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By the time of the Qing Dynasty, the city was divided largely into three sections. The Imperial City (皇城), containing the Imperial palace compound, also known as the [[Forbidden City]], was surrounded by the Inner City (内城), where the houses of the [[Eight Banners]], and other [[Manchu]] nobles and court officials were located. This meant the most loyal warrior houses were located in a prime position to defend the Palace from either invasion or rebellion, as was also the case in Edo and other warrior cities. To the south of this was the Outer City (外城), where [[Han Chinese]] nobles and commoners were relocated.<ref name=maehira64>Maehira Fusaaki, ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no ikoku taiken'' 琉球使節の異国体験, ''Kokusai kôryû'' 国際交流 59 (1992), 64.</ref> Though this forcible relocation caused some initial consternation and economic hardship for the Han Chinese residents of the city, they soon built the Outer City into a bustling center of urban life and commercial activity.
By the time of the Qing Dynasty, the city was divided largely into three sections. The Imperial City (皇城), containing the Imperial palace compound, also known as the [[Forbidden City]], was surrounded by the Inner City (内城), where the houses of the [[Eight Banners]], and other [[Manchu]] nobles and court officials were located. This meant the most loyal warrior houses were located in a prime position to defend the Palace from either invasion or rebellion, as was also the case in Edo and other warrior cities. To the south of this was the Outer City (外城), where [[Han Chinese]] nobles and commoners were relocated.<ref name=maehira64>Maehira Fusaaki, ''Ryûkyû shisetsu no ikoku taiken'' 琉球使節の異国体験, ''Kokusai kôryû'' 国際交流 59 (1992), 64.</ref> Though this forcible relocation caused some initial consternation and economic hardship for the Han Chinese residents of the city, they soon built the Outer City into a bustling center of urban life and commercial activity.
The Imperial City and Inner City were organized along the cardinal directions, with notable gates built into the city walls on all sides. The Palace, for the most part, was arranged along a north-south axis, such that the emperor sat in [[North Star|the north]] and faced south. The Hall of Supreme Harmony (the chief audience hall) faced south directly through a number of other buildings and gates to the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), at the center of the southern wall connecting the Forbidden City to the Inner City. Directly south of this stands the Zhèngyángmén (正陽門, also known as Qiánmén 前門), the central gate connecting the Inner City to the Outer City. A bustling "downtown" area lay just north of this gate (in the Inner City); within that neighborhood was a notable bridge called the Jade River Bridge (''Yùhéqiáo'', 玉河橋), and a shared lodging for visiting envoys from foreign courts, called the [[Huitong-guan]].<ref>Maehira, 62-63.</ref>
The Imperial City and Inner City were organized along the cardinal directions, with notable gates built into the city walls on all sides. The Palace, for the most part, was arranged along a north-south axis, such that the emperor sat in [[North Star|the north]] and faced south. The Hall of Supreme Harmony (the chief audience hall) faced south directly through a number of other buildings and gates to the Wumen (午門), the main southern gate of the Palace compound. It was at the plaza just inside this gate that a variety of major state ceremonies were performed, including the declaration of Imperial edicts, sending-off events for armies being sent to war, and victory celebrations at the end of a military campaign. Near the Wumen, the Court also kept a number of [[elephants]], given as gifts from [[Annam]]. The elephants were well cared for and maintained for much of the Qing period, with new elephants of course being given from time to time. They regularly attracted considerable numbers of interested onlookers, and when the elephants were led each summer to play and bathe in the moats by the Xuānwǔmén (宣武門), some tens of thousands of onlookers came to watch. On New Year's, the elephants were decorated with various ornaments and incense burners, and were led around the Imperial city, adding to the spectacle of the celebrations.<ref>Maehira, 65.</ref>
Beyond the Wumen stood the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), at the center of the southern wall connecting the Forbidden City to the Inner City, and directly south of that, the Zhèngyángmén (正陽門, also known as Qiánmén 前門), the central gate connecting the Inner City to the Outer City. A bustling "downtown" area lay just north of this gate (in the Inner City); within that neighborhood was a notable bridge called the Jade River Bridge (''Yùhéqiáo'', 玉河橋), and a shared lodging for visiting envoys from foreign courts, called the [[Huitong-guan]].<ref>Maehira, 62-63.</ref>
A temple to [[Confucius]] was located just inside the Andingmen in the northeastern section of the Inner City; within its grounds stood the [[National Academy]] (''Guózǐjiàn''), the most elite center of [[Confucianism|Confucian learning]] in the empire.<ref name=maehira64/>
A temple to [[Confucius]] was located just inside the Andingmen in the northeastern section of the Inner City; within its grounds stood the [[National Academy]] (''Guózǐjiàn''), the most elite center of [[Confucianism|Confucian learning]] in the empire.<ref name=maehira64/>
Two sites of key importance to Imperial rituals - the [[Temple of Heaven]] (''Tiāntán''), and the [[Temple of Agriculture]] (''Xiānnóngtán'') - were originally established on the southern outskirts of the Outer City, but are now located in the southeastern part of central Beijing, as a result of the city's extensive growth in the modern period. The Temple of Heaven was originally built in [[1530]].
Beyond the city walls, expanses of farmland once belonged chiefly to Ming elites. These lands were confiscated following the Manchu invasion, and were redistributed, roughly six acres apiece, to some 40,000 Manchu bannermen.
Beyond the city walls, expanses of farmland once belonged chiefly to Ming elites. These lands were confiscated following the Manchu invasion, and were redistributed, roughly six acres apiece, to some 40,000 Manchu bannermen.