Yuxu Palace

( english.cntv.cn )

Updated: 2012-11-01

In Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, the emperor ordered the construction of Forbidden City in Beijing of north and the large scale of construction project in Mount Wudang of south.

When the construction project was finished in Mount Wudang, the Yuxu Palace is the most imposing building cluster. There were altogether three layers of wall erected to surround the center and hundreds of buildings clustered there and people even cannot find the way out and where is the boundary.

It is heard that when Great Emperor Zhenwu succeeded in practicing alchemy he went up into Heaven and the Jade Emperor honored him with the name of YuXu Master. Therefore the emperor gave the name of Yuxu Palace. Formerly the Yuxu Palace occupied an area of 5.25 million square meters and had altogether 2,200 houses. Watching from a distance, the golden light and golden housetops expands far away into the horizon. The administration bureau was located in Yuxu Palace.

This place was a base camp when building Wudang, so people usually call it as "Old Camp Palace," Yuxu Palace was built in the 11th year of Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty (1413 A.D.), 2200 temples and palaces were built all together. They were restored in the 31th year of Jiajing Period (1552 A.D.). It originally included five courtyards with three gates and many Chong platforms. Its construction style is very strict with many courts around it.

In 1,627 A.C. Yuxu got on the fire and the main buildings collapsed. 100 years later it got on another large fire and the attached buildings changed into cinder. In 1,935 large floods almost swallowed down all the relics and the people now have to sigh at the vestiges and feel how relentlessly the history evolves with no footprints.

Yuxu Palace (Photo from eenglish.cntv.cn）