The Forbidden City in Beijing, China is one of the largest palace complexes in the country. It was once the home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is now a popular tourist destination in China and the world.

The Forbidden City is famous not only for its beauty but also for its mysterious legends that scientists have yet to find an explanation for. Among them, the story that at midnight, flocks of black crows appear and fly to the Forbidden City is the most rumored story. Why does such a strange phenomenon occur in this deep palace?

For the ancient Chinese, crows often brought bad luck. However, scientists have given 3 reasons showing that crows gathered in the Forbidden City.

Firstly, the crows flock to the Forbidden City at night because of its special design. Specifically, the palaces in the palace are all built facing north and south. Therefore, sunlight will shine on these areas.

Furthermore, the design of the roof helps keep the palace warm. Crows, looking for an ideal place to roost, chose the Forbidden City as their nighttime resting place.

Second, the Forbidden City was a place where crows foraged for food. This reason originated from the Manchu people's belief that crows were sacred birds. At that time, Qing Taizu Nurhaci had once served under Li Chengliang, a general of Liaodong. After his grandfather Jiachangan and father Takeshi were murdered by the Ming army, Nurhaci fled during the night.

Li Chengliang led his troops in pursuit. When the soldiers were tired and the horses were exhausted, Nurhaci could no longer run and lay down under a tree by the roadside, pretending to be dead. At this time, a flock of crows suddenly flew from afar and covered Nurhaci's body. When Li Chengliang's troops arrived, they saw only a flock of crows. They thought to themselves, "What bad luck," and searched elsewhere.

Thanks to the crows, Nurhaci escaped from danger, and from then on he deified the bird and ordered his descendants to worship it. Crows were grateful to him, so the sacrifice to the crow god became an important ritual of the royal family and Manchu families.

After the Qing Dynasty took control of Central China, they built a hall to the east of the left gate of Chang'an, established a temple to worship the crow god, and erected a sacred pillar in the Kunning Palace. The imperial court erected large and tall pillars called Shulungan. When making offerings, people would cut pork into pieces, mix it with broken rice, and put it in a tin box and hang it on the pillar for the crows to eat. Because of this Qing Dynasty tradition, crows flew to the Forbidden City to find food. Later, they considered it a shelter and have remained there ever since.

Third, the heat island effect in Beijing. The reason is that there are too many high-rise buildings in Beijing. Because of this, the heat island effect has been created. The effect makes the temperature in Beijing very high during the day but very low at night. Crows are very sensitive to temperature, so they will fly to the suburbs during the day and return to the Forbidden City at night to avoid the heat.

Quoc Thai (Source: Sohu)