The Forbidden City
Beijing China
2014

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City

The Forbidden City is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing.

https://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/forbidden-city/

To represent the supreme power of the emperor, given from Heaven, and the place where he lived being the center of the world, all the important gates and halls of the Forbidden City were arranged symmetrically on the north-south central axis of old Beijing.

Heaven was thought to be Polaris (the North Star), the only seemingly stationary star in the northern sky, and the Forbidden City's layout points its visitors straight at "Heaven".

There is a row of mystical animal statuettes placed along the ridge line of halls that were only for official use.

The animals, like dragons, phoenixes, and lions, have powerful meanings in Chinese culture.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10 roof ridge statuettes — left to right: 'Series Ten' (行什, unique to this roof, an anti-thunder monkey god), dragon, phoenix, lion, sea horse, Heavenly steed, a fish dragon, a Haetae (sheep-like dragon), a lion-like dragon, and a bull-like dragon.


The number of animals is different based on the importance of the buildings. You can see 10 animals on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the most important structure in the Forbidden City, and seven on the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the residence of the Empress.

Ridge Animals

Last but not the least, there are ridge animals on the sloping ridge of each building in the Forbidden City. There are strict rules on the size, number, and even the order of ridge animals. The number of these ridge animals is either five, seven, or nine, in a singular order. The only exception is the Hall of Supreme Harmony which has 10 ridge animals, because it is the most supreme architecture in the Forbidden City. The 10 ridge beasts contains the dragon, phoenix, lion, horse, haetae, and so on. Each has its own meaning and blessing, but all have auspicious, protective meaning, symbolizing the supremacy of the imperial power and the long run of the emperor.