Liang Sicheng, History of Chinese Architecture, 03

(translated by Di Luo)


Tang has inherited Sui and took the city of Daxing as the city of Chang'an (Figure. 18). Both the imperial city and the imperial palace followed their original settings; the Forbidden Paradise north of the city was formerly Sui's Daxing Paradise. Southeast of the Forbidden Paradise was Daming Palace, built by Taizong, known as the most magnificent during the early Tang period.

The imperial city was also called Xinei, four Li east to west and more than two Li south to north, which was actually the old palace of Sui. The front gate on the south was Chengtian Gate. Toward north going through two other gates named Jiade and Taiji, you arrived at the main hall--Taiji Hall, formerly Daxing Hall of Sui. Taizong built towers on both sides of the Taiji Gate; at the east corner the Drum Tower was placed while at the west corner the Bell Tower was placed; both were performed as to place the drum and the bell into the corner towers in front of the main hall. To the east of the Zuoyanming Gate outside the hall there was Hongwen Hall, built in Wude 4 (621 A.D.). As a depository of all books and archives under heaven, it was in fact the descendant of Sui's Guanwen Hall. Such a tradition was passed on to Wenyuan Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing, whose relationship with Taihe Hall is much similar to that of their ancestors. The Liangyi Hall behind Taihe Hall was a place for the emperor's daily administration. Taizong ordered Yan Liben to make portraits of his twenty-four most outstanding ministers whose names were to be praised and memorized by later generations. These portraits were stored in Lingyan Pavilion, located northwest of the imperial city. Inside the imperial city there were also mounds and ponds, Jingfutai, playgrounds, pavilions, all equipped for recreation and pleasure. The Foguang Temple inside Qianhua Gate was where scripts and statues were kept.[2]

Daming Palace was located southeast of the Forbidden Paradise, with its southwest corner against the northeast corner of the imperial city. In the south gate of Daming Palace, the Danfeng Gate, there was Hanyuan Hall lying at the east toe of the Longshou Mountain. "There were lanes winding up left and right to the hall, named Longwei Lane. Up the steps the platform of the hall was more than forty Chi above ground and four hundred Bu away from the Danfeng Gate to its south."[6] "Two pavilions stood along with the hall; the left one was Xiangluan Pavilion and the right one was Qifeng Pavilion, both connected to the hall with flying veranda."[7] Along the south-north axis where Hanyuan Hall was seated, there were sequentially Xuanzheng Gate, Xuanzheng Hall, Zichen Gate, Zichen Hall, and Penglai Hall toward north, ended with the north gate of the palace, Xuanwu Gate. Northwest of the palace there was Linde Hall, three-sided, distinguished in shape, with a pavilion to its south and two other buildings to its east and west. Zhangri Pavilion was set in each of the buildings, where Emperor Xuanzong feasted his brothers, sons and cabinet most of the time. The palace also had a lake named Taiye and admirable hills and woods.

Liang Sicheng, History of Chinese Architecture, 02

(translated by Di Luo)


Emperor Yang ascended to the throne in 604 A.D. and instantly "started building the city of Dongjing in Yiluo".[3] "The grand city of Dongdu was seventy-three Li and a hundred and fifty Bu in perimeter... The imperial palace was five Li two hundred Bu east to west and seven Li south to north."[4] Streets and roads in the city were neatly arranged, such as "Duanmen Street...a hundred Bu wide, with cherries and pomegranate planted along both sides... Each Fang...had four gates, with the major one two-story-high, facing the street, and painted red... Grand streets and narrow alleys went perpendicular with each other." The imperial palace took Qianyang Hall as its main hall, "of which the foundation was nine Chi high, while two hundred seventy Chi was the distance from ground to Chiwei; thirteen bays, twenty-nine Jia, three Bixuan. The columns are 24 Wei in perimeter. Hanging lotus were leaning against the ceiling-grids, dazzling those who look up upon them... Daye Hall was smaller in scale compared to Qianyang, yet more luxurious... Daye, Wencheng, Wu'an...all had loquat, Haitang, pomegranate, Qingwutong and various trees and herbs planted in their gardens."[4] Also there were "Yuanjing Hall, enclosed by a continuous veranda, as the imperial library to keep scripts and statues."[4] "Dongdu's Guanwen Hall constructed its east and west wings to store "the books of the secret attic", with the east wing storing Jia and Yi (Jing and Zi) and the west wing Bing and Ding (Shi and Ji). Also collected were some famous handwritings and paintings since Wei Dynasty. Behind the hall raised two Tai: the east one was Miaokai Tai, storing handwritings; the west one was Baoji Tai, storing paintings."[5] To have archives and pieces of art discussed and stored together, and to have a specific building for them, as the notion of libraries and art museums of the later generations, was indeed initiated by Emperor Yang.

Emperor Yang's "West Paradise was two hundred Li in perimeter, within which sixteen courts were built, and meandering through was the Longlin Ditch... Each court had its gate next to the ditch; the ditch was twenty Bu in width with flying bridges spanning upon. Over the bridge about a hundred Bu, planted were poplars, willows, and tall bamboos; all around were luxuriant and exuberant with notable flowers and pleasing herbs, screening while shining upon the eaves and the steps. Among those there were Xiaoyao Pavilion, eight-sided, whose structure was so gorgeous that it surpassed any other pavilions past and present... Inside the paradise hills were built and seas were made, of which the perimeter was more than ten Li and the water was several Zhang deep; in the water there were three mountains named Fangzhang, Penglai, Yingzhou, three hundred Bu from each other. Mountains were as high as a hundred Bu above water with palaces and platforms on top...wind pavilions and moon platforms, all created by the way of nature, were rising or diminishing as if being miraculously mutated." The Ganquan Palace, "with an alternative name Fangrun Palace, was more than ten Li in perimeter. To the north it led to the West Paradise. Inside there were abundant hills and mounds, lofty peaks and winding mountain streams; all were elegant, fair, and spectacular." Pavilions, platforms, bridges, halls were in a large number, and "the pleasure and joy of touring and sightseeing, reached its top in here".[4]