Chaotian Palace

Chaotian Palace

Chaotian Palace is located in Shuiximen, Qinhuai District, Nanjing city. It is the highest grade, largest scale and most complete preserved official style ancient architecture community in Jiangnan area. It is known as "the first wonder of Jinling". The name of Chaotian Palace was given by Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty. It means "worship heaven" and "see the emperor". It is a place for the royal nobles to burn incense and pray for blessings, and a place for civil and military officials to exercise the etiquette of worshiping the emperor before festivals. It is the highest level Royal Taoist temple of Ming Dynasty.

Chaotian Palace is a typical palace building in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its architectural pattern, style and construction technology are important and rare materials for the study of ancient Chinese architecture, especially in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has high historical, artistic and scientific value. In the Chaotian Palace is the Confucian temple, in the East is the government school, and in the west is the bianhu temple. In the south of the Confucian temple is surrounded by the "Wanren palace wall". Inside the palace wall is panchi, and there are brick archways on the East and west sides. The front is Lingxing gate. The two chambers of the gate are wenlizhai and sishenku in the East, wuguanzhai and Sisheng Pavilion in the West. Passing through the Lingxing gate, there are Dacheng gate, Dacheng hall, Chongsheng hall and Jingyi Pavilion in the north. There are 12 East and West verandas and corridors in Dacheng hall, and there are Feiyun Pavilion and Feiyun Pavilion in the East Xiage, yubeiting, etc.

In 1956, Chaotian Palace was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province

In 1978, Chaotian Palace was opened as Nanjing Museum

In 2005, Chaotiangong was listed as a national AAAA tourist attraction

In 2013, the State Council announced the Chaotian Palace as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Historical evolution

In the spring and Autumn period, King fuchai of Wu built the city wall here, set up smelting and casting workshops to manufacture weapons, set up handicraft workshops to smelt and cast bronzes, and established a considerable scale of smelting and casting workshops, and gathered a certain fixed population, thus forming a primitive city. Later generations called the mountain where Chaotian Palace was located Yeshan, and the city surrounded by the city wall Yecheng, which was the earliest city in Nanjing one of.

During the period of the eastern Wu Dynasty, Sun Quan set up a Yegong in Yeshan of Jianye (now Nanjing) to cast copper and iron wares. Yeshan was regarded as an important place for manufacturing copper and iron wares in the eastern Wu Dynasty. Besides making weapons and utensils, it is said that copper coins were also made.

Yecheng temple was built here in the 15th year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (390). Wang Dao, the Prime Minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, converted Yeshan into his own private villa, which was called the "West Garden". At that time, the west garden was "a forest of fruits and trees, with birds, animals and elk". Wang Dao often gathered literati here. According to the records of the chronicles of the Six Dynasties, at that time, there was still a workshop in Yeshan. At that time, Wang Dao was seriously ill and did not recover for a long time. Dai Yang, the alchemist, said: "your destiny lies in Shen, and Shen has ye in the land, and the fire and gold are in harmony (in ancient times, the land dominates the five elements, Shen belongs to Jin), which is unfavorable to you.". Therefore, Wang Dao ordered that Yefang be moved to Qingliangshan and shitoucheng, and his illness was cured. Because Wang Dao took measures to protect the environment, Yeshan area has become a real scenic spot. There are Bian Gong tomb and Bian Gong temple in Yexi. Bian Zhen was a famous official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 328, Su Jun, a general of Liyang (now Hexian County, Anhui Province), attacked Jiankang. Bian Zhen led his troops to defeat Jiankang, and his father and son were killed at the same time. After the "Sujun rebellion" was settled, the imperial court buried Bian in the west of Yeshan. Bian's father and son devoted themselves to the country, and their deeds were touching. Bian's tomb was repaired in all dynasties. Because Bian's ancestral hall was built earlier than Chaotian Palace, there is a saying that Bian's ancestral hall was built before Chaotian Palace.

During the Southern Dynasties, Chaotiangong was the location of zongmingguan, the earliest scientific research institution in southern China. It was the highest level social science research institution in China at that time. The scientific elites from all over the country during the Southern Dynasties were gathered in the temple to exchange and study the achievements of social science, culture and art in zongmingguan. Zongmingguan was divided into five disciplines: literature, history, Confucianism, Taoism, yin and Yang. It invited 20 famous scholars to take up teaching posts, which became a great event in the literary world. Later, the four disciplines of literature, history, Confucianism, yin and Yang gradually disappeared, and the Taoist school gradually merged with Taoism to build a Taoist temple on Yeshan. Since then, Yeshan has become a Taoist resort with endless incense.

In the Tang Dynasty, Taiji palace was built to govern mountains.

In 920, it was renamed Ziji palace and zhongfuxuan was built. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, a temple of emperor Wulie was set up in the west of Ziji palace.

In the Song Dynasty, the temple of King Wen Xuan was built here, which was the beginning of building Yeshan as a Confucian temple. Soon it was changed to Tianqing temple. After Su Shi came here to visit, he wrote a poem of seven rhythms: "the spring wind blows, the north wind blows, and the geese return to the pavilion. It's the farthest place for the Shuke to travel to the south, and the Wushan mountain is as cold as snow. After the boat went, the GAGs were in a mess, and when five horses came back, the guests never came back. Only the Taoist should not forget, holding the harp and standing in the twilight without saying anything. " Su Shi, Wang Anshi, Lu You and others have also visited here. Wen Tianxiang, a national hero in the late Southern Song Dynasty, was captured in the defeat of the anti yuan war. On the way to Dadu (today's Beijing), he spent the night here, leaving an impassioned poem.

