The 594 years lightning disaster records span from 1420 to 2014 for the Palace Museum and the lightning location data over the Palace Museum and its surrounding region from 2005 to 2014 were counted and analyzed.The results show that a total of 51 lightning disasters were recorded for the Palace Museum,mainly occurred during May to September,especially from June to August,and August is the month which has most lightning disasters.The southern buildings and the buildings located at the central axis are more prone to lightning compared with the northern buildings and the buildings located at east or west wing of the Palace Museum,and the Supreme Harmony Palace has the most lightning disasters.The ridge animal statues,which are at the top of the ancient building,are most vulnerable to lightning strokes.In addition,the direct lightning strokes caused most lightning disaster losses.The lightning location data show that the lightning activities mainly occur during April to October,especially from June to August,and August is the month which has most lightning activities.A distinctive diurnal variation exists in lightning activities over the Palace Museum and the surrounding region within 1km range,and afternoon till midnight is the most vulnerable period with 63.95% of lightning occurrence.Generally,the lightning currents distributed normally with 30-40 kA as center,which accounted for 23.26%.The lightning activities and lightning disasters are roughly consistent in temporal distribution.