Meridian Gate

Also called Wumen, it is the southern entrance of the Forbidden City. Wumen is the largest and most imposing of the entrances and is the main gate to the Forbidden City. As the greatest of the gates, it is also the highest building of the Forbidden City. Everyone who entered the Forbidden City had to observe strict rules concerning the use of the Meridian Gate.

The Meridian gate was the place where the Emperor announced the new lunar calendar on the Winter Solstice (the first day of the 19th lunar month) each year. When a general returned from a battle, his captives would be "offered" to the emperor in a ceremony here, which was known as a victorious ceremony of "Accepting War Captives." Before this ceremony the Emperor would pay sacrifice to altars such as the Altar of Earth and Grain (in today's Zhongshan Park)and the Altar of Imperial Ancestry (today's Cultural Palace of the Working People), which are close to the Meridian Gate.