The secret hidden in the golden bricks of the Forbidden City

The 600-year-old Forbidden City has not fallen, the secret lies under the golden bricks whose selection criteria can even match that of the emperor’s concubine, requiring strict screening.
Today, China still retains many ancient architectural works, even those that have been used for thousands of years, making us admire the wisdom of the ancient people. Since time immemorial, houses have been essentially wooden structures, which means it is extremely difficult to escape in a fire situation. The Forbidden City is also an ancient wooden structure that has been well preserved for hundreds of years since its construction. So how can the Forbidden City be so well preserved?

Longevity of the Forbidden City From 1406, a magnificent ancient palace began to be built in China, that is, the Forbidden City. It was built for a total of 14 years until it was completed in 1420. Although it was built only 14 years ago, its preliminary preparation work was very thorough. After all, it’s been more than 600 years since the Forbidden City was built, hundreds of years of ups and downs are enough to destroy most things in this world, but why has the Forbidden City not collapsed in the last 600 years? The Forbidden City went through the Ming and Qing dynasties. Because it is an ancient building with a wooden structure, there is no way to avoid the risk of fire, and it has been continuously restored throughout the centuries. Even in modern times, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in order to better protect the Forbidden City, the Chinese government carried out a comprehensive renovation of the Forbidden City. While sorting through the cultural relics inside, a secret was discovered after pry open the floor tiles of the Forbidden City. Floor tiles in the Forbidden City Many people wonder if the Forbidden City has existed for the past 600 years because of its foundation? For projects, although the role of the foundation cannot be ignored, other parts are equally important. In addition to the massiveness of the Forbidden City, one can certainly come across the floor tiles that can be seen everywhere in the Forbidden City. As an ordinary citizen, surely everyone will have satisfactory floor tiles for their home, not to mention the magnificent Forbidden City, the residence of the emperor. Talking about the Forbidden City, there is always a saying handed down in folklore. Also because of this saying, when the Forbidden City was being extensively restored, every corner of it was thoroughly studied. The saying goes, “The palaces, the ancient royal palaces, the wards in the Forbidden City, are all paved with golden square bricks”. So the floor tiles used in the Forbidden City are gilded tiles? Of course not, of course gold here does not refer to that metal bearing the symbol Au. The reason they are called yellow bricks is because the ancient craftsmen put a little tung oil (tung tree oil, or elm dong – Vietnamese call it sloppy) into the mold when making these bricks. As the emperor’s palace, even the floor tiles, of course, must be made of the best materials. This type of brick is not available to everyone. The secret under the golden bricks in the Forbidden City The floor tiles of the Forbidden City are not only made of good materials, but are also harder than ordinary bricks, and are also more labor-intensive to make than ordinary bricks. Except for the emperor, the people who used these bricks in ancient times were all powerful officials and nobles. And the secret that keeps the Forbidden City from falling for hundreds of years is also hidden under these golden bricks. In the Forbidden City, the error between each yellow brick is very small, it takes 3 years to make 50,000 gold bricks, moreover it can only be produced in Suzhou. However, successful crafting does not mean it will be used, as these golden bricks will be tested one by one after they are delivered to the Forbidden City. The selection criteria were even comparable to those of the emperor’s concubines, which required rigorous screening. According to records in the mandarin books of the “Works of the Law” of the Qing dynasty, a gold brick two meters long, each worker can only be sharpened 3. When laying the floor, three workers, including a main tiler and two assistants, can only lay 5 tiles a day. For example, when laying the floor tiles in Thai Hoa Palace, they needed 1573 masons, 944 pavers and 1888 assistant workers. From the above information, it can be understood that placing golden bricks in the Forbidden City is very laborious and time consuming. Originally, this project was labor-intensive, paving a floor was not easy, while the foundation of the Forbidden City was paved for fifteen floors. At that time, Minh Thanh To guarded against theft, worried that someone would dig a tunnel into the Forbidden City, so he asked for 15 floors of bricks. The total amount is equivalent to the current 80 million yuan. Behind the successful installation of these bricks is the hard work of countless workers. After paving the floor in the Forbidden City, in order not to reveal this secret, all the workers were ordered to become mute. Therefore, after finding out this secret, they all sighed and said that Chu Di (Ming’s ancestor Zhu Di – the 3rd emperor of the Ming Dynasty) was indeed an outstanding tyrant in history. .