Daming Palace

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Daming Palace National Heritage Park
大明宫国家遗址公园
Hanyu Pinyin
dàmíng gōng guójiā yízhǐ gōngyuán

The Daming Palace was the imperial palace complex of the

national heritage site of China,[5] and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor".[6] The area is located northeast of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.[7]

Name

The palace was originally known as Yong'an Palace but was renamed to Daming Palace in 635.[8][9] In 662, after renovations to the palace, it was renamed Penglai Palace.[8][9] In 670, it was renamed Hanyuan Palace[9] or Yuan Palace.[8] Eventually, in 701, the name was changed to Daming Palace again.[8][9]

History

The former royal residence was the Taiji Palace (太極宮), built in the previous Sui dynasty.[10]

In 632, chancellor Ma Zhou charged that the retired Emperor Gaozu was living in Da'an Palace (大安宮) to the west, which he considered an inhospitable place as it was built on low-lying lands of Chang'an that was plagued by dampness and heat during the summer.[11] According to him, ever since Emperor Taizong moved to the countryside during the summers, his retired father was left behind in Chang'an to suffer in the summer heat.[11] However, his father would always decline any invitation from Emperor Taizong to spend the summer together.[11] Ever since the bloody palace coup of the Xuanwu Gate Incident in 626, it seemed that father and son had drifted apart to an extent that their relationship never healed.[11]

In 634, Emperor Taizong launched the construction of the Daming Palace at Longshou Plateau.[12][13] He ordered the construction of the summer palace for his retired father, Emperor Gaozu, as an act of filial piety.[14] However, Emperor Gaozu grew ill and never witnessed the palace's completion before his death in 635,[11] and construction halted thereafter.

Empress Wu commissioned the court architect Yan Liben to design the palace in 660 and construction commenced once again in 662.[14] In 663, the construction of the palace was completed under the reign of Emperor Gaozong.[15] Emperor Gaozong had launched the extension of the palace with the construction of the Hanyuan Hall in 662, which was finished in 663. On 5 June 663, the imperial family began to relocate from the Taiji Palace into the yet to be completed Daming Palace,[16] which became the new seat of the imperial court and political center of the empire.[9][16][17]

Layout and function

Map of ruins

Beginning from the south and ending in the north, on the central axis, stand the Hanyuan Hall, the Xuanzheng Hall, and the Zichen Hall.[8] These halls were historically known as the "Three Great Halls" and were respectively part of the outer, middle, and inner court.[8] The central southern entrance of the Daming Palace is the Danfeng Gate.[1] The gate consisted of five doorways.[18]

The present site covers more than 4,800

mu, making it 3.5 times more expansive than the Forbidden City, 3 times more than Versailles, and 13 times more than the Louvre.[19]

Outer court

After passing through the Danfeng Gate, there is a square of 630 metres (2,070 ft) long with at the end the Hanyuan Hall.[20] The Hanyuan Hall was connected to pavilions by corridors, namely the Xiangluan Pavilion in the east and the Qifeng Pavilion in the west.[8][21] The pavilions were composed of three outward-extending sections of the same shape but different size that were connected by corridors.[21] The elevated platform of the Hanyuan Hall is approximately 15 metres (49 ft) high, 200 metres (660 ft) wide, and 100 metres (330 ft) long.[7] The Hanyuan Hall, where many state ceremonies were conducted, would serve as the main hall for hosting foreign ambassadors during diplomatic exchanges.[7]

  • Reconstruction model of Hanyuan Hall
    Reconstruction model of Hanyuan Hall
  • Hanyuan Hall's platform
    Hanyuan Hall's platform
  • Hanyuan Hall's platform
    Hanyuan Hall's platform

Middle court

The Xuanzheng Hall is located at a distance of about 300 metres (980 ft) north of the Hanyuan Hall.

