The largest collection of 100,000 cultural relics in Jiangnan’s largest ancient building complex is hailed as “Jinling’s No. 1 Scenic Spot”

Nanjing, known as Jinling in ancient times, is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization and one of the four ancient capitals. In history, ten dynasties established their capitals here, leaving Nanjing with a heritage of culture and a large number of historical relics. When traveling in Nanjing, apart from the famous Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River and Xuanwu Lake, there are also many historical sites worth seeing in the city. Chaotian Palace is one of them. The Chaotian Palace, located at Yeshan in Shuiximen, Chaotiangong Street, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, has a history that can be traced back to 2500 years ago. According to records, in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Wang Fucha used the rich mineral resources in Nanjing to set up a smelting workshop, called Yecheng, in the area of ​​Chaotian Palace. Since then, it has been rebuilt in almost all dynasties, and Yeshan where it is located is also one of the birthplaces of the main city of Nanjing. During the Ming Dynasty, Chaotian Palace became a place for the children of bureaucrats and nobles to practice courtesy of the emperor. During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, the Governor of Liangjiang, Zeng Guofan, converted Chaotian Temple into a Confucian Temple and Jiangning House. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist Government rebuilt Chaotian Palace into the Nanjing Capital High Court. Chaotian Palace is located on the north side and is built on the hillside. It covers an area of ​​about 70,000 square meters. It is the highest-level, largest-scale and best-preserved ancient building complex in the south of the Yangtze River. The “Wanren Palace Wall” at the front of the building complex is nearly a hundred meters long, magnificent and magnificent. It is a landmark building of Chaotian Palace. The stone steps under the archway of Lianxingmen have special emotions for the old Nanjing people. As the oldest “stone slide” in Nanjing and a unique Nanjing folk custom, it has a history of more than 150 years. Generations of children slid down from here, and over time, smooth ditch marks were left on every long rock. In addition, Lianxingmen is also the filming location of many film and television dramas. In the TV drama “Legend of the New White Lady”, the scene of Xu Shilin’s top pick was shot here. After Zeng Guofan converted Chaotian Temple into a Confucian Temple, he also inscribed two plaques “De Pei Tian Di” and “Dao Guan Gu Jin” on the arches on the east and west sides. What’s interesting is that the “De” of the “De Pei Tian Di” plaque lacks a horizontal line in the middle of the right half, while the unitary character of “Pei” has one more horizontal line. It is said that Zeng Guofan deliberately wrote a horizontal part of the German character into the matching character, in order to encourage young people to always remain modest and cautious. According to the “History of the Ming Dynasty”, in the fifth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1526), ​​the Emperor Jiajing wrote a “Respect for One Admonition”, and various academic palaces engraved this admonition into stone tablets and built pavilions for worship. The “Jingyi Pavilion” located at the highest point of Yeshan has also become one of the landmark buildings of Chaotian Palace. Climbing up to the “Jingyi Pavilion” and overlooking from the railing, you can have a sweeping view of the east, north, and west sides of Nanjing. The current Chaotian Palace is also the location of the Nanjing Museum. The museum has more than 100,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics. It is worth mentioning that there are also two hundred boxes of porcelain that the Palace Museum moved south to avoid the Japanese invaders. These precious collections convey to the world the essence of the history and culture of Nanjing, the ancient capital, and are known as “a Chaotian Palace, half of the history of the southern capital”. Chaotian Palace is usually not visited by many tourists. Walking through the ancient palaces, the red walls and yellow tiles are shaded by pine and cypresses, as if walking through time and space into the ancient court drama. Scenic address: No. 4, Chaotian Palace, Wangfu Street, Qinhuai District, Nanjing. Transportation: Take the 4, 23, 43, 48, 82, 83, 306, and 6th lines and get off at Chaotian Palace Station. tips: The scenic spot is open for free on the 10th of every month.