Kublai Khan's Palace May Be Underneath the Forbidden City

Ming Dynasty conquerors may have built the Forbidden City over the site of Yuan Dynasty ruler Kublai Khan's palace, Beijing archaeologists now believe, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.

The Yuan Dynasty ruled China as part of the Mongolian empire from 1271-1368, before a Han Chinese uprising established the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, before moving the capital back to Beijing at the beginning of the 15th century.

Beihai Park and the white dagoba that is the park's main landmark have long been believed to be part of Kublai Khan's palace. But archaeologists digging within the Palace Museum, as the Forbidden City complex is now officially known, have found the foundations of another palatial structure inside what is the world's largest palace complex.

Construction from the Qing Dynasty, late and early Ming, and then Yuan Dynasty were all found layered upon each other, the archaeologists found.

Ming Dynasty builders are believed to have removed their predecessors' structures before constructing their own.

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