Tianfei Palace Ruins Museum

　　The Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties Tianfei Palace Ruins Museum is located on Dazhigu Middle Road, Hedong District, Tianjin, covering an area of fifty-eight hundred square meters, with a construction area of over three thousand square meters. The main structure of the museum features the foundation of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing palace halls at its center, surrounded by two levels of exhibition halls. The exhibition, themed “Melody of the Sea,” showcases over two hundred excavated cultural relics, restored models of ships and buildings related to maritime culture and Mazu culture, as well as three hundred images. These displays present the historical practices of ancient humans in maritime activities, the origins of Tianjin city, the phenomenon of Mazu culture, and the excavation of the site.

　　In front of the museum square stands a columnar statue. The central column symbolizes a mast, clad in stone, with relief carvings depicting different maritime patterns from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, arranged from bottom to top. At the top of the column stands a statue of Mazu, portrayed as a young folk maiden with her hands gently clasped in front of her chest, her gaze fixed into the distance. The embroidered ribbons on her robe flutter in the wind, as if she is praying for the safe return of those who voyage afar and for the early reunification of the motherland.

　　After the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in Dadu (modern-day Beijing), to solve the food supply problem for the capital, a canal transport route was opened from the southeastern coast to Zhigu. Grain and other supplies from the southeast coast were continuously transported to Dadu. To ensure the safety of maritime navigation, the Yuan government built the Tianfei Lingci Palace in Dazhigu during the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu (1281–1284 AD). This is the earliest Mazu temple in northern China. It is ranked among China’s three great Mazu temples, along with the Mazu Temple in Meizhou, Fujian, and the Chaotian Temple in Beigang, Taiwan.

　　From December 1998 to January 1999, the Tianjin archaeological team excavated the foundations of Yuan Dynasty architecture and the halls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties’ Tianfei Palace at the site, unearthing a large number of architectural components and daily utensils from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing periods. In September 2000, a national expert group from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage conducted an appraisal of the site and confirmed that Dazhigu is the birthplace of Tianjin as a historic and cultural city, and that the Tianfei Palace is the symbolic landmark of this origin—being the only extremely valuable historical relic in Tianjin’s history. To protect this significant historical heritage, the Tianjin municipal government decided to establish the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties Tianfei Palace Ruins Museum on the original site.

The Tianfei Palace Ruins Museum is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.