What about the palace names of the Tang Dynasty and their uses?

Daming Palace

The ruins of Daming Palace, located on the Longshou Plain in the northern suburbs of Xi'an today, are national key cultural relics protection units. The Daming Palace was a large imperial palace in the early Tang Dynasty. It was located in the Forbidden Garden in the north of Chang'an City at that time. It faced south and was commanding and majestic. Daming Palace was first built in the eighth year of Emperor Zhenguan (634) and was named Yong'an Palace. It was the summer palace built by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin for his father Li Yuan. Before the project was completed, Li Yuan passed away. So in the first month of the ninth year of Zhenguan, it was renamed Daming Palace. After that, it changed its name twice, and it was not until the first year of Shenlong (705) that the name of Daming Palace was fixed.

The Daming Palace covers a large area, 1.5 kilometers from east to west and 2.5 kilometers from north to south. It is slightly wedge-shaped and has 11 gates. The main entrance of Daming Palace is called Danfeng Gate, and the main hall is Hanyuan Hall. To the north of the Hanyuan Hall is the Xuanzheng Hall. To the left and right of the Xuanzheng Hall are the Zhongshu and Menxia Provinces, as well as the Hongwen and Shi Halls. In addition, there are more than 30 other halls, pavilions, and temples. Since the first year of Emperor Xianheng's reign, the Daming Palace has become the center of political activities.

Hanyuan Hall of Daming Palace

The Daming Palace in Chang'an, Tang Dynasty was built in the eighth year of Emperor Zhenguan (634). It was one of the main court palaces in the Tang Dynasty. Hanyuan Hall is the front hall of Daming Palace. The ruins have been excavated and restored for research. The temple is located on the southern edge of the platform, 15.6 meters above the ground, dominating the city with a broad outlook. The hall is eleven rooms wide, 67.33 meters wide, four rooms deep, 29.2 meters, and covers an area of ??1,966 square meters. It is similar to the Taihe Hall, the main hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The hall is single-story, with double eaves on the roof. It is connected to east-west corridors on the left and right sides. The left and right ends of the corridors turn south and are connected to the Xiangluan and Qifeng pavilions built on the high platform. The entire group of buildings is surrounded by concave characters, like an eagle spreading its wings. It is both a palace and a main hall. Hanyuan Hall is the greatest palace in China. It is grand in spirit, brilliant and joyful in character. It embodies a high-spirited, free and bold cultural style and fully reflects the level of architectural art in the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty.

Hanyuan Hall was the most magnificent building in Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty at that time. On the east and west sides of the hall are the Xiangluan Pavilion and the Qifeng Pavilion, as well as the Longwei Road leading to the plains. According to actual measurements, the rammed earth platform foundation of the hall is more than 3 meters high, 75.9 meters long from east to west, and 42.3 meters wide from north to south. There are remains of a corridor on the east and west sides of the platform, respectively extending to Xiangluan in the east and Qifeng Pavilion in the west.

The Linde Hall was built around the Linde period of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, so it was named after "Linder". It is located on the high ground to the west of Taiye Pool in the north of Daming Palace. It was the place where the emperor summoned nobles and cronies, received foreign envoys and held grand banquets. The actual measured length of the palace site is more than 130 meters from north to south and more than 70 meters wide from east to west.

The Daming Palace was destroyed in the late Tang Dynasty. The ruins of Hanyuan Hall, Linde Hall, Sanqing Hall, Xiangluan and Qifeng Pavilions, Taiye Pool, Penglai Pavilion and other ruins can still be clearly seen.

Tai Chi Palace in Tang Dynasty

Tai Chi Palace was built in the early Sui Dynasty. In the Sui Dynasty, it was called Daxing Palace, and in the first year of Emperor Ruizong Jingyun of the Tang Dynasty (710), it was renamed Taiji Palace. Because it was the main palace of Tang Jing, it was also called Jing Da Nei. Taiji Palace of the Tang Dynasty is actually the general name of Taiji Palace, East Palace and Yeting Palace. It is located in the northernmost part of the center of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. According to archaeological measurements and reference to literature records, the palace city is 2830.3 meters wide from east to west and 1492.1 meters long from north to south. Among them, Yeting Palace is wide. It is 702.5 meters wide, the Taiji Palace is 1285 meters wide, and the East Palace is 832.3 meters wide. It is a rectangle long from east to west and short from north to south. The north wall of the palace city is part of the north wall of the outer city. The west wall is on the same straight line as the west wall of Xi'an City today. Its southern section is pressed by the northern part of the west wall of Xi'an City. The south wall is on the west side of Xi'an City today. 80 meters south of Fifth Road, today's "West Wutai" is just on the south wall of the palace city; the location of the east wall is at the west end of the Revolutionary Park in Xi'an City today, heading north along Shangping Road. The south of the palace faces the imperial city across a horizontal street, with the West Inner Garden to the north, Xing'anmen Street outside the east wall, Fanglinmen Street outside the west wall, and the length of the north and south palace walls of Taiji Palace, East Palace, and Yetinguan Palace in the palace city. "Simultaneous" means that the length of the north and south palace walls is the same.

