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EPISODE · PRIME VIDEO
Season 44 · Episode 22
Landed Wed, 18 Oct 2017 · 21:00 your time · 1 episode · 1h 0m
Season 44, Episode 22 of NOVA aired Wednesday, 18 October 2017 at 9pm ET on PBS.
- S44E22Secrets of the Forbidden CityDiscover the ingenious engineering of Beijing's Forbidden City, the power center of imperial China for nearly 500 years. Discover how the architectural design of this vast complex of palaces and temples enabled it to survive centuries of earthquake shocks. The Forbidden City is the world's biggest and most extravagant palace complex ever built. For five centuries, it was the power center of imperial China and survived wars, revolution, fires, and earthquakes. How did the Ming Emperor's workforce construct its sprawling array of nearly 1,000 buildings and dozens of temples in a little over a decade? How were stupendous 250-ton marble blocks moved across many miles to reach the site? And how did fantastically intricate woodwork, all fastened without nails or glue, enable the palaces to survive hundreds of earthquakes, including recent ones that obliterated nearby modern structures? To find answers, NOVA joins a team of master craftsmen who build a scale model of a typical palace in a seismic lab, then subject it to simulated earthquakes to shake out the secrets of how the Forbidden City has withstood centuries of violent tremors. The Forbidden City is the world's biggest and most extravagant palace complex ever built. For five centuries, it was the power center of imperial China and survived wars, revolution, fires, and earthquakes. How did the Ming Emperor's workforce construct its sprawling array of nearly 1,000 buildings and dozens of temples in a little over a decade? How were stupendous 250-ton marble blocks moved across many miles to reach the site? And how did fantastically intricate woodwork, all fastened without nails or glue, enable the palaces to survive hundreds of earthquakes, including recent ones that obliterated nearby modern structures? To find answers, NOVA joins a team of master craftsmen who build a scale model of a typical palace in a seismic lab, then subject it to simulated earthquakes to shake out the secrets of how the Forbidden City has withstood centuries of violent tremors.
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Episode 23
Wed 25 Oct · 21:00
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