Daming Palace

The palace was originally known as Yong'an Palace but was renamed to Daming Palace in 635.[7][8] In 662, after renovations to the palace, it was renamed Penglai Palace.[7][8] In 670, it was renamed Hanyuan Palace[8] or Yuan Palace.[7] Eventually, in 701, the name was changed to Daming Palace again.[7][8]

The former royal residence was the Taiji Palace (太極宮), built in the previous Sui dynasty.[9]

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.[10] 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.[10] However, his father would always decline any invitation from Emperor Taizong to spend the summer together.[10] 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.[10]

In 634, Emperor Taizong launched the construction of the Daming Palace at Longshou Plateau.[11][12] He ordered the construction of the summer palace for his retired father, Emperor Gaozu, as an act of filial piety.[13] However, Emperor Gaozu grew ill and never witnessed the palace's completion before his death in 635,[10] 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.[13] In 663, the construction of the palace was completed under the reign of Emperor Gaozong.[14] 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,[15] which became the new seat of the imperial court and political center of the empire.[8][15][16]

Map of ruins

Hanyuan Hall's platform

Beginning from the south and ending in the north, on the central axis, stand the Hanyuan Hall, the Xuanzheng Hall, and the Zichen Hall.[7] These halls were historically known as the "Three Great Halls" and were respectively part of the outer, middle, and inner court.[7] The central southern entrance of the Daming Palace is the Danfeng Gate.[1] The gate consisted of five doorways.[17]

Outer court

Hanyuan Hall's platform

After passing through the Danfeng Gate, there is a square of 630 meters long with at the end the Hanyuan Hall.[18] The Hanyuan Hall was connected to pavilions by corridors, namely the Xiangluan Pavilion in the east and the Qifeng Pavilion in the west.[7][19] The pavilions were composed of three outward-extending sections of the same shape but different size that were connected by corridors.[19] The elevated platform of the Hanyuan Hall is approximately 15 meters high, 200 meters wide, and 100 meters long.[6] The Hanyuan Hall, where many state ceremonies were conducted, would serve as the main hall for hosting foreign ambassadors during diplomatic exchanges.[6]

Inner court

Model of the Linde Hall

Linde Hall's platform

The Zichen Hall, located in the inner court,[21] is approximately 95 meters north of the Xuanzheng Hall.[7] It housed the central government offices.[22] For officials, it was considered a great honor to be summoned to the Zichen Hall.[21] The Taiye Pool, also known as the Penglai Pool, is north of the Zichen Hall.[23] The former gardens that surround the pond and island have been recreated, based on the historical record, with peony, chrysanthemum, plum, rose, bamboo, almond, peach, and persimmon gardens.[24]

The Linde Hall is located to the west of the lake.[22] It served as a place for banquets, performances, and religious rites.[25] It consisted of three halls—a front, middle, and rear hall—adjacent to each other.[25] An imperial park could be found north of the palace complex.[22] The Sanqing Hall was located in the northeast corner the Daming Palace and served as a Taoist temple for the imperial family.[22][23]

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.[26] 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.[19]

Preventive conservation measures of the Hanyuan Hall site began in 1993.[6] From 1994 to 1996, for the restoration and preservation of the site, numerous surveys and excavations were conducted.[19] The 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.[6][26] Work on the project started in 1995 by the joint effort of the Chinese government, Chinese and Japanese institutes, UNESCO, and various specialists.[27] Most of the conservation work concluded in 2003.[6][27]

On 1 October 2010, the Daming Palace National Heritage Park was opened to the public.[28] There are many exhibition halls located throughout the site of the palace complex to showcase the excavated cultural relics of the site.[7]

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  Daming Palace, attributed to Wang Zhenpeng (fl. 1275-1330) but likely 15th century production
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• Huang Chao, whose revolt caused the destruction of the palatial complex