The palace wall is made of rammed earth slabs. The wall is three feet and five feet high (10.3 meters). The base width of the wall is generally about 18 meters. Only the east wall is more than 14 meters wide. Compared with the Waiguo City, which is one foot and eight feet tall (5.3 meters) and the wall base is 9 to 12 meters wide, it is a much stronger and taller structure.

There are ten gates on the east, west, south and north sides of Taiji Palace.

Among them, there are three city gates in the south, Chengtian Gate in the middle, Yong'an Gate on the left, and Changle Gate on the right; there are two city gates in the west and north, Jiayou Gate and Tongming Gate in the west, which is also the east gate of Yeting Palace; To the north are Xuanwu Gate and Anli Gate; to the east there is only one gate leading to the East Palace, named Tongxun Gate, which is the west gate of the East Palace. There are four gates in the north and south of the East Palace, two gates in the south, namely Guangyun Gate, Chongming Gate and Yongchun Gate; one gate in the north is called Xuande Gate. Because the palace maids lived in the palace, it only opened the east and west gates, not the north and south gates. The west gate was only called the west gate and had no other name.

Among all these city gates, the most important is Chengtian Gate. Chengtian Gate is located in the middle of the south wall of Tai Chi Palace, on the south side of Lianhu Park in today's Xi'an City. According to archaeological exploration, the remaining parts of the east and west parts are 41.7 meters long. Three doorways have been discovered. The middle doorway is 8.5 meters wide, the west doorway is 6.4 meters wide, and the east doorway is 6.4 meters wide. The doorway is 19 meters deep. rice. The gate site is paved with stone strips and slabs, and the building is extremely solid. There is a tall tower above the door, and there are east and west chapels on the left and right outside the door. There is a palace square three hundred paces wide in front of the door. It faces the Zhuque Gate and Mingde Gate in the south and is about 150 meters wide

155 meters of north-south straight street, the location is very important. Chengtianmen is the main entrance of Taiji Palace, where feudal emperors held "outside court" ceremonies. For example, on New Year's Day and Winter Solstice, banquets and music are held here. When the imperial court needed to pardon, or to demolish the old and establish the new, or to receive tribute envoys from all countries or guests from all over the world, the emperor would also attend the Tianmen Gate to listen to the government. For example, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty registered Li Zhi as the crown prince, Ruizong as the emperor, Xuanzong received the Tibetan Prime Minister Shang Qin's collection of alliance documents, etc. All the great court meetings were held here. Chengtian Gate Tower was also the place where the emperor entertained his officials. At the end of September in the second year of Xiantian (713), Xuanzong held a banquet for the princes and officials at Chengtian Gate, and threw money downstairs for all the officials to fight for.

The Xuanwu Gate, the north gate of Taiji Palace, also dominated the era with its important political and military status. It is located on the remaining slope of Longshouyuan, with a relatively high terrain, overlooking the palace city, as if you are in control: it is an important gateway to the north of the palace city. On June 4, the ninth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty (626),. The "Xuanwumen Incident" in which the voting king Li Shimin killed the prince Li Jiancheng and the king of Qi Li Yuanji took place here. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan (638), Taizong Li Shimin also ordered to set up camps on the left and right sides of Xuanwu Gate, led by generals of the guards. Their soldiers were called flying cavalry. Later, they were continuously expanded from hundreds of cavalry, thousands of cavalry to ten thousand cavalry. In the first year of Chui Gong of Wu Zetian, it was changed to the Left and Right Yulin Army. Therefore, it became an important garrison for the Central Forbidden Army and the source of various palace coups. In the first year of Shenlong, Zhang Jian and his men exterminated Zhang Yi's brothers; in the third year of Jinglong (709), Prince Li Chongjun exterminated Wu Sansi; and in the first year of Tang Long (710), Linzi King Li Longji exterminated Empress Wei. All three palace coups took place here. This has a lot to do with the deployment of the left and right Habayashi Army and the competition for the main force of the Imperial Army. Of course, in times of peace it was still an important place for the emperor to hold banquets and sing and dance.

