Meridian Gate

The Meridian Gate or Wumen (simplified Chinese: 午门; traditional Chinese: 午門; pinyin: Wǔmén; Manchu: ᠵᡠᠯᡝᡵᡤᡳᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳᡩᡠᡴᠠ; Möllendorff: julergi dulimbai duka) is the southern and largest gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

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.

After successful campaigns, the Emperor received prisoners of war here, sometimes followed by mass decapitations.

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

Behind the viewer is Upright Gate, the principal entrance to the imperial palace grounds.

Meridian Gate viewed from north, showing the five arches
Meridian Gate, viewed from the south