What are some interesting facts about the roof of the Forbidden City? What do the glazed tiles of different colors mean?

As the largest wooden palace complex in the world, the Forbidden City is very majestic, and the roof of the Forbidden City is also very particular. The colors of the glazed tiles used on the roof of the Forbidden City have different meanings, and the roofs of the palaces where people of different status live are different. Moreover, the large number of glazed tiles used on the roof of the Forbidden City also has certain practical effects.

First of all, the most commonly used roof of the Forbidden City is yellow glazed tiles. If you stand at a high place and look around, you can see that the entire Forbidden City complex is yellow. In ancient times, yellow was a color reserved exclusively for the royal family. The use of yellow glazed tiles also reflected the majesty of the royal family and showed that this was the place where the emperor lived.

Secondly, black tiles, green tiles, etc. are also used on the roofs of other special palaces. The use of different glazed tile colors is mainly due to the fact that different colors have different properties from the perspective of Feng Shui. Therefore, when building the roof of the Forbidden City, this principle was used to change the color of the glazed tiles used on the roof of the palace. For example, in the use of black tiles, black tiles were used during the construction of Shenwumen. This is mainly because the geographical location of Shenwumen is very special. According to the overall distribution of the Forbidden City, Shenwumen is located in the northernmost part of the Forbidden City. From the perspective of Feng Shui, different directions have different attributes. The north corresponds to water, and its corresponding color is black. It is under this circumstance that the color of the roof of Shenwumen is black glazed tiles.

At the same time, green has also appeared in the use of glazed tiles. The first person to use green as the roof of the Forbidden City was the "Nansansuo" during the Ming Dynasty. The Nanshansuo here refers to the place where the prince lives. It is located on the east side of the Forbidden City complex. From the perspective of Feng Shui, the east side corresponds to wood among the five elements, and the corresponding specific color is cyan. Setting the prince's east palace here is a symbol of vitality. Therefore, green tiles are used in the design of the roof here.