "Along the three-tier terrace stairs, there are 18 bronze Dings, a kind of ancient Chinese vessel, to represent 18 provinces of the nation then. On the terrace, which was luxuriously balustraded, a bronze crane and a bronze tortoise can be seen. They were put there to expect everlasting rule and longevity. The marble Rigui, an ancient timer in the east and the Jialiang, an ancient measuring vessel in the west were put there to show that emperors were just and fair. In front of the hall, there are a couple of gilded bronze vats, which were used to hold water in case of fire."- Architectural structures of significance in the Forbidden City by Daniel Archer

Zoom Zoom

There are several ways to gain additional information about a building within the palace. Most of the major buildings have a sign near the stairs leading into the building.  If you click on the sign, you will be presented with a dialog box that offers you the opportunity to view photographs of the real building and/or artifacts viewable there.  

If you click on the little rectangles to the left of the large red square with gold characters in the upper right hand corner of the dialog box you can view larger images of the photographs.  I did not realize this at first and was disappointed with the small size of the photographs as my aging eyes could not discern much detail.  But, I'm the type of visitor who experiments and clicks on things and I happened to click on one of the rectangles and the picture got bigger.  I think the zoom tools would be more obvious to users if they were shaped like a magnifying glass as this iconography is more widely used in other applications for zoom controls. 

The Hall of Central Harmony is the smallest of the three halls of the Outer Court.  It was used by the emperor to receive visiting dignitaries and the real Hall contains a throne flanked by two golden unicorns once believed to be able to travel  9,000 kilometers a day and speak multiple languages.  In the virtual palace, these objects have not yet been created.

Structures with special displays or activities inside will have an attendant dressed in dark green that you can approach and click on that will offer you some information about the scene or activity and will ask if you wish to learn more.  If you click the Yes button in the Chat window, you will receive even more information about the location, scene, or activity.  Here, I'm standing with an attendant who helped me learn more about the Imperial Throne and objects around it as well as its historical use in both the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is sometimes referred to as the Golden Carriage Palace.  Although orignally constructed in the beginning of the 15th century, it was later rebuilt in 1695.

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"Inside of the hall, the floor was paved with special bricks which were fired long and then soaked in tungoil to be polished. As a symbol of imperial power, the sandalwood throne, standing on a two-meter high platform, is located in the center of the hall and enclosed within six thick gold-lacquered pillars painted with dragons. The golden throne is carved with dragons all over. Around the throne stand two bronze cranes, an elephant-shaped incense burner and tripods in the shape of mythical beasts. The hall is heavily painted with dragons, having an aura of solemnity and mystery. In the middle of the ceiling is the design of two dragons playing with pearls. They were made of glass and painted with mercury. The pearl was said to be able to detect any usurper of the imperial power. If anyone who was not the descendant of the Emperor Huang Di usurped the throne, it would drop down and strike him to death." - Architectural structures of significance in the Forbidden City by Daniel Archer

This belief was derived from a legend that the first emperor Qin Shi Huang Di transformed into a dragon upon his death and ascended to heaven.  All subsequent "legitimate" emperors were thereafter thought to be descendants of the dragon hence the adoption of the dragon as the imperial motif.

I approached the throne and tried to climb the stairs to get a closer look but each time I reached the edge of the stairs and attempted to continue forward up the golden stairs, my avatar would turn to the right or left.  I tried every staircase but each time the avatar was prevented from mounting the dais.  I smiled when I discovered this as the developers must have included this behavior to maintain the sanctity of the throne even in this virtual palace. After all, only an emperor with the mandate of heaven was supposed to sit upon it. 

So, I had to content myself with examining it by clicking on it, viewing the photographs of it then clicking on the "Examine A Copy" button.

I also examined the bronze elephants carrying bottles displayed around the throne.  I learned that they are a symbol of peace because the word for bottle and the word for peace sound alike. 

I tried to examine the cranes and the incense burners but they were not configured as separate objects.  When using Google Chrome as a browser, your cursor doesn't change to a hand with an outstretched finger in this environment so I couldn't always tell when an object was clickable. 

I continued my journey enjoying the beautifully rendered architecture. When I entered the Palace of  Heavenly Purity, I learned from the attendant that I was witnessing the Qing Emperor reviewing and signing "memorials" or petitions requesting action or approval from his governors or nobels, one of his daily responsibilities.

