The Epang Palace Site is located in
Epang Village, 15 kilometers to the west suburb of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province.
As one of the famous constructions in Chinese history, the Epang Palace, built
on a large scale and with a vigorous style, was the imperial palace of the first
and second emperors of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC).
According to historical record, after Qin
united the six states, Emperor Shihuang forced over 700,000 people to build the
Epang Palace on the south bank of the Weishui River in the his 35th
reign year (212BC). Only the front hall was completed during Emperor Shihuang's
reign. As described in The Records of the Great Historian-The Biography of
Qin Emperor Shihuang, the front hall of the Epang Palace was 500 steps from
east to west and 50 zhang (1 zhang = 3.3 m) from south to north,
with a capacity of 10,000 people. A road from the palace led straight to
Zhongnan Mountain and a channel way was dug near the peak of the mountain.
Crossing the Weishui River from the Epang Palace, one will arrive at lands
belonging to Xianyang City.
After the death of Emperor Shihuang, the
succeeding emperor continued to construct the palace, with a storied building
built every 5 steps and a pavilion every 10 steps. Groups of buildings and
pavilions stretched westward to Xianyang City and eastward to Lintong City,
covering more than 300 li (1 li = 500 m) and towering high into
the sky. Renowned poet Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) described in details
about the Epang Palace in his Epang Palace Fu (fu is one of the
Chinese literary forms akin to poetry). During wars at the end of the Qin
Dynasty, Xiang Yu captured Xianyang City and burned down the splendid Epang
Palace.
Shaanxi cultural relic administrative
committee and provincial archaeological institution successively carried out
excavations at the site in 1956 and discovered a tampered-earth foundation in
the south of Epang Village. Known as the Emperor Shihuang's Heaven Platform, the
foundation has a perimeter of 310 meters and is 20 meters high. In the southwest
of the village was a rectangular tableland known as Meiwu Mountain Ridge,
covering an area of 260,000 square meters. These two sites are the most notable
historical remains of the Epang Palace.