Chapter 35 Section 15 Ruins of Sui Renshou Palace and Tang Jiucheng Palace in Linyou, Shaanxi

Renshou Palace and Jiucheng Palace are located in Xincheng District, Linyou County, Shaanxi Province.The Sui Renshou Palace was built in the thirteenth year of Emperor Kaihuang (593 A.D.).Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty came here six times to escape the summer heat, and died in this palace in the fourth year of Renshou (AD 604).It was in this palace that Yang Guang usurped power.When the Sui Dynasty was destroyed, the palace was abandoned. In the fifth year of Tang Zhenguan (631 A.D.), Emperor Taizong of Tang renovated Renshou Palace and renamed it Jiucheng Palace.Emperor Taizong came to this palace five times to spend his summer.And at the foot of Bicheng Mountain, a stele of "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Ming" was erected, which was written by Ouyang Xun, a great calligrapher at that time.Emperor Gaozong came to this palace eight times to escape the summer heat, and once changed Jiucheng Palace to Wannian Palace.Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty expanded the hot spring palace in Lishan, so the palace gradually fell into disrepair, and was destroyed by floods at the end of Tang Dynasty.

From 1978 to 1994, after investigation and excavation, Jiucheng Palace was built with two layers of city walls, namely the palace wall and the outer palace wall.Only the north and east walls of the palace wall remain.The north wall starts from the southwest corner of Bicheng Mountain and reaches Zhentou Village in the east. It is in an arc shape with a residual length of 400 meters.The north wall is nine meters wide and made of rammed loess.The east wall is nine meters wide and 130 meters long.The west wall and south wall have not yet been explored. According to records, the circumference of Jiucheng Palace is 1,800 steps, which is 2646 meters today.The remaining north wall is 1010 meters long from the west end to the east wall.It is estimated that the north and south of Miyagi is about 300 meters.The south gate of Jiucheng Palace is named Yongguang Gate.The north gate is named Xuanwu Gate.After exploration, the North Palace Gate is located on the northwest corner of Tiantai Mountain.

Jiucheng Palace is surrounded by mountains. On the Bicheng Mountain in the north of the palace city and the Baozi Mountain in the south, the outer palace wall is built along the ridge.The ruins of the north gate of the outer palace wall on the top of Bicheng Mountain have been excavated. The doorway is 3.75 meters wide and 10.7 meters deep, and the door pillows are complete. In Jiucheng Palace, only the site of Hall No. 37 in the east of the center has been excavated. The hall is about 120 meters away from the main hall (site of Hall No. 6) in the west, facing south with a direction of 355°.The base of the temple steps is rectangular, 42.62 meters from east to west and 31.72 meters from north to south.It is nine rooms wide and six rooms deep.In the middle of the hall is an inner hall five rooms wide and two rooms deep.The base of the hall steps is rammed with loess, and the walls are covered with stone.Stone slabs are paved around the steps as scattered water.

On the south wall of the base of the temple steps, there are two steps to the temple, namely "left and right steps".The West Step Road is well preserved, 3.5 meters long and 4.4 meters wide.The stepping path is divided into three parts with vices (vertical belt stones), and the stone steps with a width of 0.91 meters in the middle are "bi", which is the imperial path walked by the emperor.The stone steps on both sides, each 0.6 meters wide, are used by other officials to go to the hall.On the west, north and east walls of the step base of the hall, there are two footpaths connecting with six corridors.

There are 46 one-meter-square bluestone pillar foundations and the surrounding stone components at the base of the temple steps, all of which are finely carved and decorated, reminiscent of the Northern Dynasties.