The Palace of Loyal King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The Palace of Loyal King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The Palace of Loyal King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located on Northeast Street in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province and adjacent to the Humble Administrator's Garden, there is a grand building — the Palace of Loyal King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was the residence of Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King of the Taiping Rebellion peasant regime during the Qing Dynasty. It is the most intact structure remaining from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period and also the most well-preserved royal residence of a peasant uprising army in Chinese history.

　The Palace of Loyal King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Pinyin: Taiping Tianguo Zhongwang Fu

English: Site of King Zhongwang’s Residence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The main gate of the Palace of Loyal King now serves as an exit of the Suzhou Museum. On April 23, 1860 (the 10th year of the Gengshen reign in the Taiping calendar / the 7th year of the Xianfeng reign in the Qing calendar / June 2, 1860), Li Xiucheng, the main military leader in the later stages of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and later appointed as the Loyal King (1857–), along with another key general, the Ying King Chen Yucheng, led the Taiping Army to achieve their second major victory over the Qing Army’s Jiangnan Camp. Subsequently, they marched eastward, capturing cities such as Changzhou, Suzhou, and Jiaxing. Thereafter, with Suzhou as the center, he established the “Sufu Province” of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Suzhou-Changzhou area and began constructing the Palace of Loyal King on the site of the former Humble Administrator's Garden. Li Xiucheng held two military meetings with various kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the main hall of the palace and commanded large-scale armed revolutionary struggles. The architectural complex of the Palace of Loyal King is majestic and splendid, with a labyrinthine layout. Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang who later used this site as his government office, once remarked that the Palace of Loyal King was “a sight I have never encountered in my life.” The architectural style of the Palace of Loyal King belongs to the delicate and refined Jiangnan style, which is the complete opposite of the grand royal gardens of the north, creating an atmosphere of “small bridges over flowing water, with rockeries and blooming flowers.” It mainly consists of official buildings, residences, and gardens. The main hall of the Palace of Loyal King is tall and spacious, with a connecting corridor on the north leading to the rear hall. The main hall, corridor, and rear hall form a “工” (work) character-shaped layout when viewed from above, collectively referred to as the Gongzi Hall. Among the official buildings, more than 400 exquisite painted beams and over 9 vivid murals are preserved to this day. The doors and windows of the main hall feature fine dragon and phoenix lattice designs and other artistic treasures. The garden at the very rear of the Palace of Loyal King — which is the Humble Administrator's Garden — covers an area of 4.2 hectares and is one of China’s Four Great Classical Gardens. The garden retains structures such as the Magnolia Hall and the Mountain-Viewing Tower, with landscapes where water reflects mountains and trees provide ample shade, making visitors feel instantly refreshed upon entering. The residences are located on both sides of the official buildings and remain well-preserved to this day.

The buildings of the Palace of Loyal King feature rich carvings and paintings, with dragon and phoenix motifs being the main features — such as the stone lions in front of the gate and the dragon and phoenix carvings on the 20 doors and windows of the Gongzi Hall, as well as the painted panels on the nine rear hall skirts and the colored paintings on the beams and columns on all four sides. The murals and painted artworks of the Palace of Loyal King are quite distinctive. There are a total of 9 extant murals painted on wooden boards, with rich content mostly depicting rural scenery. The colored paintings are numerous, covering patterns, birds, flowers, fish, insects, landscapes, and more across the five sections of architecture from the main gate to the rear hall, with over 300 still well-preserved today. These colored paintings exhibit the refined and elegant artistic style unique to Suzhou-style painting and hold significant value. In the history of China, the Palace of Loyal King is the only exceptional case where the ruins of a peasant revolution are so well-preserved.

