The stunning Yongle Palace in Ruicheng

Yongle Palace, originally named Dachunyang Wanshou Palace, was built in memory of one of the Eight Immortals, Lu Dongbin. It is commonly known as Yongle Palace because it was originally located in Yongle Town. It was built between 1247 and 1358 AD, and is considered one of the three major ancestral homes of Quanzhen Taoism, along with Baiyun Temple in Beijing and Chongyang Palace in Xi'an's Huyi District. It is a first-class national cultural relic protection unit. When it was discovered in the first national cultural relic census in 1952, it caused a sensation and shocked the academic world. Experts at the time believed that Yongle Palace is a fine example of Yuan Dynasty architecture, the largest Taoist temple in the country, a model of ancient Chinese painting art, and one of the world's largest existing ancient mural art treasures. The 'Chao Yuan Tu' in the Sanqing Hall is a pinnacle of group composition development in the history of world painting, and is a rare masterpiece! In 1956, the central government decided to build the Sanmenxia Water Control Hub, and the original site of Yongle Palace was in the reservoir inundation area. In February 1957, with the approval of the State Council, the palace was relocated and preserved as a whole. From August 1958 to the eve of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1959, more than a thousand square meters of murals were successfully peeled off and relocated, and the entire structure of Yongle Palace was relocated to its current location by June 1960. By August 1966, all the murals had been restored and installed, and the relocation project was successfully completed. Such a large-scale relocation is a miracle! The current location of Yongle Palace is in Longquan Village, about three kilometers north of Ruicheng County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. It is built within the ruins of the ancient capital of the Wei State during the Western Zhou Dynasty (a seventh-class national cultural relic protection unit). From south to north, there are the palace gate, the Wuji Gate, the Sanqing Hall (Wuji Hall), the Chunyang Hall, and the Chongyang Hall. In terms of overall architectural layout, there are no subsidiary buildings such as side halls on the east and west sides. In terms of architectural structure, the 'construction method' of the Song Dynasty and the 'column reduction method' of the Liao and Jin periods are used. Therefore, when visiting Yongle Palace, one ticket can see two national key cultural relics protection units , not only can you appreciate the Yuan Dynasty murals with the remnants of the Tang and Song Dynasties, but also see the Yuan and Ming ancient buildings with the style of the Song and Jin Dynasties, and the ruins of the ancient city of the Western Zhou Dynasty . Fully experience the richness and diversity of Chinese historical and traditional culture, and the craftsmanship spirit of the cultural protection people of the Republic! Ruicheng County is still some distance from the main city of Yuncheng, and there are not many tourists here. If you avoid the summer vacation, May Day, National Day and other holidays, I believe you can have a perfect quiet trip! Note: Photography is prohibited in several halls, and there are two to three security guards on duty in each hall. The management is very strict, so the murals can only be displayed with pictures from the Internet...