Even the forbidden city s smallest design details are rich in symbolism from its golden yellow tiles a color linking the emperor to the sun to the ceramic animals that line the corners of.
Forbidden city yellow roofs.
The main hall is mainly yellow.
The roof of the forbidden city is full of glazed tiles.
Even the roof tiles in the forbidden city are glazed in yellow to clearly announce his divinity.
This color can only be used by imperial families in ancient china.
It is that of the number 9.
In the forbidden city building there are more than 10 different types of roofs.
The main forbidden city colors.
Books were liable to catch fire black was supposed to be the colour of water and a black coloured roof would mean ever ready water to put out fires.
Yellow meaning respect in chinese culture was widely used on roofs of most palaces.
But this colour also symbolises fire and that is the reason why the library roof is the only roof in the city that is black instead of yellow.
They also faced away from the north which symbolized the enemies of the chinese cold winds and evil.
Therefore yellow became the dominant color in the forbidden city.
The roofs of the buildings in the city were made with yellow tiles.
Here are a few examples.
There is much more in the forbidden city waiting for you to discover.
Even the bricks on the ground are made yellow by a special process.
Red walls yellow roofs and green blue decorations.
The roof form of chinese architecture is rich and colorful.
The forbidden city was designed using ancient chinese symbolism and philosophy.
Green is used.
Decorations in the palace are painted yellow.
The buildings all faced south which stood for holiness.
Red is associated with fertility and good fortune so all of the buildings and defensive walls are red.
Take the three halls as an example the roofs are different.
Another principle is often respected even if it is more questionable.
One example is wenyuange the imperial library in beijing s forbidden city which amidst many yellow roofs stands under a roof of black tiles.
Though the majority of the forbidden city s walls are made of grey brick and many of the stairs and terraces are made from bright white marble there are also many bold and colorful elements and there are very deliberate choices behind the colors used.
Any study done the forbidden city has approximately 8500 rooms so the legend is false.