The architectural art of the Palace of Loyal King has a unique style. Originally, there were two wind instrument pavilions standing opposite each other in front of the main gate, used for musical performances. On the gate towers on both sides of the gate, there were corner towers that appeared to soar into the sky. According to research, the main gate was several zhang high (a traditional Chinese unit of length) and extremely solemn and majestic. However, this gate was later rebuilt by Li Hongzhang into the style of an old Qing-style government office. The main hall, rear hall, and side halls within the mansion remain well-preserved. The main hall and rear hall form a “工” character shape in layout, known in Chinese architectural history as the Gongzi Hall. This form of architecture reflects the characteristics of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom palace construction. The side halls on the east and west sides of the main hall help to highlight the central status of the main hall. Research suggests that this architectural form is related to the needs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's assembly meetings. There was originally a five-story square watchtower for military reconnaissance, but it no longer exists.

Historical Evolution

Courtyard of the Palace of Loyal King

The Palace of Loyal King is located on Beisi Pagoda Road in Suzhou (formerly Northeast Street). In 1961, it was listed as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. In June 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign in the Qing Dynasty), the Loyal King Li Xiucheng led the Taiping Army to capture Suzhou. Starting in October of the same year, he expanded the garden on the site formerly owned by the Wu family — the Humble Administrator's Garden — into the Palace of Loyal King, incorporating neighboring estates belonging to the Pan and Wang families to the east and west, respectively, forming a vast architectural complex spanning over a li (approximately 500 meters), including official buildings, residential quarters, and gardens. In the winter of the 2nd year of the Tongzhi reign (December 1863), the Taiping Army withdrew from Suzhou, and Li Hongzhang took over the Palace of Loyal King as the office of the Governor-General of Jiangsu. In the 11th year of the Tongzhi reign, it was converted into the Eight Banners and Fengzhi Guild Hall. In 1938, it was occupied by the Japanese puppet regime as the office of the “Jiangsu Provincial Reformation Government.” In 1946, it was borrowed as school premises by the National Academy of Social Education. In 1951, it was assigned to the Cultural Relics Management Committee of Southern Jiangsu.

In June 1860, Li Xiucheng led the Taiping Army to capture Suzhou and established a new province in southern Jiangsu called Sufu Province, with Suzhou as its capital. In October of the same year, hundreds of laborers were mobilized to begin constructing the Palace of Loyal King on the confiscated site of the Humble Administrator's Garden. In December 1863, when Suzhou fell, the construction of the Palace of Loyal King was not yet completed but had already taken initial shape.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Cultural Relics Management Committee of Southern Jiangsu was established at the Palace of Loyal King, and major buildings such as the official structures underwent renovation. After 1960, it became the site of the Suzhou Museum. Since 1981, the cultural relics authorities have allocated funds multiple times for the maintenance of the Palace of Loyal King buildings and implemented protective measures against fire and termites.