In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan (640), Taizong once held a banquet with ministers and King Nuohebo of Heyuan at Xuanwumen to "play and advocate the music of hundreds of operas"; in the third year of Jinglong (709), Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty In the second month of the lunar month, Emperor Zhongzong went to the Xuanwu Gate Tower to watch the palace maids compete in a tug-of-war with their friends. He also "sent the palace maids as merchants to sell things, and ordered the ministers and ministers to be merchants to trade with them. Because of their anger and contention, they spoke obscenely." 1 Looking at it later, I thought it was a joy."

The layout of the Tai Chi Palace is also very particular, and is strictly implemented in accordance with the principles of ancient palace architecture. The main building in the palace adopts the principle of "facing the front and sleeping in the back". The palace is divided into two parts: the "front dynasty" and the "inner court" with the palace wall gates such as Zhumingmen, Suzhangmen and Qianhuamen as the boundaries. part. The area outside Zhuming Gate and Qianhua Gate belongs to the "former dynasty" part, while the inside part belongs to the "inner court" part. The "Previous Dynasties" part is laid out according to the "Three Dynasties System" of "Zhou Rites". The palace gate Chengtian Gate and the east and west halls are the outer dynasty, where "ceremonies are held and people are consulted"; the Taiji Hall is the middle dynasty, where the emperor mainly listens to politics and observes the court. On the 15th day of the lunar month, the emperor came to this palace to meet with the officials and watch the government. In addition, ceremonies for the emperor's enthronement, the canonization of queens, princes, kings, and princesses, and banquets for tribute envoys were also held in this hall. After Emperor Gaozong, many emperors moved to Daming Palace and Xingqing Palace. However, whenever there were major ceremonies such as enthronement or funerals, such as Dezong, Shunzong, Xianzong, and Jingzong ascended the throne, the funerals of Daizong and Dezong were still moved to this palace. It has the highest status among the three inner palaces in Chang'an.

For convenience, there are Menxia Neishang, Hongwen Hall, and History Hall on the east side of Taiji Hall, and Zhongshu Neishang and Sherenyuan on the west side, which are the offices of the prime minister and the emperor's ministers to prepare for the emperor's consultation and basis at any time. Documents and edicts were written according to the emperor's decree. Finally, the Liangyi Hall in the inner court area was the inner dynasty, where the emperor and clan members gathered for discussions and where the officials retreated. Because the Eryi Hall is a restricted area, only a few ministers can discuss state affairs with the emperor in person, so the behavior is relatively casual. This is also where Taizong often entertained ministers and tribute envoys. Taizong entertained officials of fifth rank and above in this hall many times. It is the second largest hall in Tai Chi Palace. The "inner court" part is also the "back bedroom". In the Tang Dynasty, it was called "the northerners Qianhuamen, then the palace is also".

Among them, the Liangyi Hall, the Ganlu Hall and other palaces, as well as the mountain pool and the Sihai Pool, were the living areas where the emperors of the Tang Dynasty carried out daily ruling activities and where the concubines lived. The entire architectural layout of the palace is still consistent with the overall layout of the entire Chang'an city. The central axis highlights the main buildings. Chengtianmen, Taiji Hall, and Liangyi Hall are arranged from north to south, in the middle of the palace, and other palaces and pavilions are distributed. On both sides, it is symmetrical from left to right; this highlights the important status of these palace gates symbolizing the rule of feudal imperial power in terms of architectural layout.

Taiji Palace is the first large palace complex in Chang'an, the capital city. It has thirty or forty halls, pavilions, pavilions, and pavilions. In addition to the East Palace, there are more than twenty palaces, pavilions, and courtyards, which form the entire capital city. A group of magnificent palace buildings in Chang'an. There are many famous palace buildings among them, such as Taiji Hall, Liangyi Hall, Chengqing Hall, Wude Hall, Ganlu Hall, Lingyan Pavilion and so on. In addition to the main political halls Taiji Hall and Liangyi Hall, Ganlu Hall is where the emperor studied in the inner palace and is also the third largest hall. The Wude Hall was famous in the Sui Dynasty. It is adjacent to the East Palace. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty declared an imperial edict in this hall when he deposed the crown prince Yong Yong and became a commoner. In the early Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan gave Li Shimin a residence behind the Qian Hall, and also gave Li Yuanji a residence in the Wude Hall. , which further facilitated his collusion with Prince Li Jiancheng. When Li Longji came to the throne in the first year of Xiantian (712), he also listened to politics in this hall, which shows that his status was not ordinary. ’ Lingyan Pavilion is famous for the figures of heroes in it. It is a portrait pavilion of heroes. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), Taizong once made pictures for twenty-four people including Changsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng, in recognition of their political achievements and their contributions to the throne. This is the so-called "Twenty-Four Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion". In fact, there were three portraits of heroes of the Tang Dynasty in this pavilion. Except once during the Zhenguan period, in July of the first year of Emperor Daizong's Guangde reign (763), there were also portraits of the heroes Guo Ziyi and Li Sheng. In September of the fifth year of Zhenyuan of Dezong (789), the images of 27 people including Chu Suiliang and Li Guangbi, the heroes of the previous generation, were collected, and new selections were made on the basis of the previous generation. The third time was in July of the second year of Dazhong of Xuanzong (848), which painted the figures of thirty-seven people since the early Tang Dynasty, including Wang Waru, Cen Wenwen, Li Xian, Ma Zhou and Ma Sui, who were "qualified as heroes of Lingyan Pavilion". , "the figure of the pavilion, the honorary title is Lingyan". The graphic Lingyan Pavilion became an important form of commending heroes in the Tang Dynasty. Linyou County Cultural Center in Shaanxi Province now has the remains of portraits of Tang Lingyan Pavilion heroes copied by You Shixiong of the Song Dynasty. From it, we can see many famous officials of the Tang Empire who were honored in this pavilion.

