Buzz
Few are aware that beneath the tiled floor of the Imperial Palace lies a hidden secret preserved for many years.
The Forbidden City, also known as the Imperial Palace, is a highly renowned landmark in Beijing, China. It served as the residence of emperors, concubines, and nobles of the Qing and Ming dynasties. Spanning a total construction area of 150,000 square meters and featuring thousands of rooms and halls, the Forbidden City houses countless invaluable treasures and millions of cultural relics.
Within the Forbidden City, even the ground-level floors are treasures, as the bricks laid within the palace are referred to as 'golden bricks.' These special-fired bricks originate from the Lucheng Village in Taizhou Province. While not made of gold, the name derives from its unique manufacturing process, which many experts argue even modern advanced techniques would struggle to replicate the quality found in the Forbidden City.
In the 20th century, a section of the tiled courtyard outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City cracked and deteriorated. To refurbish this tiled floor, experts excavated it to repair and took the opportunity to study the underground structure of the palace in greater detail. However, the mystery beneath this tiled floor left many experts utterly astonished.
It's known that during the excavation of the tiled floor, experts continuously discovered an intricate arrangement of up to 15 layers of tiled flooring beneath the original cracked floor. This has sparked curiosity among many about the reason behind this secret.
After conducting thorough research, experts immediately grasped the intentions of the ancients. They concluded that, in reality, the motive behind this is directly related to the emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chu De.
As the Forbidden City served as the residence of the king, queen, and favored royal family members, and was the site of many significant events, Emperor Chu De remained uneasy about his safety despite the high walls and numerous guards. Consequently, he commissioned craftsmen to lay 15 layers of bricks beneath the palace floor to deter malicious individuals from tunneling underground to harm him.
Furthermore, these 15 layers of bricks are not simply stacked atop one another; they are arranged in a special structure to ensure that no two layers are alike, significantly bolstering the ground's durability. Therefore, it would be exceedingly challenging for intruders to create a passage through this floor if they attempted to infiltrate via underground tunnels.
In simple terms, the stacking of 15 layers of brick flooring beneath the Forbidden City's floor is not merely an architectural feature but was constructed for the purpose of safeguarding the Ming emperor.
Source: Sohu
