Ming dynasty · 1402-1424

The Forbidden City: Beijing becomes the capital

The Yongle emperor moved the Ming capital north to Beijing and built the Forbidden City at its heart. Students explore why an emperor would put his capital close to the frontier, and how the Grand Canal kept it fed.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
10–13
On the map
3 steps, AD 1420
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

The Yongle emperor moved the Ming capital north to Beijing and built the Forbidden City at its heart. Students explore why an emperor would put his capital close to the frontier, and how the Grand Canal kept it fed.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Yongle emperor moved the Ming capital from Nanjing to Beijing.
  • Describe the plan and purpose of the Forbidden City.
  • Explain how the Grand Canal kept the new capital supplied.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1420

Two capitals

Open the map in 1420 and turn on Cities. Find Nanjing and Beijing and compare their dots. Why would an emperor move his capital about 900 km north, closer to the Mongols?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1420

The palace city

Zoom in on the centre of Beijing. The Forbidden City lies on a straight north-south line through the old city. Why would a palace be built exactly in the middle?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1420

Feeding Beijing

Pan south from Beijing along the line of the Grand Canal towards the Yangtze. Yongle had the canal repaired in 1411-1415. Why did a northern capital depend on it?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Yongle took the throne from his own nephew in a civil war. Why might he want a new capital far from Nanjing?
  2. The palace was forbidden to ordinary people. What does a closed palace say about the emperor's power?
  3. Beijing lay close to the northern frontier. Was it brave or risky to put the capital there?
  4. Huge numbers of workers built the Forbidden City in about 14 years. Who do you think paid the price?
  5. The Forbidden City was home to emperors for almost 500 years. Why do some buildings become symbols of a whole country?
4

Game round

9 min

Rule History has no Ming emperor, so play Genghis Khan, whose Mongol heirs the Ming feared. Let students take turns ruling. Then switch sides: why did the threat from the steppe lead Yongle to put his capital in the north?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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