Editing Meridian Gate (section)

{{Short description|Southern and largest gate of the Forbidden City}}
{{Infobox building
| name             = Meridian Gate
| native_name      = 午门
| native_name_lang = zh
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| image            = Meridian Gate (Forbidden City) 2015 December (morning).jpg
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| image_caption    = The Meridian Gate, viewed from the south, in wintertime
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| alternate_names  = Wumen
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| location         = Forbidden City
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[[File:Forbidden City - Meridian Gate View from North.jpg|thumb|Meridian Gate viewed from north, showing the five arches]]
[[Image:MeridianGate.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|Meridian Gate, viewed from the south}}]]

The '''Meridian Gate''' or '''Wumen''' ({{zh|t=午門|s=午门|p=Wǔmén}}; [[Manchu language|Manchu]]: {{MongolUnicode|ᠵᡠᠯᡝᡵᡤᡳ<br>ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ<br>ᡩᡠᡴᠠ}}; [[Transliterations of Manchu|Möllendorff]]: ''julergi dulimbai duka'') is the southern and largest gate of the [[Forbidden City]] in [[Beijing]], [[China]]. Unlike the other gates of the Forbidden City, the Meridian Gate has two protruding arms on either side, derived from ancient [[que towers]] traditionally used to decorate the main entrances of palaces, temples and tombs. The gate has five arches. The three central arches are close together in the main, central section; the two flanking arches are farther apart from the three central arches, and are located between the central section and the protruding arms. The centre arch was formerly reserved for the [[Emperor of China|Emperor]] alone; the exceptions were the Empress, who could enter it once on the day of her wedding, and the top three scholars of the [[Imperial examination|triennial civil service examinations]], who left the exams through the central arch. All other officials and servants had to use the four side arches.

A series of buildings form the superstructure of the gate. The central one is a pavilion of nine bays wide, with double eaves. On each of the protruding side, a 13 bays-long building with a single eave, connects the two pyramidal-roofed pavilions that represented the que towers.

Its superstructure is also called the "Five Phoenix Turrets" because it is composed of five buildings.<ref name="Yu 32">{{cite book |last=Yu |first= Zhuoyun |title=Palaces of the Forbidden City |year=1984|publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=0-670-53721-7 |page=32}}</ref> Imperial proclamations and almanacs were issued from the gate house. After successful campaigns, the Emperor received prisoners of war here, sometimes followed by mass decapitations.<ref name="Huang1">{{cite book|last=Huang|first=Ray|title=1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline|year=1981|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=0-300-02518-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/1587yearofnosign00huan}}</ref>

Although [[urban myth]] has it that senior officers were executed here in [[Imperial era of Chinese history|Imperial China]]; in reality only corporal punishment was actually carried out.

Behind the viewer is [[Duanmen|Upright Gate]], the principal entrance to the imperial palace grounds.

When proceeding northward through the palace grounds, the next major gate encountered is the [[Gate of Supreme Harmony]].