Daming Palace

The Daming Palace was the imperial palace complex of the Tang dynasty, located in its capital Chang'an. It served as the imperial residence of the Tang emperors for more than 220 years. Today, it is designated as a national heritage site of China, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor". The area is located northeast of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

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

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

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

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

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

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.