Attraction Introduction

Grand Theater of the Palace of Loyal King

The main body of the Palace of Loyal King, the central official buildings, was constructed according to the regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although later modifications by Li Hongzhang — such as the removal of the east and west gate towers, corner towers, and wind instrument pavilions, the redesign of the main gate into the style of a Qing government office, and the alteration of dragon and phoenix painted decorations — were made, other parts remain in their original state. Along the central axis from south to north are successively: the screen wall, main gate, ceremonial gate, main hall, rear hall, and rear building, spanning approximately 140 meters in depth. The main gate of the Palace of Loyal King is three bays wide (12.5 meters) and 10 meters deep. It was originally a single-eave hip-and-gable roof but was later changed to a flush gable roof. The front and rear eaves pillars are fitted with lintel beams and flat beams, supporting three-tiered single-angled bracket sets that carry the eave purlins. Angled beams are installed with bracket sets supporting the lower purlins, which in turn bear the corner beams. The painted decorations on the beams and lintels were all painted over, but traces of dragons and phoenixes can still be faintly seen. The column bases are all bluish stone basin-style. Partition walls are built between the secondary ridge posts, while the central bay features a break-and-set door with drum stones. The main gate is flanked by eight-character walls, with stone lions at the front. Both the drum stones and stone lions are exquisitely carved and imposing. The ceremonial gate is of a flush gable style, three bays wide (13.5 meters) and 8.5 meters deep, with colored paintings adorning the beams, lintels, and purlins. Behind the gate lies a stone-paved courtyard, with seven-bay-wide side corridors on the east and west facing each other across the courtyard. Both the main hall and the rear hall have flush gable roofs, each three bays wide, connected by a five-rafter-span curved-roof corridor that transitions the space, forming a unified whole with a “工” character-shaped layout — hence commonly referred to as the Gongzi Hall. The main hall is about 11 meters high, 17 meters wide, and 14.5 meters deep. It has a front step corridor, with flat beams on the lintels supporting one-tier three-riser bracket sets, which in turn support the eave purlins. The tops of the corridor pillars feature bracket sets that project forward to support the eave purlins and backward to support the moon beams. A total of 14 sash windows with crabapple flower lattice panels are installed between the step pillars, with cloud-dragon carvings on the skirt panels and cloud-phoenix patterns on the decorative panels. The interior beam structure resembles that of a hall with a raised roof canopy, with a boat-shaped canopy between the step pillars and the golden pillars, and large beams between the golden pillars and the rear step pillars, connecting to the double-step rear corridor. A screen door is installed between the rear golden pillars. The rear hall is 14.2 meters wide and 6.2 meters deep, with a rear step corridor. Its beams are round in section, differing from the flat beams of the main hall. Both the main hall and the rear hall feature colored paintings on the beams, lintels, and purlins. Between the rear hall and the rear building is a small courtyard with side rooms on the east and west. The rear building has a flush gable roof, the same height as the main hall, is three bays wide (14.6 meters), and 10 meters deep. It has a front step corridor, with flat beams on the lintels supporting one-tier three-riser bracket sets. Some corridor pillars have single-jump bracket sets. A boat-shaped canopy is set between the step pillars and the golden pillars, and large beams are installed between the golden pillars and the rear step pillars. Eighteen screen doors are installed between the rear step pillars, with spacer boards between the door lintels and the rear step lintels, divided into nine sections by strips, each painted with murals. The murals mainly depict animals such as deer, cranes, tigers, leopards, lions, elephants, mandarin ducks, ribbon birds, white rabbits, and cats, accompanied by trees, rocks, flowers, and grass, each carrying symbolic meaning. The distance between the rear eave pillars and the rear step pillars is only 1 meter, and the rear eave is as high as 7 meters, exceeding the front corridor purlin by 2 meters — a truly rare feature. This hall was originally used by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to enshrine the deities of the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Elder Brother and to conduct worship ceremonies. It was called the “Sacred Hall” or “Heavenly Hall.”

The Suzhou-style colored paintings of the Palace of Loyal King are also considered peerless. Not only are they numerous, but their artistic level is also extremely high, making them rare even nationwide. According to surveys, there were originally 285 embroidered bag paintings, 210 ruyi-head motifs, totaling 495 painted panels, of which three-quarters depict landscapes, flowers, birds, animals, and rich brocade patterns. Their themes mostly symbolize blessings such as happiness, prosperity, longevity, good fortune, peace, and beauty — for example, money bats (symbolizing wealth), cypress and deer (symbolizing prosperity), bats and chimes (symbolizing happiness), bees and monkeys (symbolizing nobility), etc. The main representations of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom artistic features are the dragon and phoenix motifs, such as “two dragons playing with a pearl,” “auspicious clouds with coiled dragons,” “phoenix facing the sun,” and “phoenix among peonies” painted on the lintels of the main gate and ceremonial gate, the main hall lintels, step beams, and ridge beams. Unfortunately, these have mostly been painted over, with only two surviving “phoenix among peonies” panels on the ridge beams of the side bays of the main hall. Today, a total of 343 colored paintings remain fully preserved, of which 323 are original works from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, and the rest were modified later. Suzhou-style colored paintings are known for their refined elegance, and those of the Palace of Loyal King can be regarded as representative works of surviving Qing Dynasty Suzhou-style colored paintings.

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Further Reading:

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

· First Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units