The Palace Museum embodies the cultural genes of the Chinese nation and stands as a hallmark of Chinese civilization. To help the world better understand Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation, the Palace Museum, in collaboration with the University of Stirling (UK), has produced a free English-language course series titled "The Forbidden City and Its People: Exploring Chinese Heritage with the Palace Museum". The series of courses was launched for trial operation on overseas online learning platform on April 13, open to users worldwide free of charge. It will be officially released on the multilingual website of the Palace Museum starting from 18 May. Visitors can click the course link on the homepage to watch them.

https://intl.dpm.org.cn/index.html?l=en  

The Palace Museum Multilingual Website

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-forbidden-city-and-its-people

The overseas online learning platform

As an overseas communication initiative of the Palace Museum's cultural heritage, the course series is divided into six thematic modules, comprising over 110 high-quality learning units:

• Introduction to the Forbidden City: Architecture and Construction
• Focus on Design: Specialised Buildings, Decorations and Interiors
• The Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and Their Stories
• Imperial Women in the Forbidden City
• Workers in the Forbidden City: Courtiers and Servants
• From the Forbidden City to the Palace Museum

Designed from the perspective of international audiences, the courses incorporate a range of formats, including videos, illustrated texts, interactive quizzes, and animations. These approaches present specialised historical and cultural knowledge in an accessible and engaging manner, moving beyond traditional models of cultural dissemination and precisely  target the core interests of global culture enthusiasts in the Palace Museum.

Following the launch, both teams will continue to collect user feedback, conduct data analysis, and produce evaluation reports. By examining users' learning behaviors, areas of interest, and levels of understanding, the project aims to refine perspectives on cultural communication in an international context, provide valuable references for museum education and international audience engagement, and explore more effective cross-cultural communication strategies.

The Palace Museum and the University of Stirling signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016, leading to sustained collaboration in areas such as cultural heritage conservation, talent development, and academic research, with particularly in-depth cooperation in projects such as the conservation of metal and masonry structures. In 2023, both parties reached a consensus on collaborating to promote traditional Chinese culture internationally. The "Overseas Communication of Palace Museum Cultural Heritage" project was formally launched in 2024. The free English-language course series "The Forbidden City and Its People: Exploring Chinese Heritage with the Palace Museum" represents the outcome of this collaboration.