|
|
| | The Changsheng Palace [edit this] | | The Changsheng Palace was the spot where Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei swore to love each other forever. Now it exhibits the cultural relics unearthed from the Tang Huangqing Palace and documents of the ruins. The Palace, originally built in 738 A.D., was the place where seats the sacrificial tablets of six emperors and the only Empress Wu Zetian. The present Changsheng Palace was rebuilt in 2003 and is the exhibition hall for Huaqing Palace history and culture. With unearthed cultural relics and ruins documents as exhibits, it mirrors the most prosperous society dring the Kaiyuan reign of Tang Dynasty and shows the royal culture during the Tianbao reign. The four-storey exhibition hall gives a systemic show of 6,000 years' history of Huaqing Pool.
The exhibition hall on the first floor shows the palatial life and foreign affairs etiquette.
Exhibitions on the second floor focus on the politics connected with the Huaqing Palace ranging from the reign of Emperor Gaozu, the first emperor of Tang Dynasty, built the Tang Dynasty, to the reign of Emperor Zhongzong. This period paved the way for the Tang Dynasty to reach its zenith. The prosperous Tang Huaqing Palace reflected the prosperity of Tang culture.
On the third floor, visitors can get a knowledge of the romance between Emperor Xuanzong and his Lady Yang.
A systematic show of 6,000 years' civilization of Huaqing Pool is available on the forth floor. | Edit by: Ada | |
| Stele and Calligraphy Collection [edit this] | | Now the Huaqing Pool houses 7 famous steles, 16 stones inscribed with poems, 7 carved stones and 4 pairs of stone works. After 1949 the steles and inscribed stones are increased by 69. Among them, the Northern Wei Hot Spring Eulogia Stele, Hot Spring Inscription Stele, etc are the most famous.
In 647, Tang Emperor Taizong wrote an article and had it engraved on a stone tablet. The Hot Spring Inscription Stele once stood in the pavilion near the South Gate of Tangquan Palace. Unfortunately, the stele was destroyed. In March 1993, a duplicate tablet, made according to the rubbing of the genuine one, was set in the Imperial Pool Ruins Museum. It is the first stele inscribed in semi-script.
The inscription of The Northern Wei Hot Spring Eulogia Stele was composed and wrote by Yuan Chang, an official in Northern Wei. In the Tang Dynasty is was called Glass Stele for the head of it was made of colored glaze. It has a height of 1.5 meters and a width of 0.7. The table has 588 characters in 20 lines. It is the oldest material in the Huaqing Pool. In 1982 the State Administration Bureau of Museums and Archaeological Promulgated that this famous stele is forbidden to be rubbed. | Edit by: Ada | |
| Imperial Tea Room [edit this] | | The palatial tea ceremony of Tang Dynasty is an important part in the Huaqing Palace culture. Now the building is a tea room where visitors can enjoy the beauty of surrounding scenery while listening to Chinese classical music and sipping sweet teas. It is an ideal place to have an appreciation of Chinese aesthetic culture in a relaxed atmosphere. | Edit by: Ada | |
| Mountain Lishan Hot Springs [edit this] | | Mountain Lishan Hot Springs are praised as “The Finest Springs” for their long history and never dry up till now. Over thousands of years, the springs flow all day long, freed from the change of season. They were used by local people about 6,000 years ago. From the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, emperors ordered bath pools built here. Gradually, they became the imperial bath pools. It was an honor for a court official to take a bath here. The “Fine Sunset-Bathed Pavilion” stands on the ancient source of the spring water, which was discovered 3,000 years ago. The springs have a flow if 113 tons an hour and a constant temperature of 43℃. The spring water is rich in minerals. An analysis shows that the water contains silicon dioxide, fluorine, and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatitis, rheumatism, arthritis etc. Its value in medical treatment was discovered some 2,000 years ago, roughly in the Qin Dynasty. It was recorded in many books in different dynasties. In present bath area in the Huaqing Pool, the pools inherit their names from those in the Tang Dynasty. They provide a fine place for guests to relax and appreciate the high-quality of spring water. | Edit by: Ada | |
| Imperial Pool Site of Tang Dynasty [edit this] | | Among the 2700-odd hot springs in China, Huaqing Pool hot springs top the list for the water-quality and the touching love story of Tang Emperor Xuan Zong and his favorite Yang Guifei. The springs have a constant temperature of 43℃. The water contains silicon dioxide, fluorine, and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as rheumatism, arthritis etc. Therefore, the spa had been a tourist destination for many emperors. For example, for ten years from 745 A.D. to 755 A.D., Emperor Xuanzong would lead Yang Guifei and her sisters to Huaquing Palace to spend his winter days. They would stay there from October of the lunar calendar to the next spring. As Bai Juyi, a famous Tang Dynasty poet, once wrote a few lines to describe how Yang Guifei took her bath: It was early spring. They bathed her in the Lotus Flower Pool, which warmed and smoothed the creamy-tinted crystal of her skin, and, because of her languor, a maid was lifting her when first the Emperor noticed her and chose her for his bride. Thus Huaqing Pool's hot springs became famous and were entitled “The Oriental First Springs” ranking with the Thermae of Caracalla in ancient Rome and the Bath Hot Springs in Britain.
The ruins of the Imperial pools in the Tang Dynasty Huaqing Palace were discovered in April, 1982. After three years efforts of excavation and sorting out, five royal pools were discovered in an area of the 4,600 square meters. Archaeologists proved them to be, the Lotus Flower Pool, Lady Yang's bath pool, the Crabapple Pool, Emperor Xuanzong's, the Star Pool, Emperor Tai Zong's, the Crown Prince Pool and the Shangshi Pool. In addition, during the excavation tricolor backbone animals, lotus-shaped tiles and other cultural relics of Neolithic period, Qin and Han Dynasties were unearthed. This discovery is another important achievement in China's archeology about Sui and Tang Dynasties. China's bath custom, the feudal ranking system and the palatial architecture of Tang are further well documented. | Edit by: Ada | |
|
|
|