Interior, Palace Of Heavenly Purity

Forbidden City, Beijing (map)

The elaborateness of this throne room, located in the Inner Court of the Forbidden City, seems to belie what we have said earlier about the distinction between private and public spaces. Here, though, the emperor was "on view" to his intimates. Having decided upon a successor, the emperor would write the name in a box and hide it behind the the placard (gold on black, photo top), to be opened only upon his death.