Site of the Jingling Palace

Site of the Jingling Palace

The site of the Jingling Palace is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The site of the Jingling Palace is located in Shuyuan Subdistrict, Qufu City. It dates back to the Song Dynasty.

The site of the Jingling Palace is located in the eastern part of Jiuxian Village, about one li east of the urban area of Qufu. Originally built during the Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, who “traced his ancestry and honored Xuanyuan as the progenitor,” regarded the Yellow Emperor as the founding ancestor of the Zhao clan. In the intercalary tenth month of the fifth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1012 AD), he issued an edict renaming Qufu County to Xianyuan County, relocating the county seat to the west of Shouqiu, and constructing the Jingling Palace to enshrine the Yellow Emperor.

After compromising with the Khitan and the Liao, Emperor Zhenzong of Song sought to awe the northern tribes through the cultural supremacy of the Huaxia people. As a result, he promoted the co-equal reverence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He enshrined Mount Tai, honored Confucius, tolerated Buddhism, and devoted himself to Taoism. On multiple occasions, he engaged in the fabrication of “heavenly scriptures,” dreamed of deities, and honored the Yellow Emperor as the progenitor of the Zhao clan. The "History of Song · Treatises · Rites · Ceremonial Rites" records:

The emperor (Emperor Zhenzong of Song) said to his ministers in the tenth month of the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012): “I dreamed that a deity descended and conveyed the Jade Emperor’s decree: ‘First, I command your ancestor Zhao to bestow upon you the Heavenly Scripture, and then I will appear to you again, just as the Tang Dynasty revered the Dark Lord of the Mysterious Origin.’ The next day, I dreamed again that the deity conveyed the words of the Celestial Worthy: ‘I am seated to the west, with six seats arranged diagonally to await you.’ That very day, I set up an altar in the Yan’en Hall. At the first drumbeat before dawn, I first sensed a wondrous fragrance. Soon after, a yellow light filled the hall, outshining the lamps and candles, and I beheld the celestial retinue of the deities arriving. I bowed twice beneath the hall. Suddenly, a yellow mist arose, which soon dispersed. The Celestial Worthy ascended from the western steps, with attendants positioned on the eastern steps. The Celestial Worthy took his seat, followed by six individuals who bowed to him before sitting. I intended to bow to the six, but the Celestial Worthy instructed them only to bow and called me forward, saying: ‘I am one of the Nine Human Sovereigns, the founding ancestor of the Zhao clan, and my second descent was as the Yellow Emperor. What the world knows—that I am the son of Shaodian—is incorrect. My mother conceived me after dreaming of a deity during a thunderstorm, and I was born at Shouqiu. During the Later Tang Dynasty, by the command of the Jade Emperor, I descended on the first day of the seventh month to govern the mortal realm and oversee the Zhao lineage. It has now been a hundred years. The emperor should diligently nurture the people and not neglect this mission.’ He then left his seat, rode the clouds, and departed.” Wang Dan and the others all bowed twice in celebration.

He then summoned the Chancellor Wang Dan and others to the Yan’en Hall to inspect the place of the divine descent and proclaimed it to the entire realm. He ordered the Chancellor Ding Wei, the Hanlin Academician Li Zong’e, the Dragon Diagram Pavilion Attendant Chen Pengnian, and the ritual officials to formulate the ceremonial protocols for worship and led the investigation to confirm the location of Shouqiu, where the Yellow Emperor was believed to have been born. In the intercalary tenth month, he posthumously honored the Nine Heavens’ Life-Protecting Deity as “Sagely Ancestor Supreme Divine Nine Heavens Life-Protecting Deity,” and his consort as “Primordial Celestial Sagely Empress.” Officials were dispatched to conduct sacrifices to Heaven and the Four Directions in the southern suburbs.

In the intercalary tenth month of the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012 AD), the emperor convened his ministers to deliberate and issued an edict to construct Jingling Palaces in both the capital and Shouqiu, Qufu. The one in the capital was dedicated to the Yellow Emperor and the Zhao ancestors as “divine figures,” while the one in Qufu was for the ancestral Yellow Emperor and the Sacred Mother. Since Shouqiu in Qufu was confirmed as the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Zhenzong decreed that Qufu be renamed Xianyuan County, under the jurisdiction of Xiqing Prefecture (later renamed Yanzhou Prefecture). The "History of Song · Annals of Emperor Zhenzong" records in the intercalary tenth month of the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu: “On the day of Wuyin, the Jingling Palace and Taiji Temple were constructed at Shouqiu.” The 1592 edition of the "Yanzhou Prefecture Annals · Historical Records" states: “In the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu during the Song Dynasty, because the Yellow Emperor descended in the Yan’en Hall, Qufu, which had Shouqiu, was renamed Xianyuan and placed under Xiqing Prefecture.”

