The Imperial Archives (Huangshi Cheng)

Huangshi Cheng

Huangshi Cheng is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Huangshi Cheng, also known as the Table Memorial Repository, was the imperial archives of the Ming and Qing dynasties and has a history of over 460 years. Located at the southern end of Nan Chizi Street, east of Tiananmen in Beijing, it covers an area of 8,460 square meters, with a building area of 3,400 square meters. Huangshi Cheng was built in July of the 13th year of the Jiajing reign during the Ming Dynasty and completed in July of the 15th year. It is the best-preserved imperial archives building existing in China today.

The character "Cheng" refers to an ancient room used for storing books. Huangshi Cheng is entirely built from carved stone, with a main hall that has no beams or columns. The floor features a 1.42-meter-high stone platform, upon which more than 150 camphorwood cabinets clad in copper and engraved with dragons—known as "golden cabinets"—are arranged. The overall architecture and storage design of Huangshi Cheng are perfect and fully functional, offering protection against fire, moisture, mold, and insects, thereby ensuring the preservation of precious texts and making it highly suitable for archival storage.

Address: No. 136, Nan Chizi Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Type: Museum, Library, Historic Building

Opening Hours:

Currently not open to the public

Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Beijing