China's Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace of China from 1420 to 1912, beginning with the Ming dynasty and ending with the Qing dynasty. There are 980 buildings total on the complex and it took fourteen years to complete. It has been named a World Heritage Site and now the palace, known currently as the Palace Museum, is the most visited art museum in the world with well over 14-million tourists stopping by annually.
Construction of the palace began in 1406 when Yongle Emperor Zhu Di moved the capital city from Nanjing to Beijing and would employee over a million laborers and utilize the many resources from the surrounding land. The Ming dynasty reigned from 1420 to 1644 when Li Zicheng, self-proclaimed Emperor of the Shun dynasty, lead a rebellion on the palace and was able to usurp the seat. However, he soon abandoned the Forbidden City when Wu Sangui, former Ming general, lead Manchu forces against Zicheng and set fire to sections of the palace. This lead to the rise of the Qing dynasty in Northern China.
Anglo-French forces seized control of the city during the Second Opium War in 1860 and held their position until the end of the conflict, which came soon after. When the anti-Imperialist uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion began in 1899, Emperor Dowager Cixi left the palace a year later, leaving it to the control of the rebels. The palace ceased being the political center of China after the last Emperor, Puyi, abdicated his post in 1912; he and the Republic of China then reached a new political agreement that would end Imperialistic dynasties.
With all the years of battle, bloodshed, rebellion, and concubine murders, the Forbidden City is believed to be haunted by many spirits. In the 90s, a guard by the name of Fat Fu told a story about two of his co-workers who experienced a ghost, saying they rushed into the guard shack around 9pm, flustered and nervous, and claimed they had seen the ghost of a black-haired woman in a long white gown somewhere on the compound. When they tried to get her attention, the woman fled, so they pursued her, suspecting she may be a thief. When they finally caught up to her, cornering her by a locked door, she turned around and, to their horror, they saw, in the beams of their flashlights, that the woman had no face, only long, unruly hair hanging down. Fat Fu went to find the woman, but never saw her. Another guard reported seeing this same woman walking along one of the courtyards, but she was not running. She was weeping as she floated through the night, up towards one of the walls, and out of sight.
Shadows move along the walls when no one is around. There are also the sounds of animals running back and forth through rooms when none are there. Dark shapes drift along the steps leading to the palace, and the figures of transparent people have been seen lingering in windows of various buildings.
There is also the very disturbing story of General Yuan, the man who defended the city from the Manchu armies in 1630. He fought back the forces and was known to be a loyal servant who would do whatever it took to support and protect his Emperor. But, his successes drew jealousy and some of those who envied his status began to spread vicious rumors claiming betrayal about the general. Eventually, these words reached the ears of the Emperor and he had Yuan tortured and his body chopped into several pieces and spread throughout the land; all that remained was his head and it was saved by one of the troops who did not believe the lies. From here, the tale only becomes more harrowing: many people believed the accusations brought against him and found his severed limbs and ate them.
It is said that the general still protects the land, as well as wanders the night in search of revenge against those who wronged him. Near his tomb, a white mist sometimes swirls until the faint image of the betrayed general takes form. People have reported hearing his cries in the night, as well as seeing his headless body stalking the grounds beneath the moonlight. One man even claimed to have saw the General's head hovering in a palace window, with his eyes burning from the fires of rage.
There are numerous smaller haunts reported from the site, such as apparitions, cries, voices, smells, eerie presences, footsteps, bangs, doors opening, shadows moving, and strange-looking creatures lurking in corners. A place that old has to have a lot of energy, and since so many people met bloody deaths there, the Forbidden City seems to have quite the lure for spectral activity. Could you imagine wandering that vast complex in the dead of night? The things you could see and hear...
Strange and eerie presences wander the Forbidden City.
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