Nguyen An and the Forbidden City: An Imperial Monument with a Vietnamese Builder Kept Out of the Frame

Visitors standing before Meridian Gate usually hear a short story: the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, ordered the Forbidden City in Beijing from 1406 to 1420, turning a new capital into the centre of the Ming Empire. UNESCO tells the site’s history in much the same way, focusing on the emperor, the Ming dynasty, and Chinese civilisation.

Visitors standing before Meridian Gate usually hear a short story: the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, ordered the Forbidden City in Beijing from 1406 to 1420, turning a new capital into the centre of the Ming Empire. UNESCO tells the site’s history in much the same way, focusing on the emperor, the Ming dynasty, and Chinese civilisation.

Visitors standing before Meridian Gate usually hear a short story: the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, ordered the Forbidden City in Beijing from 1406 to 1420, turning a new capital into the centre of the Ming Empire. UNESCO tells the site’s history in much the same way, focusing on the emperor, the Ming dynasty, and Chinese civilisation.

Visitors standing before Meridian Gate usually hear a short story: the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, ordered the Forbidden City in Beijing from 1406 to 1420, turning a new capital into the centre of the Ming Empire. UNESCO tells the site’s history in much the same way, focusing on the emperor, the Ming dynasty, and Chinese civilisation.