Meridian Gate (Wu Men) is the main gate and the south gate of the Forbidden City. As the greatest of the gates, it is also the highest building of the Forbidden City. Five pavilions with golden glaze tiles, like five phoenixes, sit on the gate, thus the gate is also called Five-Phoenix Pavilion. Bells and drums reside in the two pavilions closest to the main pavilion. The bells would ring when the emperor left the Meridian Gate for the Temple of Heaven; and the drums would beat when the emperor departed for the Ancestral Temple. Bells and drums also volleyed when grand ceremonies were hold in the palace.

The gate has five entrances, each of which allowed people with certain ranks to come in. The entrance in the middle was reserved for the emperor; however, there were some exceptions to this rule. The empress had the right to enter through it only on her wedding day and the top three students who succeeded in the Final Imperial Examination were entitled to leave the palace via this central entrance. The side entrance on the east was for the ministers and the side entrance on the west for the royal family members. The other two flanking entrances were opened on grand ceremony occasions, permitting officials to pass.

During the imperial period many activities took place at the Meridian Gate. At the end of a lunar year, the emperor issued the calendar for the next year. When the army returned in triumph after wars, the emperor greeted them and received the captives at the Meridian Gate.

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