more>>More News

Faded Glory: The Erpang Palace
By admin on 2014-12-19

The site of Erpang Palace is situated in Erpang Village, also called Acheng, 15 kilometers west of the downtown Xi'an. It was the imperial palace's front hall of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC). First built during the reign of King Huiwen, the palace was expanded during the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
After he unified China, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered his men to build the Erpang Palace in Shanglin Garden south of Weihe River in 212BC. Since the project was huge, only the front hall was completed during his reign.Records of the Historianby Sima Qian described the extraordinary scale of the Erpang Palace. And, poet Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) vividly pictured the magnificent and detailed layout of the palace in his poemthe Ode to Erpang Palace.

Though the huge project of the Erpang Palace wasted a lot of manpower and money, the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty continued with the construction after the death of Emperor Qin Shihuang. Later, Xiang Yu, prince of the Chu Kingdom, burnt down the palace and subsidiary buildings after he conquered the region where the palace was situated.

After the founding of New China, to restore the past glory of the Erpang Palace became the wish of all archeologists and architects. After careful reasoning and design of many experts, the site with a total investment of more than RMB130 million was renovated, including the Grand Palace Gate, Front Hall, Orchid Pond Palace, Palace Halls for Six Kingdoms, Long Corridor, Horizontal Bridge, Cishi Gate, Shangtian Platform, Jidi Altar and rivers. Among all the 12 renovated sites, the Orchid Pond covers more than one hundred mu (1 mu = 1/15 hectares) and the newly built Front hall is 32.85 meters high, 107 meters long and 67.7 meters wide. The height of the Front Hall is similar to the original one, but its length from west to east is 107 meters, only one sixth of that of the original one.

The site of Erpang Palace, covering an area of 23.6 square kilometers, was listed as a cultural relics preservation site of national significance by the State Council in 1961.