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".

The Forbidden City is the largest and most complete complex of ancient wooden structures in the world.

Kneeling elephants
In the north of the Imperial Garden inside the Forbidden City, there is a pair of bronze elephants kneeling face-to-face. Both elephants are 1.1 meters high, 1.6 meters long and 0.8 meters wide. Made in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), these two gilded elephants look down on the ground with their trunks rolling up and kneel in homage to visitors, as they once did to the imperial residents of the Forbidden City. The elephant is considered a symbol of good fortune because of its power, dignity and reputation for peace. It also symbolizes the divine in Buddhism. All of the animal’s traits, derived from traditional culture, made the elephant popular within royal dynasties.

There are several reasons why the kneeling elephants appear in the Forbidden City. Because of its massive body and huge power, the elephant is favored as a symbol of military power in the imperial residence. Historical documents show that these giant animals were incorporated into military use from the Shang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan Province was rich with elephants. Specific institutes for training elephants for military use were established, providing the state with a consistent supply of war elephants. Therefore, the statues of the elephants within the Forbidden City can be regarded as imperial guards.

The elephant also played an important part in the protocol of the imperial procession. Marco Polo (1254–1324) mentioned in his journal that there were 5,000 elephants marching in the royal parade during New Year’s Day in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). This shows that since the Yuan Dynasty the elephant has been used for rites and ceremonies. The Qing (1644–1911) adopted the same tradition and kept elephants in certain institutes. In some major imperial ceremonies, such as a new emperor ascending the throne or a royal wedding, these elephants would appear in noticeable parts of the Forbidden City as lubu (bodyguards of the nobility).

The dressing and decoration of the kneeling elephants is similar to that of the elephants that were recorded serving in emperors’ imperial carriage processions. Therefore, this pair of kneeling elephants, which pose like they are receiving an emperor, may represent obedience to imperial power.