Forbidden City Timeline

In April 1644, rebel forces led by Li Zicheng captured the Forbidden City. Li proclaimed himself emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty, ending over two centuries of Ming rule in the palace.

Image source: Li Zicheng

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war, a humiliating episode for the Qing court.

Image source: Second Opium War

In 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving the palace to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year.

Image source: Empress Dowager Cixi

Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court of the Forbidden City, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, until he was evicted after a coup in 1924.

After being home to 24 emperors – 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty – the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, concluding over 500 years of imperial rule that began in 1420.

From 1933, the threat of Japanese invasion forced the evacuation of the most important parts of the Museum's collection, as well as the national treasures held within the Forbidden City.

Image source: Palace Museum

In 1948, part of the collection was evacuated to Taiwan under orders of Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang was losing the Chinese Civil War.

Image source: National Palace Museum

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some damage was done to the Forbidden City as the country was swept up in revolutionary zeal.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, which was established in that year. Its extensive collection of artwork and artifacts was built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

At the end of World War II, part of the evacuated collection returned to the Forbidden City, though its fate would soon be affected by the ongoing Chinese Civil War.

In 1961, the Forbidden City was included in the first list of national priority protected sites produced by China, and UNESCO recognizes it as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

The relatively small but high quality evacuated collection was kept in storage until 1965, when it again became public as the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

In 1987, the Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as the 'Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties,' due to its significant place in the development of Chinese architecture and culture.

Since 2000, the Beijing municipal government has worked to evict governmental and military institutions occupying historical buildings near the Forbidden City, and has established a park around the remaining parts of the Imperial City wall.

Image source: Imperial City, Beijing

In 2004, an ordinance relating to building height and planning restriction was renewed to establish the Imperial City area and the northern city area as a buffer zone protecting the Forbidden City.

In the early 21st century, the Palace Museum carried out a sixteen-year restoration project to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1911 state, with the goal that 76% of the palace would be open to the public by 2020.

In 2005, the Imperial City and Beihai (as an extension item to the Summer Palace) were included in the shortlist for the next World Heritage Site designation in Beijing.

As a result of the restoration project, the Shoukang Palace was officially opened to the public in 2013, after initially being displayed in its original state.

In 2015, a sculpture museum was opened in the Cining Palace, expanding the public exhibition spaces within the Forbidden City.

Also opened in 2015 were the precincts around Cining Palace, the Yanyin Building and the Donghua Gate, further increasing public access to areas of the palace complex.