Although I enjoy examining the artifacts and marveling at the architecture, I really think these scenes of court life really brought the virtual palace alive.

To the West of the Palace of Heavenly Purity I found the emperor enjoying a meal in the Hall of Promoting Virtue.  I encountered his palace servants bringing in some of the twenty courses he would sample at that meal. I learned that the emperor ate two such meals a day, one in the morning and one in mid-afternoon.  I smiled when I read that of course the emperor could snack anytime he wished. 

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Then I saw one of his eunuchs taste the dishes with a special silver spoon. I wish I could have clicked on the dishes to examine them and learn what ingredients had been used!

I continued on to the personal quarters of the empress, the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.  But I could not enter any of the doorways there.  As the sleeping quarters for the empress and location of the imperial bridal chamber during the Ming dynasty it may have been considered particularly private or as the center for Manchurian religious rituals during the Qing dynasty it may have been considered a sacred sanctuary.  I walked around the structure admiring its beauty then saw the trees of the Imperial Garden.  I love exploring gardens so I walked over to take a look.  

Let the Games Begin!

As I walked along its pathways, I noticed some people sitting in one of the common areas with the words "Cricket fighting" above them so I went over to see what they were doing.

I learned from an attendant that the old gentleman were cricket trainers and I could learn to train and fight crickets, a sport that had been enjoyed since the Song dynasty.  I selected one of the trainers and I was welcomed to sit and learn how to train a cricket.  

He began by telling me about the attributes of three crickets he had in a wicker cage and I was asked to select one.  Then he described the types of cricket food he had and asked me to select three of the ingredients. Then he told me I needed to choose a training partner for my cricket and offered me a choice.  I selected one and he placed the crickets in a basket and agitated them with a brush.  The crickets began to attack each other and my cricket was soon belly up!  The trainer encouraged me to try again so I did but changed my food choices.  Still my cricket soon had his feet in the air again.  Again, I tried making changes to my choices, but again, the training partner was victorious.  I resolved to try one more time and changed almost everything.  This time, MY cricket was triumphant at last - but I won't tell you my secret!  I was told a champion cricket commanded outrageous prices at the height of the sport in the imperial court!

I bowed to the cricket trainer, clicked the "Leave" button and continued my stroll through the garden.  I came upon a painter and his assistant painting the emperor's portrait.  I learned about western missionaries who were also talented painters that were invited to live at the imperial court.  As the emperor posed, his children scampered about sneaking quick looks at the portrait as it started to take shape. 

On the Virtual Forbidden City website, I logged in and posted a suggestion in the discussion forum pointing out that perhaps in the future, they could incorporate a module similar to the "Brushes" app for the iPhone that would let visitors paint the emperor's portrait or a landscape of the beautiful architecture and gardens in the virtual environment.

I continued my walk, enjoying the beautiful trees and flowers; as I wandered out of the garden and after passing through several doorways I found myself at the Hall of Mental Cultivation.  I learned that maintaining your mental health and acuity was as important to the Chinese as maintaing a healthy and strong body so playing games requiring strategy and

Weiqi is the Chinese name for Go, a strategic board game that originated in China over 2,500 years ago.  Although it is not known exactly when the game was invented, it was already a popular pastime by the 3rd century BC, as indicated by a reference to the game in the Analects of Confucius.   My Japanese daughter-in-law loves to play the game, although she may find it exasperating trying to play with a novice like me!

The wise game master teaches you with a 9X9 game board instead of the regular 19X19 game board to help you more easily understand his instructions. He explained the goal of the game then moved some stones onto the board and asked questions about the pieces liberties and where to move to capture a piece.  Then he explained how to score and asked me to count up the score for the black pieces on the board to see if I understood his instructions. I had never played weiqi before and I found it quite interesting.  At home I work a Sudoku puzzle published in the newspaper each evening to exercise my brain and I see how playing a game of weiqi would keep a person mentally sharp.  I wish I could have actually played a full game with the master.  So I posted a suggestion in the discussion forum to add the ability to play the game with either pre-programmed characters or other visitors.

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Walking back through the courtyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, I passed a beautiful tile architectural detail. These little discoveries make exploring the virtual environment  a delightful adventure. 