During the Yuan Dynasty, it was named Xuanmiaoguan, and later changed to "Dayuan xingyongshou Palace".

In the 17th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1384), it was renamed Chaotian Palace after reconstruction, and there was an Xiyi Pavilion. In the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Palace has always been a place for the imperial court to practice etiquette before the grand ceremony, as well as a place for the bureaucratic children to learn the etiquette of meeting the emperor. There are Sanqing hall in front of Chaotian Palace, Datong Ming hall behind, Feixia Pavilion and Jingyang Pavilion. Inside, there is a learning Pavilion for civil and military officials to exercise the ceremony of congratulation. Chaotian Palace in Ming Dynasty was the largest and most famous Taoist temple in Nanjing at that time, covering an area of more than 300 mu, with hundreds of halls and verandas, and three-dimensional buildings including Shenjun hall, Sanqing main hall, datongming hall, Wansui main hall, etc. Dashanmen is east facing. According to historical records, there are two North and South stele pavilions in dashanmen. The inscription on the forehead of South stele pavilions is "rebuilding Chaotiangong stele by imperial edict". In front of Danlong in Dacheng Hall of Chaotiangong, the body of North stele pavilions no longer exists, only the stele seat is reserved. On the one hand, the Chaotian Palace in the Ming Dynasty was a place for the royal family to burn incense and pray for the gods of Taoism. On the other hand, before the three major festivals (Spring Festival, winter solstice and the emperor's birthday), it is used as a place for civil and military officials to exercise the worship etiquette, and sometimes it is also used as a place for bureaucrats' children to learn the temple etiquette before they are attacked. In the late Ming Dynasty, part of the Chaotian Palace was destroyed by war.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, it used to be a Taoist temple. During the Kangxi and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, with the recovery and development of social economy in the south of the Yangtze River, the Chaotian Palace was gradually renovated, and its scale was very large, "the palace is still prosperous, even houses row by row.". During Kangxi's tour to the south, he wrote a plaque for the Chaotian Palace, saying, "I'm glad to have it.". During his six trips to the south of the Yangtze River, Emperor Qianlong visited the Chaotian Palace five times and wrote poems to express his interest. Today, the stone tablet with five poems written by Qianlong himself is still intact in the imperial stele Pavilion on the back mountain of Chaotian Palace for visitors to enjoy.

In 1764, the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty paid for the renovation, which was the most important Taoist temple in Jinling.

During the reign of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, because of the frequent fire in Chaotian Palace, Fengshui scholars changed the gate of Chaotian Palace from facing the east to the southeast.

During the Xianfeng Period of the Qing Dynasty, the Chaotian Palace was destroyed by the war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was Tianjing (today's Nanjing), and the Chaotian Palace was changed into a "red powder yamen" for manufacturing and storing gunpowder.

In 1864, after the Xiang army conquered Tianjing and defeated the Taiping army, the Taoist temple in Chaotian Palace was changed into a Confucian temple. Jiangning school, which was originally in Chengxian street, was also moved to Chaotian Palace, becoming the main official school in Nanjing in the late Qing Dynasty.

In 1866, Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang at that time, changed the later Taoist temple into a Confucian temple in order to flaunt Confucianism and whitewash peace. He also moved the Jiangning school in Chengxian street to Chaotian Palace.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chaotian Palace was the Confucian Temple of Jiangning Prefecture. The emperor never visited it, so the halberd gate was in vain and never opened. The courtyard of Chaotian Palace is surrounded by long corridors, with East and West halls. Beside the East Hall is the inscription on rebuilding Jiangning Fu Xue. Here is a ginkgo tree planted in the early Qing Dynasty, which has been more than 300 years old.

In 1927, after the national government established the capital of Nanjing, there was only the capital district court in Nanjing, but no high court. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, the national government took over the capital high court, the judicial administrative organ established by Wang Jingwei.

On April 1, 1946, the capital high court was established in Nanjing. The first president was Zhao Chen. The capital high court is one of the provincial courts in Nanjing during the period of the Republic of China. It is an ordinary court, directly under the supervision of the Ministry of justice and administration in terms of administrative organization. The Supreme Court is the superior court in terms of trial level, and the court is located in Chaotian Palace. In charge of the second trial of civil and criminal cases and the first trial of Japanese puppet traitors in Nanjing and Jiangning.

After 1949, Chaotian Palace became the site of Nanjing Cultural Relics Preservation Committee (the predecessor of Nanjing Museum).

In 1962, the Chaotian Palace complex was taken over by Nanjing Cultural Relics Preservation Committee.

In 1978, Nanjing Museum was officially listed.

In the 1990s, Xu Shilin's palace scene was shot in Chaotian Palace.

Architectural features

pattern

The layout of Chaotian Palace is Confucian temple, Fuxue in the East and bianhu temple in the west, covering an area of about 70000 square meters. The Confucian temple is facing Yundu. There is a screen wall at the south end, connecting the East and West with the palace wall. The front of the screen wall is embedded with four big brick characters "Wanren palace wall" and "Wanren palace wall"

Chinese PinYin : Chao Tian Gong