Department of State Affairs, the Chancellery, and the Secretariat handled the central management of the Tang empire.[23]

Inner court

The Zichen Hall, located in the inner court,

almond, peach, and persimmon gardens.[26]

The Linde Hall is located to the west of the lake.

Taoist temple for the imperial family.[24][25]

  • Model of the Linde Hall
    Model of the Linde Hall
  • Linde Hall's platform
    Linde Hall's platform

Border

The area around the palace complex grounds is currently planted with locust trees, willows, flowers, and bushes on all sides.[26]

Heritage

Stone inscription discovered in 1956 that commemorates the building of the Hanguang Hall (含光殿) and a polo field in the Daming Palace in 831.

The site of the Daming Palace was discovered in 1957.[28] Between 1959 and 1960, the earliest surveys and excavations of the Hanyuan Hall site were carried out by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[21]

State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) and UNESCO drew up and adopted a two-phased plan by 24 July 1995 to safeguard the Hanyuan Hall site.[7][28] Work on the project started in 1995 by the joint effort of the Chinese government, Chinese and Japanese institutes, UNESCO, and various specialists.[29] Most of the conservation work concluded in 2003.[7][29]

On 1 October 2010, the Daming Palace National Heritage Park was opened to the public.[30] There are many exhibition halls located throughout the site of the palace complex to showcase the excavated cultural relics of the site.[8]

Gallery

  • Daming Palace, attributed to Wang Zhenpeng (fl. 1275-1330) but likely 15th century production
    Daming Palace, attributed to Wang Zhenpeng (fl. 1275-1330) but likely 15th century production

See also

  • Huang Chao, whose revolt caused the destruction of the palatial complex

References

  1. ^ a b "Site of Danfeng Gate". ICOMOS International Conservation Center. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  2. ^ Chung, Saehyang. "A Study of the Daming Palace: Documentary Sources and Recent Excavations". Artibus Asiae, Vol. 50, No. 1/2 (1990), pp. 23–72. Accessed 15 November 2013.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-7-5054-0507-3
    .
  4. ^ "Stories of Daming Palace". China Daily. p. 2. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. ISBN 978-981-4287-76-0
    .
  6. ^ "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60606-013-1
    .
  8. ^
    Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original
    on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Daming Palace Site". Cultural China. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Birth of fantasy". Daming Palace. Episode 1. 7 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  11. ^
    ISBN 0-521-21446-7
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-674-05608-4
    .
  13. ISBN 978-9971-69-223-0
    .
  14. ^ a b "The missing ancient architectures Part 3- Eternal regrets of the Daming Palace". China Central Television. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  15. ISBN 978-0-8047-1587-4
    .
  16. ^ a b "Birth of fantasy". Daming Palace. Episode 1. 24–26 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Conference 'Daming Palace and the Tang Dynasty'". Oxford Archaeology. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Archaeologists find ancient palace gate". ABC News. 4 December 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  19. ^ "The Palace of Palaces". english.china.com. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Birth of fantasy". Daming Palace. Episode 1. 26 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  21. ^ a b c d Hanyuan Hall of Daming Palace, Beijing: UNESCO Beijing Office, 1998
  22. ^ "Birth of fantasy". Daming Palace. Episode 1. 37 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  23. ^ a b c d "Birth of fantasy". Daming Palace. Episode 1. 39–41 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  24. ^ a b c d "Daming Palace". AncientWorlds LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  25. ^ a b "Original site of Daming Palace". China Daily. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  26. ^ a b China Daily. "Brief Introduction of Daming Palace National Heritage Park". 2010. Accessed 15 November 2013.
  27. ^ a b "Linde Hall". Cultural China. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  28. ^ a b "Empress of the dynasty". Daming Palace. Episode 3. 49–51 minutes in. China Central Television. CCTV-9. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  29. ^ a b "Hanyuan Hall of the Daming Palace of the Tang Dynasty, China". Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Daming Palace preservation project". China Daily. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
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