The Jingling Palace in the capital was rebuilt twice due to the transition from the Northern to the Southern Song Dynasty. Its grand scale can be seen in the "Book of Song · Treatises on Rites · Ceremonial Rites":

The Jingling Palace was established in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu. … Thus, the two palaces together comprised nine front halls, eight rear halls, sixteen mountain halls, one pavilion, one bell tower, four stele towers, one scripture tower, three fasting halls, two divine kitchens, one Taoist courtyard, and corridors and side rooms of the fasting palace, totaling 2,320 structures. … In the second month of the thirteenth year of Shaoxing, construction was carried out following the old regulations of the Jingling Palace, adapted as appropriate. …

The Jingling Palace in Qufu was overseen by the then-Chancellor Wang Dan. The "Book of Song · Biography of Wang Dan" states: “Dan served as the Qufu Jingling Palace Worship Envoy, accompanied by the eunuch Zhou Huaizheng.” Special commissioners, including the Judicial Officer Ma Qiweng and the Qufu Magistrate and Censor Wang Zhen, supervised the construction. “The total labor force involved amounted to thirty to forty thousand workers,” and 1,320 palace structures were built. The stone materials used included bluestone from Zheng and Zi, greenstone from Hengzhou, and white stone from Laizhou. The jade carving of the “Jade Sacred Image” of the Yellow Emperor was made from white Laizhou jade. Eunuchs such as Yang Huaide, head of the Inner Attendant Hall, Lu Daozong, chief offering official of the Inner Attendant Office, and Hao Zhaoxin, eastern offering official of the Inner Attendant Office, were appointed to supervise the project.

In the fifth month of the ninth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1016), the Taiji Temple of the Shouqiu Jingling Palace was completed.

In the first year of Tianxi (1017), Emperor Zhenzong specially dispatched Grand Academician of the Jixian Hall and Chancellor Wang Dan, along with Vice Minister of Works and Chancellor Zhao Anren, as “Imperial Envoys to Present the Imperial Seal,” to Qufu to enshrine the Jade Image of the Sagely Ancestor and confer the honorific title on the Sacred Mother. Before departing for Qufu, Emperor Zhenzong fasted in the Changchun Hall and performed a libation ceremony for the Sacred Mother in the Wende Hall. He bestowed the imperial seal and patent to Wang Dan and the Sacred Robe to Zhao Anren, who then boarded the Golden Cart. The procession was accompanied by ceremonial guards, and the slaughtering of animals was prohibited along the route. In March, Wang Dan and others arrived at the Shouqiu Jingling Palace to conduct the ceremony of enshrining the Jade Image of the Yellow Emperor. They also proceeded to the Taiji Temple to confer the honorific title “Sacred Grandmother Primordial Celestial Sagely Empress” on the goddess Leizu. The scene was extraordinarily magnificent at the time.

However, just over a decade later, during the Tian Sheng era of Emperor Renzong of Song, the Jingling Palace complex was struck by fire, and its exquisite pavilions and jade structures were almost entirely destroyed. Soon after, Emperor Renzong Zhao Zhen issued an edict for reconstruction. In the sixth month of the summer of the first year of Zhenghe (1111) during the reign of Emperor Huizong, an edict was issued stating: “All district and county names that offend the names of sages shall be changed.” Qufu’s “Shouqiu” was thus renamed “Shouling” to avoid the naming taboo of Confucius. At the same time, Emperor Huizong, the “Daoist Emperor,” oversaw the second major renovation of the Shouqiu Jingling Palace. The massive steles such as the “Ten Thousand People’s Sorrow” still standing in the courtyard today are remnants of that renovation. However, before this renovation was completed, the Jin army invaded from the south in the final years of the Xuanhe era, leading to the abandonment of the project midway.

In the twenty-first year of the Dading era (1181) during the Jin Dynasty, Kong Cong, the fiftieth-generation descendant of Confucius and then-county magistrate of Qufu, renovated the war-damaged Xianyuan County and restored the Jingling Palace Taiji Temple. When Mongol cavalry raided Qufu, the Shouqiu Jingling Palace Taiji Temple, like the Confucius Temple in Qufu, suffered from the ravages of war. In the second year of the reign of Empress Dowager Hai Ming (1250) during the Yuan Dynasty, Kong Zhiquan, the fifty-second-generation descendant of Confucius and then-county magistrate of Qufu, along with the Mongol Marshal Yue, undertook repairs. In the seventh year of the Zhi Zheng era (1347) during the Yuan Dynasty, Kong Keqin, the fifty-fifth-generation descendant of Confucius and then-county magistrate of Qufu, hired the Taoist Pan Daojin to serve as the head of the Jingling Palace and raised funds for its renovation.

