Forbidden City

The northern division of Peking consists of three inclosures one within another, each surrounded by its own wall. The first contains the imperial palace and the abodes of the different members of the imperial household ;[...] The first inclosure, which is called the forbidden city, being the seat of ‘ the dragon’s throne,’ the place from which emanates the authority that governs one-third of mankind, is the most splendid, as well as the most important part of Peking. According to the notions of a Chinese, all within its walls is gold and silver.

1834 February, “Description of the City of Peking.”, in The Chinese Repository, volume II, number 10, Canton, →OCLC, page 438

And within the Imperial city was the moated Forbidden city, with walls two and one-quarter miles long, plastered with a violet-coloured mortar, whence comes the popular name of the Purple city. The Forbidden city contained the Imperial palaces, which have been converted into a museum.

1968, “PEKING (PEIPING)”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 17, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 532, columns 1, 2

During the Tang Dynasty 12 centuries ago, even the Forbidden City in Peiping would stay open for three days to allow ordinary citizens to observe the Lantern Festival.

1979 February 11, “Lantern festival enchantment”, in Free China Weekly, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2

Finally, in October, P'eng was moved from his quarters in the Chungnanhai area of the Forbidden City, where Mao, Liu Shao-ch’i and other Politburo members lived, to a dilapidated house in the Wu Chia Hua Yuan (Wu Family Garden), a compound within the Yuan Ming Park on the northern outskirts of Peking.

1983, Roderick MacFarquhar, The Great Leap Forward, 1958-1960 (The Origins of the Cultural Revolution), volume 2, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 235

The wall surrounding the Chung Nan Hai is high and wide, painted vermilion in keeping with the decor of the Forbidden City. It has a circumference of many miles, intersected at intervals by gates guarded day and night by armed soldiers.

1991, Chris Mullin, The Year of the Fire Monkey (Fiction), London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 252