Dai Minh Palace (大明宮 - Dai Minh Palace/Dai Minh Palace), also known as Dong Noi, is a royal palace complex of the Tang Dynasty located in the northeast of Truong Anh citadel. By 2014, this palace was recognized by UNESCO as part of the Silk Road World Heritage Site. Let's explore the unique architecture of this royal palace with Le Travel!
History of Dai Minh Palace
Dai Minh Palace was started in 634 - the eighth Trinh Quan during the reign of Emperor Thai Tong. This place was originally just a part of the royal garden of the Sui Tang Dynasty, then King Thai Tong built Vinh An Palace for Ly Uyen - his father.
In 635, Ly Uyen passed away, and the palace was changed to Dai Minh Palace or "Dong Noi". When Tang Cao Tong succeeded him, he thought that his current place - Taiji Palace was too wet, so he expanded Dai Minh Palace in 662 - the second Long Soc and changed its name to Bong Lai Palace and moved here to live.
By 670, the palace was renamed again to Ham Nguyen Palace and in 705 it regained its old name, Dai Minh Palace. From the reign of King Gaozong, this palace became the national political center for 234 years.
Vuong Duy described the prosperous scene of the Tang Dynasty along with the majesty of Dai Minh Palace through the poem Nine Heavens opened the palace, ten thousand nations worshiped the king. That is, the nine palace gates opened wide, and mandarins from ten thousand countries came in to summon the king.
Later, Chu Thu and Hoang Sao also proclaimed themselves emperors at Dai Minh Palace. During the reign of Tang Hi Tong, the palace encountered continuous fire. In 896 Zhou Wen ordered the palace to be burned.
Dai Minh Palace is located in the northeast of Chang'an citadel of the Tang Dynasty. With favorable natural terrain, the palace was built as a citadel independent of Truong An.
Dai Minh has a shape consisting of 2 distinct parts, of which the south is rectangular and the north is trapezoidal with a narrow north bottom and wide south bottom. The length of the wall from east to west is about 1.5 km and from south to north is about 2.5 km and has a circumference of 7.6 km, the area fluctuates around 3.11 km2. Besides, the southern part of the palace coincides with the northern wall of Truong An citadel.
The palace has a total of 9 gates (palace gates). In there:
- South side: In the middle is Dan Phuong Gate (Dan Phuong Mon), on the two sides are Kien Phuc Gate (Kien Phuc Mon) and Vong Tien Gate (Vong Tien Mon).
- North side: In the middle is Huyen Vu Gate (Huyen Vu Mon), the two sides are Thanh Tieu Gate (Thanh Tieu Mon) and Ngan Han Gate (Ngan Han Mon).
- East side: Includes Ta Ngan Dai gate (Ta Ngan Dai Mon).
- West side: Cuu Tien Gate (Cuu Tien Mon) and Huu Ngan Dai Gate (Huu Ngan Dai Mon).
