Ruins of the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Ruins of the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The Ruins of the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit – Second Batch, February 1982. The Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 1853, Nanjing City

The Ruins of the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are located at No. 292 Changjiang Road, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

The area around the Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was once the residence of the Prince of Han during the Ming Dynasty and the office of the Viceroy of Liangjiang during the Qing Dynasty. On March 19, 1853, the Taiping Army captured Nanjing, subsequently establishing it as their capital, renamed it Tianjing, and built palatial structures on the former site of the Viceroy of Liangjiang’s office to serve as the palace of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. In 1951, on the centenary of the Jintian Uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a “Centennial Monument of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising,” inscribed by Guo Moruo, was erected in front of the screen wall of the Heavenly King’s Palace, allowing visitors to commemorate the history.

The Heavenly King’s Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a grand architectural complex of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, covering an enormous area of over ten li, surrounded by two layers of high walls, each reaching over two zhang in height. The structure was divided into an outer city and an inner city, respectively known as “-” and “Golden Dragon City.” The main gate of “-” was the Tianchao Gate, in front of which was a royal moat, two zhang wide and deep, with a bridge crossing it. In front of the bridge stood a stone memorial archway inscribed with “Tianchao.” The main gate of Golden Dragon City was the Shengtian Gate, and inside the gate on the east and west sides were three-story “court buildings,” with the Golden Dragon Hall at the front. Behind the Golden Dragon Hall were the Second Hall, Third Hall, and the imperial harem gardens. The Golden Dragon Hall was extremely magnificent, featuring double-eaved roofs, carved beams, painted rafters, and colorful murals of dragons, tigers, and lions on its interior walls, making it highly resplendent. To the east and west of the Golden Dragon Hall were the Eastern and Western Gardens. In July 1864, Zeng Guoquan led the Xiang Army to capture Tianjing, where they looted extensively and burned down the Heavenly King’s Palace. Today, only the remnants of the original Western Garden, main hall, warm rooms, and connecting halls at No. 292 Changjiang Road remain.

The Western Garden of the Heavenly King’s Palace underwent several expansions after the Qing Dynasty and still retains some scenic features from that time, such as a hexagonal pavilion, a diamond-shaped pavilion, a viewing pavilion, and a stone memorial archway in an artificially dug pond. From the pond and rockeries of the Western Garden, relics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have been salvaged, including the head and base of Hong Xiuquan’s “Imperial Edict” stele and stone drums.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Second Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units