To supply the Forbidden City with crockery and vases, the Ming Emperors founded an imperial factory in Jingdezhen, a town reputed for its production of china. When the china was for the Court, there was no end to the potters’ talent.
That is how decorative techniques developed more than ever under the Ming dynasty. “Willow Pattern” china reached such heights of refinement that it was sold as far away as the Middle East!
The imperial china factory produced the famous “Willow Pattern” items so highly prized that they were sold as far away as the Middle East.
When he chose Beijing for his new capital, Yongle decided to build the biggest palace ever: the Forbidden City. He did not take this task lightly; everything was very carefully organized.
The buildings were placed to form a rectangle over 700 metres long. First the public buildings to the South, then the private areas for the Emperor, his family and associates, to the North.
With hundreds of buildings, the Forbidden City offered the Emperor everything he needed. For a very good reason – the ruler almost never left his enormous palace!
The Forbidden City, a gigantic rectangle 700 meters long with almost 10,000 rooms, was the Emperor’s main living quarters.
After setting up his capital in Beijing, Emperor Ming Yongle built the Forbidden City there.
In his new capital of Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII had the Bayon built, a particularly impressive monument. It’s impressiveness is not surprising, since this temple has 59 towers decorated with faces!
But what do they represent? Every theory has been put forward – heads of Buddha or Bodhisattvas, or even portraits of Jayavarman VII watching over his empire. The mystery remains unsolved.
In Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII had the impressive Bayon Temple built, with its 59 towers decorated with sculptures of faces.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Angkor had its last great king before the empire began to die gradually: Jayavarman VII.
Jayavarman VII, the last great Khmer king, made Buddhism the state religion and built the city of Angkor Thom.
This religion was born in India and has three main deities:
Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu are the main deities in the Hindu religion.
There are sculptures too!
For a long time, it was influenced by Indian art and many Angkor sculptures represent subjects related to Hindu mythology. This religion, which also came from India, was the Khmer king’s religion for several centuries (There’s more about this next!)
Angkor is also famous for its sculptures, many of which were inspired by the Hindu religion.
Angkor is not one temple, nor one city, but a 154 square mile site on which several cities have been built, including several impressive monuments!
Several capitals in succession have been built in different parts of Angkor. Each one is home to exceptional temples.
The gigantic site of Angkor houses the remains of several capitals, each of which had its own temples.
In 802, the Khmer Empire was founded on the site of Angkor, a fertile plain in what is now Cambodia. So fertile that successive kings reigned there right up to the 15th century!
But the conquest of the territory by enemy armies marked the end of the Grand Era of Angkor. The site was gradually abandoned and taken over by the forest.
The Khmer Empire, founded in Angkor at the beginning of the ninth century, lasted till the 15th century.
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