Why are there 9999 and a half rooms in the Forbidden City?
The number of rooms in the Forbidden City comes from folklore. It is said that Liu Bowen, the designer of the Forbidden City, had a dream and told the emperor that the Jade Emperor summoned his ministers to the Lingxiao Palace and said to him: 'You want to build a palace for the emperor, tell him! There are ten thousand palaces in the Heavenly Palace, and no mortal palace can exceed the Heavenly Palace.
You also need to tell him that he must ask the Thirty-six Vajras and the Seventy-two Earth Demons to protect the mortal imperial city, so that the weather can be smooth, the country can be peaceful, and the people can be safe. You must remember it firmly. ’ After the Jade Emperor said these words, he rushed over with a burst of white fragrant mist, which frightened the minister awake at once! "
After hearing this, the emperor thought for a while and ordered Liu Bowen to supervise the construction of no more than 10,000 units. Liu Bowen took the order and went ahead, and the matter spread all over Beijing. The common people were waiting to see how Liu Bowen would build the palace and how he would invite gods such as the Thirty-six King Kong and the Seventy-two Earth Demons to protect the palace.
Later, people learned that the number of palaces in the Forbidden City was nine thousand and nine. One hundred and ninety-nine and a half rooms; the Thirty-six King Kongs of the Gods are the thirty-six gold-filled vats placed at the entrance of the palace; the Seventy-two Earth Demons are the seventy-two ditches in the Forbidden City. This is how the "Forbidden City ***" came into being. There is a legend of a house with nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine and a half rooms! As for the "half" room, it is said to be the stairwell on the west side of Wenyuan Pavilion behind Wenhua Palace seen today.
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The Forbidden City in Beijing was built by Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty and was designed by Kuai Xiang (1397-1481, courtesy name Tingrui, a native of Suzhou). It covers an area of 720,000 square meters (961 meters long and 753 meters wide). , with a construction area of about 150,000 square meters and an area of 720,000 square meters. It took 14 years to build with 1 million migrant workers and has 9,999 and a half houses.
According to the actual on-site measurement by experts in 1973. The Forbidden City has more than 90 large and small courtyards, 980 houses, and a total of 8,707 rooms. However, this "room" is not the current concept of a room. The "room" here refers to the space formed by four pillars.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Forbidden City
China News Network - The beautiful "legend" of the 9,999 and a half rooms in the Forbidden City