According to the "Record of the Reconstruction of the Jingling Palace" inscribed on a stone stele by Zhou Boqi in the tenth year of the Zhi Zheng era (1350), cited in the "Qufu County Annals":

The emperor built the palace to enshrine Xuanyuan as the Sagely Ancestor and constructed the Taiji Hall to enshrine his consort (believed to be his mother) as the Sacred Mother. Four years later, the palace was completed, with a total of 1,320 bays, its grandeur and magnificence unparalleled. … The sacred jade image was carved and enshrined in the central hall to signify dignity. Annual worship ceremonies were conducted following the rituals of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Taoist scholars were assigned to serve in the ceremonies, overseen by high-ranking officials. Four massive steles were erected, commonly referred to as the “Ten Thousand People’s Sorrow.” Among them, two steles were 23 feet wide, half that in depth, and four feet thick; the turtle base was 13 feet tall, half that in width, and four feet thick, with a turtle pedestal 18 feet tall. The other two steles were 24 feet wide, half that in depth, and four feet thick, with a turtle base 18 feet tall, 16 feet wide, and four feet thick, and a turtle pedestal 19 feet tall, though without inscriptions—likely unfinished when the Jin army arrived. The tomb was called Shouling.

The scale of the Qufu Jingling Palace was larger than that of the Confucius Temple in Qufu at the time. The entire Jingling Palace complex was integrated with the Qufu County Government Offices and the County School, occupying roughly the eastern part of the Song-era Xianyuan County. Its layout was as follows: the eastern section housed the County Government Offices, while the western section housed the County School; the central section contained the Jingling Palace, Taiji Temple, four large steles, and side halls; the rear section featured the stacked-stone structure of Shouqiu, behind which lay Xieqiu, the tomb of the Yellow Emperor Shaohao. The Song-era "Map of the State of Lu" did not mark Shaohao’s Tomb on the Jingling Palace diagram, but the "Annals of Qufu · Ancient Tombs" records: “Shaohao’s Tomb is located thirty paces northeast of Shouqiu, where Shaohao was buried in Yunyang.” The famous Yuan Dynasty scholar and Henan Censor Yang Huan wrote in "Eastern Travelogue": “Traveling one li east from Qufu, I entered the ruined Jingling Palace and viewed Shouling. The name was changed to avoid a naming taboo. To the northeast lies Xieqiu, the burial site of Shaohao. Shouling was adorned with stacked stones during the Song Dynasty. In front was a white jade statue, shattered by fire. The stone railings of the altar were exquisitely crafted, seemingly the work of spirits.”

During the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty, further repairs were made. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Qufu Jingling Palace was abandoned. When Xianyuan County was rebuilt, the northern city wall bisected the ruins of the Jingling Palace complex, dividing it into inner and outer sections.

In the third year of the Hongwu era (1370) of the Ming Dynasty, “envoys were sent to investigate the tombs of ancient dynasties, and provincial governments were ordered to submit maps.” Qufu County submitted a map of Shaohao’s Tomb. “In the fourth year, the Ministry of Rites decided to collectively enshrine thirty-five emperors. Ten were in Henan: Chen enshrined Fuxi and King Gaozong of Shang, Mengjin enshrined Emperor Guangwu of Han, Luoyang enshrined Emperors Ming and Zhang of Han, Zheng enshrined Emperor Shizong of Zhou, and Gong enshrined Emperors Taizu, Taizong, Zhenzong, and Renzong of Song. One was in Shanxi: Xinghe enshrined Tang of Shang. Two were in Shandong: Dongping enshrined Emperor Yao, and Qufu enshrined Shaohao.” ("History of Ming · Treatises on Rites")

In the third year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, the Sacrificial Hall of Shaohao’s Tomb, side halls, main gate, and memorial archway were constructed. Since Shouqiu was only thirty paces in front of Shaohao’s Tomb and lacked sufficient space, the Sacrificial Hall was built in front of Shouqiu, incorporating Shouqiu into the Shaohao Tomb complex. Since then, Shouqiu has often been mistaken for Shaohao’s Tomb, and the Jingling Palace, with its more than 1,320 halls, has become merely a historical ruin—a lesser-known memory.

In 1985, the site of the Jingling Palace was designated as a Cultural Relics Protection Unit of Jining City. Two massive steles remain on the site. The eastern stele, commonly known as the “Ten Thousand People’s Sorrow” Stele, was re-erected in 1991; the western stele, commonly known as the “Celebrating Longevity” Stele, was re-erected in 1992, both standing over 16 meters tall. At the time, the turtle base of the western stele could not be found, so it was replicated based on the eastern stele. In June 2009, the turtle base of the western stele was excavated west of the “Celebrating Longevity” Stele.

In 2013, the site of the Jingling Palace was designated as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit in the fourth batch by the Shandong Provincial People’s Government.

In 2019, the site of the Jingling Palace was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Shuyuan Subdistrict: Located in the old urban area, Shuyuan Subdistrict hosts over 100 municipal and district-level institutions and has a population of more than 50,000 residents. Through the efforts of the District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Municipal Library extended its services by establishing its first service point in Shuyuan Community.

Shuyuan Subdistrict was established as a district in 1965, renamed Dongfeng Commune in 1968, reverted to Shuyuan Commune in 1980, became a district again in 1984, a township in 1986, a town in 1997, and finally a subdistrict in 2000.

-

Origins

Shuyuan Subdistrict is named after the Zhushui Academy.

-

Historical Sites

…… Detailed Information on Shuyuan Street++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units