Yongle Palace, originally named "Da Chunyang Wanshou Palace" (Grand Pure Yang Longevity Palace), is located on the east side of Longquan Village, 3 kilometers north of Ruicheng County in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. It is one of the three ancestral courts of the Quanzhen School of Taoism. Its original site was in Yongle Town, Yongji County, Shanxi Province. Due to the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project, all the buildings and murals were moved to the new site in Ruicheng County for restoration and preservation in 1959, where they remain to this day.
According to relevant classics in the Taoist Canon and inscriptions in the palace, this is the birthplace of Lü Dongbin, one of the "Eight Immortals" in Taoism. After Lü's death, the villagers converted his former residence into "Lü Gong Ancestral Hall". At the end of the Jin Dynasty, it was expanded into a Taoist temple, which was destroyed by fire in the fourth year of the Shaoding era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1231). At that time, Qiu Chuji and other leaders of the Quanzhen School of Taoism were deeply favored by the imperial court, and their ancestor Lü Dongbin was also highly revered. Therefore, in the fifth year of the Shaoding era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1232), an imperial decree was issued to upgrade the temple to a palace, conferring the title of "Heavenly Lord" on Lü Dongbin, and appointing Pan Dechong, the Taoist supervisor of the northern and southern routes in Hedong, to preside over the construction of the palace.
According to relevant documents, the construction of Yongle Palace began in the seventh year of the Chunyou era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1247) and was completed with the murals in the Chunyang Hall in the eighteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1358). The construction period lasted for more than 110 years, almost throughout the entire Yuan Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, small-scale repairs and repainting of the murals were carried out.
The main buildings of Yongle Palace are distributed along the north-south central axis in sequence, including the Palace Gate, Dragon and Tiger Hall, Sanqing Hall, Chunyang Hall, and Chongyang Hall. Among them, the Palace Gate is a Qing Dynasty building, while the others were built in the Yuan Dynasty. Yongle Palace is currently the most intact group of Yuan Dynasty buildings preserved. Yongle Palace is world-famous for its preserved and rare Yuan Dynasty murals. The main halls of the entire palace are adorned with exquisite murals, covering an area of 960 square meters. With rich themes and superb brushwork, they are masterpieces in the history of Chinese painting and art.
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Dragon and Tiger Hall
Dragon and Tiger Hall, also known as "Wuji Gate" (Gate of the Infinite), was originally the main gate of Yongle Palace. It stands on a high platform base, with a width of five bays and a depth of six rafters. The internal beam structure is simple. The murals in the hall depict 26 heavenly gods guarding the three realms, such as Shentu, Yulei, divine generals, divine officials, city gods, and earth gods. They hold various weapons, wearing solemn and imposing armor, looking majestic. Although the murals are slightly damaged, the grandeur of the original work still remains.
Sanqing Hall
Sanqing Hall, also known as "Wuji Hall" (Hall of the Infinite), is the largest hall in Yongle Palace. It gets its name because it originally enshrined and worshipped the three statues of Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing in Taoist mythology. The platform base is tall and flat, magnificent and spectacular. The hall has a width of seven bays and a depth of four bays. The roof is decorated with beautiful yellow, green, and blue glazed reliefs connected together, forming five ridges. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the colors are bright, the owl tails are tall and majestic with beautiful luster, and the immortals and beasts are delicate, lively, and lifelike. The interior of the hall is spacious and bright, with colorful paintings on the ceiling, dazzling in variety. The caisson ceiling is exquisitely carved, with various shapes of figures, flowers, dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, etc., in brilliant colors. The paintings on each component are still well-preserved, combining colored paintings and sculptures, which is very rare. The suspended sculpture of the Heavenly Lord has a plump face, a calm expression, standing against the wind on the sea waves, with a vast sea of clouds behind, like a Penglai fairyland.
The hall is covered with murals, with a height of 4.26 meters and a total length of 94.68 meters, totaling 403.3 square meters. Painted by Ma Qi and others from Luoyang, Henan in the second year of the Taiding era of the Yuan Dynasty (1325), the content is "Chaoyuan Tu" (Painting of Paying Homage to the Origin), which depicts various gods paying homage to Yuanshi Tianzun, the ancestor of Taoism. Centered on eight main figures dressed as emperors and empresses, it is surrounded by nearly 300 figures such as golden boys, jade girls, emperors, constellations, immortals, nobles, left assistants, and right assistants. They are backed by floating auspicious qi and stepping on winding auspicious clouds, making the entire mural present a scene of a fairyland. The main figures in the murals are over 3 meters tall, and the attendants are more than 2 meters tall, arranged in four or five layers in front and behind. The composition is rigorous, the scene is vast, and the characters are depicted in meticulous detail with vivid expressions. The murals in this hall adopt the method of "heavy color outlining and filling". The colors are mainly azurite and malachite, making them appear simple, natural, and vigorous. In the parts of the clothes and treasure canopies, a large number of powder reliefs and gold pasting are used, which make the primary and secondary parts of the painting more distinct, appearing exquisite and colorful, and can be called a masterpiece in ancient painting.
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Chunyang Hall
Chunyang Hall, also known as "Lü Zu Hall" (Hall of Ancestor Lü), has a width of five bays, a depth of three bays with eight rafters, and a single-eave nine-ridge roof. The interior of the hall is supported by only four golden pillars, and the main beam spans four bays, making the space of the hall extremely spacious. The four walls and fan walls of the hall are painted with 52 paintings titled "Pictures of Immortal Journeys and Manifestations of Emperor Chunyang", depicting the life stories of Lü Dongbin. Each painting is an independent unit, separated from each other by natural scenery such as mountains, rivers, clouds, mist, trees, and stones. The pavilions, towers, wine shops, tea houses, gardens, and private schools in the paintings are clearly layered and arranged in an orderly manner. The figures of various types, such as officials, scholars, merchants, common people, farmers, and beggars, have vivid and varied expressions. These paintings are precious materials for studying the living conditions of people in the Yuan Dynasty. On the back of the shrine in the hall, there is also a mural depicting Lü Chunyang seeking Tao from Han Zhongli. The painting has a broad scene, beautiful scenery, concise brushwork, and exquisite techniques, showing a typical Yuan Dynasty painting style. The murals in Chunyang Hall were painted by Zhang Zunli and others, disciples of Zhu Haogu, in the eighteenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1358).
Chongyang Hall
Chongyang Hall is a hall dedicated to Wang Chongyang, the leader of the Quanzhen School, and his seven disciples. It has five bays. The murals in the hall depict the missionary activities of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen School of Taoism, in the style of serial pictures, totaling 49 paintings. They are exquisitely depicted and have strong artistic appeal.
