The Tang Dynasty was the most glorious era in the history of China. As the imperial palace in the Tang Dynasty, Daming Palace is known as the "palace of thousands of palaces" and is a masterpiece of royal architecture.
Before introducing Daming Palace, we should introduce the director Jin Tiemu. Because of him, I got to know Daming Palace again, and I saw the glory of the Tang Dynasty again. In my eyes, he is the true inheritor of China culture.
From the works directed by Jin Tiemu, it is not difficult to see his persistence in the ancient history of China. Before filming Daming Palace, Director Jin actually wanted to make a documentary about Datang, because for all China people, Datang is an unforgettable dream, but because there are too many films about Datang, most of them are not unique enough. Under the circumstance of karma, Jin Dao came into contact with the producer of the propaganda film of Daming Palace, and later felt that it was a good choice to tell the Tang Dynasty with Daming Palace as the main line. So with the support of archaeologists, ancient architecture experts and film special effects companies, a documentary of Daming Palace restored by digital technology was released.
As the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty, Daming Palace was inhabited by 17 emperors. Covering an area of more than 5,200 mu, the building scale is equivalent to the size of five Forbidden City, which is three times that of Versailles today, 12 times that of the Kremlin and 13 times that of the Louvre. It was the largest palace group in the world at that time, with the strictest regulations and the most distinctive planning.
Why build Daming Palace? According to historical records, at the beginning of the Sui Empire, Yuwen Kai designed Chang 'an City according to Zhouyi theory, and then designed Taiji Palace according to the position of Zixing. After the defeat of the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty also took over the Taiji Palace as the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty. However, Yu Wenkai's design sticks to Feng Shui culture and ignores the defects of the actual terrain. Located in the north of Chang 'an, Taiji Palace is a low-lying place. Whenever the rainy season comes, it looks hot and humid, which is very uninhabitable. After the coup in Li Shimin, Li Yuan became the emperor's father and lived in Taiji Palace, because it was really hot and humid. To show filial piety, at the suggestion of an official named Ma Zhou, Li Shimin decided to build a Summer Palace for Emperor Tai Shang to save his bad reputation after the coup. In 635, the construction of a new palace named "Daming Palace" began. But soon after construction, Tang Gaozu died, and Daming Palace was shut down. When the project started again, it was already the Gaozong period. During the period of Emperor Gaozong, the national treasury became increasingly abundant, and the influence of the Tang Dynasty became increasingly apparent. The hot and humid Taiji Palace can no longer satisfy the growing Tang Dynasty empire. At this time, Emperor Gaozong was eager to have a new palace to replace the Taiji Palace. So Daming Palace began to be built again, but now Daming Palace no longer exists as the Summer Palace, but as a new imperial palace, and its scale is not comparable to that in the past. How big is the scale? Here, the data in the film show that hundreds of thousands of craftsmen, the tax revenue of fifteen states and the accumulation of the national treasury for decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China are not only that, but also the salaries of officials at all levels in the country have been suspended for one month. You can imagine how much manpower, material resources and financial resources were spent to build Daming Palace at that time.
The main entrance of Daming Palace is Fengdan Gate, and the halls that extend inward after entering the door are Hanyuan Hall, Zhengxuan Hall and Chenzi Hall. The functions of the three halls are the outer dynasty, the middle dynasty and the inner dynasty. To the north of the three halls is the residence of the royal family, followed by Linde Hall, Golden Hall, Hanliang Hall, Taiye Pool and Sanqing Hall. Among them, the most prominent palace is Linde Hall. The triple hall of Linde Hall was unprecedented and magnificent, which also became the highest achievement of architectural art at that time. Its main function is to hold court banquets. Taiye Pool is an artificial lake, and the pear garden where Xuanzong was intoxicated in his later years is located on the east bank of Taiye Pool. Xuanzong's royal band created famous colorful feathers here, and Liyuan became synonymous with China opera stage. On the south bank of Taiye Pool is the Golden Throne Hall, where emperors often summon scholars. According to historical records, it was here that Li Bai first met Xuanzong. In a word, all the palaces in Daming Palace have their functional orientation. As the power center and diplomatic center of the empire, Daming Palace shows the world not only the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but also the symbol of advanced civilization.
"Nine doors in heaven are exposed to the palace, and many countries wear clothes to worship the pearl crown." Wang Wei, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once described the grand occasion of Daming Palace in this way. At that time, the Tang Dynasty, where various countries came to Korea and merchants gathered, was even more horizontal than the United States today. As the world's political and diplomatic center and economic and cultural center, what I really admire is not its prosperity, but its open and inclusive atmosphere, regardless of national boundaries politically and nationalities economically. As the saying goes, "All rivers run into the sea." China today would not be isolated by the civilized world if it had the open and inclusive attitude of the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago.
The so-called extremes meet, and the fate of Datang cannot escape the cycle of history after all. In 880 AD, Huang Chao captured Chang 'an, and the peasant army plundered Chang 'an. In 904 AD, Chang 'an, a symbol of the splendor of the Tang Dynasty, suffered another war, and Daming Palace was completely reduced to ruins. Three years later, the Tang Dynasty perished.
Today, several years later, Daming Palace National Heritage Park is being visited by waves of tourists, but how many people know that a period of history is buried under the rubble today? I don't know, nor do many people in China. Thanks to the development of modern film special effects, we have the honor to see the original appearance of Daming Palace, and even more thanks to the hard shooting and meticulous attitude of director Jin Tiemu, which enables Daming Palace to be restored to the greatest extent. Whether it is costume props, character plots or scene modeling, every detail is commendable. This kind of intuitive shock is unmatched by novels. I think this is the most meaningful place of film and television works.