The Changle Palace

Chang'an (today's Xi'an City inShaanxiProvince) was originally a county neighboring Xianyang on the southern side ofWeiheRiverin the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC). As a communications hub, it later became a strategic place many military commanders scrambled for. Suggested by his talented minister Zhang Liang, Liu Bang established his capital in Chang'an. In 202BC, Han Emperor Gao Zu (Liu Bang) of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) constructedChanglePalaceon the basis of theXinglePalaceof the Qin Dynasty, and moved the Han capital from Liyang to Chang'an two years later when theChanglePalacewas completed.
In Chang'an there were many palaces, of which theWeiyangPalace,ChanglePalaceandJianzhangPalacewere the three major ones. They were collectively called the Three Han Palaces. TheChanglePalace, situated on the southeastern corner of the city, had an almost square plane and was surrounded by a 10,000-meter-perimeter palace wall with a 20-meter-wide wall base. The palace covered an area of about 6 square kilometers, about one sixth of Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty. There were four gates on the four sides of the palace wall. Halls within the palace have already been severely destroyed.
In history, theChanglePalacewas also called theEastPalace. Famous strategist Han Xin in ancient times was murdered here by Liu Bang's wife Lu Zhi. After Liu Bang died, emperors began to live in theWeiyangPalaceand theChanglePalacebecame the residence for queen mothers. TheChanglePalacewas the political center of the Western Han Dynasty and it generally consisted of four halls: Changxin Hall, Changqiu Hall, Yongshou Hall and Yongning Hall. TheChanglePalacewas where Liu Bang, or Emperor Gaozu, handled state affairs.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Shaanxi Provincial Government, the archeological department of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Cultural Relics Managing Committee, etc., made great efforts to research and excavation work, and made great achievements. Grand architectural sites likeChanglePalace,WeiyangPalace,GuiPalace,BeiPalaceandMingguangPalacereceived continuous preservations and repairs. Many historical relics were excavated fromChanglePalace, e.g. a large number of construction materials including rope-line board tiles, pantiles, and eave tiles with cloud patterns or Chinese characters.
Recently a rare offtake was excavated from the site of theChanglePalace. Two conduits, over one meter deep underground, were made of figuline and stretched northward like huge dragons along a 57-meter-long and 1.8-meter-wide offtake. This also shows the superb level of Chinese palace architecture in the Western Han Dynasty from another aspect.