Definition

Noun: * Forbidden City; Imperial Citadel: The walled inner palace complex where the emperor and the imperial family resided. Access was strictly forbidden to the general public. This is a historical term for the royal enclosure within the capital city of a Vietnamese monarchy, most famously associated with the Huế Imperial City.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cấm thành bỗng chốc xôn xao chiến trường. (The Forbidden Citadel was all of a sudden seized by the flurry of fighting.)
  • Du khách tham quan khu vực cấm thành ở Huế. (Tourists visit the Imperial Citadel area in Huế.)
  • Cấm thành là nơi sinh hoạt của hoàng gia triều Nguyễn. (The Forbidden City was the living quarters of the Nguyễn dynasty royal family.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in historical, literary, or formal contexts to refer to the imperial palaces of pre-modern Vietnam, especially the Nguyễn dynasty in Huế. It is not used for modern government buildings.

Variants and Related Words

• Kinh thành (noun): The capital city; the larger walled capital area that surrounds the .
• Tử Cấm Thành (noun): Literally "Purple Forbidden City." This is the direct translation and equivalent term for the Chinese Forbidden City in Beijing. In Vietnamese historical context, and can be used somewhat interchangeably for the Vietnamese imperial palace, though more strongly evokes the Chinese architectural and cultural model.
• Hoàng thành (noun): Imperial City; another term for the royal enclosure, often encompassing a slightly larger area than the innermost .

Synonyms

• Imperial palace: Cung điện hoàng gia.
• Royal enclosure: Khu vực hoàng gia.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The word cấm thành is a compound noun. Its individual components are:
  • Cấm: to forbid, to prohibit.
  • Thành: city, citadel, walled enclosure.
• It is crucial not to confuse cấm thành (forbidden citadel) with the completely different word cấm vận (to embargo). They share the first element cấm (to forbid) but have entirely different second elements and meanings.

noun

1. Forbidden citadel
   • "Cấm thành bỗng chốc xôn xao chiến trường " the forbidden citadel was all of a sudden seized by the flurry of fighting
2. cấm vận
3. To put an embargo on