On February 24th, 65438, the press conference of archaeological excavation achievements from 20 19 to 2020 was held in Hall 4 of Jiucheng Palace in Sui Renshou Hall. The actual excavation area of No.4 Temple site is about 2,300 square meters, and the largest existing foundation site of Sui and Tang Dynasties Stone Hall in China has been discovered, with more than 500 relics unearthed. This excavation can be regarded as an archaeological restart after the archaeological excavation of Jiuchenggong was interrupted for 25 years from 1994.
Jiucheng Palace, known as the highest detached palace, is located in linyou county, Baoji City. The site of Hall 4 is located in the southwest corner of Jiuchenggong site, 30 meters northeast of the foot of Tiantai Mountain. The main body of the temple foundation is 27 meters long from east to west, 25 meters wide from north to south, and 4.2 meters high from the stone apron in the south to the temple surface. From the observation and analysis of building materials, rammed soil layer and stubble on the west and south sides of the temple site, it is found that the foundation of Hall 4 is partially superimposed on the Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty.
The foundation of temples in Sui Dynasty is mainly composed of apron, abutment wall and internal rammed earth. Both aproll and abutment wall are stone materials, and the similar stone materials are cut evenly, and the appearance is polished and smooth. On the top floor of the platform wall, the ground cover stone, partition wall column and railing stone are carved with 4 or 6 groups of standard neat and coherent large honeysuckle patterns. In the Tang Dynasty, on the basis of the stone foundation in the Sui Dynasty, the temple foundation and spillway were raised as a whole, and the raised part was about 1.5 meters, which was mainly composed of rammed earth.
It is worth mentioning that there are still 3-4 layers of white plaster on the steep slate built on the abutment on the south side of the temple foundation in Tang Dynasty, which shows that the steep slate on the temple foundation in Tang Dynasty is decorated with white plaster. This is consistent with the statement that Emperor Taizong used sand as gravel and mud as powder wall in order to correct the extravagant style of Sui Dynasty in Jiuchenggong Liquan Ming.
Functionally, Hall 4 was a waterfront palace in the Sui Dynasty, but in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, it was intentionally or frequently destroyed by water, and became a high-rise sleeping hall facing the water in the south. "According to historical records and the location of Hall 4, we speculate that it is most likely Xianheng Hall." Li Chunlin, head of archaeological excavation at Jiuchenggong site, said.
The tall, thick and well-preserved stone structure in the site of No.4 Temple and the elegance and beauty of carved honeysuckle patterns are rare in ancient temple architecture archaeology, reflecting the evolution of stone system from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and providing physical materials for the study of architectural art in the same period. At the same time, the stone incense burner, silver hairpin, gold-plated chest nail and Kaiyuan Bao Tong copper coins unearthed from the site are also precious materials for studying the historical connotation and court life of the Jiucheng Palace in Sui Renshou Tang Dynasty.