Daming Palace Travel Guide

Daming Palace founded in 634 was one of the three main palaces in Changan city (Xian) in Tang dynasty. Most of the Tang dynasty emperors lived and handled the state affairs here. It had been the political center of Tang dynasty for more than 200 hundred years. Late Tang dynasty, the whole palace was destroyed by war at the end of Tang dynasty. The Daming Palace site is located in the northern suburbs of Xian today. It was listed as one of the key national heritage conservation units in 1961. As a primary object to study ancient China and the palace architecture in East Asia, the Ruins of Daming Palace of Tang dynasty is quite unique among Chinese and World ruins.

The palace wall's circumference was 7.6 km, with a total area of about 32,000 square kilometers. The entire palace was divided into two parts: the external court and the inner courtyard. The external court was mainly used for handling state affairs, while the courtyard was used for living and entertainment.

The Daming Palace's main constructions including Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall, Zichen Hall, Penglai Hall, Hanliang Hall, Xuanwu Hall etc. were arranged in an axle. The Hanyuan Hall was the main hall where was the place of holding national ceremonies and conferences. And it is known as the "Outer Court". The Xuanzheng Hall was the imperial court which is known as the "Middle Court". The Zichen Hall is known as the "Inner Court" where the emperor gave interviews to the ministers. This kind of palace construction pattern was imitated by later dynasties' palaces such as the Forbidden City.

In the inner courtyard, there were garden, pavilions, pond, hills and palaces and so on. The architectural composition was bright and the architectural pattern was various. In addition to these living and entertainment constructions of the imperial family, there were several Taoist temples such as the Sanqing Taoist Temple, Dajiao Taoist Temple, Emperor Xuanyuan Taoist Temple etc. for Tang dynasty's emperors thought they were posterity of the Laotze and they advocated Taoism.

The palace mentioned above only exists in the historical books and people's imaginations, the only things left over are the remnants of destroyed buildings. Fortunately, the Daming Palace National Site Park will be constructed completely and open to the public in 2012.