The environment of the virtual Forbidden City is so detailed it is a pleasure just to explore it.  I walked around buildings and explored alleyways just to see what I could find. 

My only technical difficulty was the result of  living out in the country and having only a 1.5 Mbps DSL connection at the moment (I've been told the local telephone company is working on an upgrade) so I would periodically lose my connection because of the sheer volume of data that must be downloaded by the software client.  I noticed a suggestion in the troubleshooting discussion thread that mentioned that performance could be improved if you change your settings to render only buildings and objects in your immediate vicinity.  My workstation is getting a little long in the tooth as well and has only 1 Gb of Ram.  I see  the website recommends 2 Gb of Ram so I guess I'm lucky it runs as well as it does!

Each time I re-enter the virtual Forbidden City, a popup asks if I have seen a particular thing.  This is very helpful, especially to first-time visitors.  One of the things a popup pointed out was a famous glazed-tile Nine Dragon screen.  I had not seen it in my wanderings so I clicked the Map icon then the View Detailed Map and found it on the list of things to see.  I clicked on the blue button to go there directly.

The Datong Nine Dragon Screen was built over 600 years ago for the thirteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).  The dragons are portrayed with waves and swirling clouds  to symbolize their ability to call the wind and control the rainfall.

It was very impressive and I learned that dragons in a nine-five combination is the most powerful symbol in the yin-yang theory!

When I was browsing the list of things looking for the dragon tiles, I noticed there was an archery activity so I clicked on the Map icon again and teleported to the archery range.

I found this very handsome Imperial Guard practicing his archery there.

I was told that I could help him with his archery practice by aligning him with the target and pressing and holding the "P" key to "Power" his draw.  If you release the "P" key too quickly, his arrow will not reach the target.  If you hold it down too long, you'll overshoot the target.  It's actually pretty tricky to get it just right.  I managed to get to the point that I could hit the target but not the bullseye.  I'll need to figure out a way to count or something to get it down pat!

Imperial guardsmen were expected to be crack shots with a longbow.  They were periodically reviewed and required to place six arrows in a target at 100 meters.

Please, IBM, Can we Have Some More?

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the virtual Forbidden City.  I think it could also be expanded to include more history-related activities such as festivals, caligraphy lessons (using the "Brushes" module I suggested earlier), poetry readings and the opportunity for visitors to write and share their poems in one of the pavilions.  

There could be presentations of dancing and singing and activities developed that would give visitors the chance to play historical musical instruments.  Perhaps the imperial library could be explored with the ability for visitors to read words of wisdom from Chinese philosophers.  Even a time factor could be introduced where costumes and available activities would change based on the virtual time in effect at the time the visitor entered the palace.  The Ming dynasty spanned over 200 years then the Qing dynasty spanned almost 300 years more, so fashions, weapons, politics, etc. changed dramatically over this expanse of time. It would be interesting to have things change so each experience would be different from the last - in the gaming world it's called replayability.  Of course, I would love to go back and "meet" some of my friends in the virtual Forbidden City and try out the "Lead" function.  It must be a marvelous tool for teachers leading a virtual "field trip"!

I would love to see this type of environment developed for other famous historical palaces like Hampton Court, the Palace of Versailles, St. Petersburg or the palace of the Mughal Empire.  IBM, are you listening?

If you want to learn about the ancient world through virtual interaction, drop into Heritage Key's King Tut Virtual, where you can explore the tomb of Tutankhamun and wonder at his incredible treasures. Tours of the virtual experience run twice daily. Also, coming soon - Stonehenge Virtual. Keep an eye on the site and sign up to our RSS feeds to hear more.

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About The Author

Mary Harrsch

Last three pieces by this author:

Will Virtual Reconstruction of Çatalhöyük be Abandoned Due to High Rent Rates in Second Life? | Italy Demands Repatriation of Getty Villa's Lysippos Statue 'Victorious Youth' | Rome Reborn Team Calls for 4D Technology for Virtual Hadrian's Villa

Photographer, instructional technologist and consulting systems analyst who travels the world photographing historical art and architecture and publishes articles about historical topics, particularly the ancient world.  My photography has appeared in productions for The History Channel and Canadian Public Broadcasting, educational texts in the U.S.