China is known for many things such as fortune cookies, great Chinese foods, acupuncture, herbal medicine, The Great Wall, scenic views, a really huge population, and many more. However, ghost stories in China aren’t as popular as those mentioned above.

This ghost story will definitely spook you out and you should read it with lights on if you don’t want to have bad dreams about it. There’s a place in China called Forbidden City and it’s a nest of ghost stories. Are you ready to know more about these ghostly encounters?

The façade of the Forbidden City in China. Photo Credit: Marilyn Shea (Link: http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/HistoricBeijing/Forbidden_City/index.html)

The Forbidden City in China is open to the public and tourists usually go here but they aren’t aware of the rich ghostly history about this place. Many say that this is one of the scariest places in China because many have been murdered here for the past 600 years. The city has a total of 980 buildings and these buildings sit on 180 acres of land.

Accordingly, one Chinese emperor lived there from the 15^th century through the 20^th century. It is no longer occupied by anyone making the area even creepier if one does not know of the ghost-related history of the Forbidden City. In the past, two royal families lived at the Forbidden City and no outsider can enter the area or even know anything about what is happening inside the residential mansion. The Forbidden City once symbolized power and desire but it also symbolized mystery and death.

Who Is Emperor Yongle and what did he do with the inhabitants of the Forbidden City?

An illustration of Emperor Yongle. Photo Credit: Wikipedia (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongle_Emperor)

The emperor was identified as Emperor Yongle and he was dubbed as the Evil Emperor. Anyone who did not follow the emperor’s rules would easily be executed. It wasn’t just the Emperor who was ordering such killing because jealous concubines, offended or hurt servants, as well as envious guards would poison others inside the Forbidden City in the most conniving ways.

The worst execution, however, took place in 1421 when the emperor ordered 3,000 people that were living in his harem, a separated household reserved for wives, concubines, courtesans, and female servants, to be killed. This came after he was told that one of his concubines, whom he loves dearly, was poisoned. He did not order the killing of some of his favorite women in the harem so they were lucky to have escaped such faith.

A few years after he slaughtered the 3,000 women, Forbidden City was engulfed in a huge fire and it burned more than 250 of the buildings. During this incident, more people died again. Emperor Yongle then felt depressed because the bad luck just kept coming and he thought it was because of his actions in the past. He died in 1424 and even after his death, many have suffered. Those who escaped the first slaughtering in 1421 were not lucky enough because on the day of the Emperor’s funeral, 16 courtesans were killed via hanging using nooses of white silk.

What Are The Most Famous Ghost Stories At The Forbidden City?

Many believed that there are really ghosts at the Forbidden City especially the old people. They claim that they hear the shouting, screaming, and cries of the people whose souls have not rested up to now. They also claimed that they have seen many ladies-in-waiting walking in groups as well as eunuchs passing by.

An old photo showing eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting at the Forbidden City. Photo Credit: Pinterest (Link: https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/345792077615065271/)

The guards of the Forbidden City also said that they often hear a music being played from the inside even after the doors have been closed from tourists and other visitors. No one lives inside the buildings of the Forbidden City so who could it be playing such music at an odd hour in the evening?

A woman dressed in white was often seen sobbing while she strolls around. Another woman, dressed in all black, was also spotted many times by guards running away from a soldier. Accordingly, this woman dressed in all black sometimes turns to the guards and tires to speak but she has no face.

Another scary story about it is that pieces of white silk have mysteriously appeared at the Forbidden City to this day. Sword-fighting, pools of blood, and dead bodies have also been seen and heard around the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City at night. Photo Credit: english.sina.com (Link: http://english.sina.com/culture/p/2015/1231/877747.html)

The Forbidden City is not open to visitors at night and most of its palaces and other areas are closed to the public. Accordingly, the Forbidden City is closed at 5 P.M. sharp because this is the time that most mysteries and scary phenomenon take place.

If you had the chance, would you want to visit the Forbidden City at night and go to the off-limits areas? You might just see some of the supposed ghosts in this scary Chinese palace. The other question is, would you be able to handle it?