The east and west sides of Taiji Palace are East Palace and Yeting Palace respectively. The area of ??the two palaces is smaller than that of Taiji Palace. They are vertical rectangular structures and were built in the early Sui Dynasty.

Yeting Palace is where palace ladies live and where women from criminal bureaucrats' families work in the palace. It is roughly divided into three areas. The middle area is the residential area for palace ladies, which also includes the area where women from criminal bureaucrats' families have no one to work in the palace. To the north of Yeting Palace is Taicang, and to the southwest is the seat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is an eunuch organization. The so-called "internal affairs, issuing orders"q) are in charge of all major and minor matters in the palace. In May 1978, a discovery was made in the west of Xiwutai in Xi'an City, 240 meters away from the present-day West City Wall of Xi'an. "The Monument of the Reconstruction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tang Dynasty" is located just southwest of the original Yeting Palace, which proves that this place was indeed the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The East Palace is where the prince lives, and is also known as the Spring Palace and the Chu Palace. From the Sui Dynasty princes Yang Yong and Yang Guang to the Tang Emperor Gaozu, the former prince Li Jiancheng, the later prince Li Shimin and the Taizong prince Li Zhi all lived here. From Xuanzong onwards, the crown prince "only lived in Chengyu's lucky other courtyard" and often followed him. His father lived in a separate courtyard within the palace

The most important palace in the East Palace is Myeongdejeon. It was called Jiade Hall in the Sui Dynasty and was renamed Xiande Hall in the early Tang Dynasty. Later, because Zhongzong Li Xian lived in the East Palace as the crown prince, he avoided the taboo of his name and renamed it Mingde Hall. It is the first main hall of the East Palace, where the crown prince meets with ministers and holds major political activities.

On August 9, the ninth year of Wude (626), Prince Li Shimin held an enthronement ceremony in this hall after his great ancestor Li Yuan abdicated. At that time, Taizong listened to politics in this hall. It was not until April of the third year of Zhenguan (629), when Emperor Li Yuan moved from Taiji Palace to Da'an Palace, that Emperor Taizong Li Shimin went to Taiji Hall in Taiji Palace to listen to politics. In addition, the Chongwen Pavilion in the East Palace is also a very important political palace. It was built in the 13th year of Emperor Zhenguan (639) and was originally a place where the crown prince studied. In the Tang Dynasty, the "Chongxian Hall Bachelor" was set up here to serve as lecturers in the palace. Chongwen Hall was also an aristocratic school in the Tang Dynasty. The system of the Tang Dynasty stipulates: "Twenty people were born in the Chongwen Hall, and they should be married to the royal family with the highest rank of Yama, the queen mother and empress with the highest rank of great merit, the prime minister and the first-grade meritorious official, and those who have a real title, and the official positions in the capital should be from the third rank to Huangmen The son of the minister did it.” In addition, Chongwen Pavilion is also the place where secret books in the palace are collated. It is a large royal library.

Taiji Palace was the center of political activities in the early Tang Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong ruled the world here and established a generation of holy institutions. The "Government of Zhenguan" decrees were issued from here. There are many famous stories of Zhenguan monarchs and ministers discussing politics. It all happened here too. After Gaozong Longshuo, the center of political activities moved eastward to the Daming Palace. However, Zhongzong, Ruizong, Xuanzong, Xizong and Zhaozong still listened to politics in the west part of the time. It still retained its important political center position in the Tang Dynasty.