Jingjiang prince’s palace
Jingjiang Prince's Palace is a historical site in the inner city of Guilin, close to mountain Duxiufeng, and it is the mansion of Zhu Shouqian, who is the relative of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty (1368AD-1644AD), and is called Jingjiang king, and 12 Jingjiang kings had lived in here for 280 years in the Ming dynasty. In 1652, a peasant revolt broke and the peasant army marched into Guilin, and defeated the highest officer who set a fire and then the palace turned into dust and ashes, but the city wall made from stone is still existed. In the Qing Dynasty, the local government set an examination hall on its old site, which cultivates lots of talents. The buildings in Jiangjiang Prince's Palace is rebuilt in nowadays according to its original structure. This palace represents the history and culture of Guilin, and it becomes a cultural sign of Guilin.
Jingjiang Prince's Palace is built in 1372 and completed in 1392, 556 meters long, 355 meters wide, and occupies an area of 197.8 thousand square meter. It is splendid and magnificent, and it is the epitome of the royal palace in Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty. The layout of this palace is symmetrical and is the reflect of regalism. It has four gates in four directions: tiren in the east, duanli in the south, zunyi in the west, and guangzhi in the north. In the central axis, the main buildings from the beginning to the end are duanli gate, chengyun gate, chengyun hall, living palaces and backyard garden and guangzhi gate, and the buildings in the axis from east to west are symmetrical. Surrounding those main buildings, there are 4 halls, 4 pavilions and 40 other buildings. It has a wall with four doors, and the door is made from stone, 5.5 meters thick, 8 meters high, and 3 kilometers long. In the Qing Dynasty, government set an examination hall on its old site, which cultivates lots of talents.
Since the ancient time, Guilin values education and Guilin has cultivated many excellent examinees. In the Duanli gate, there is a San yue ji di board made specially for Chen Jichang, who got the highest scores in three examinations, provincial examination, national examination, and the examination held by the Emperor. Those talents are little in number. Since the implement of the imperial examinations, there are only thirteen people who get the highest scores in three examinations. In the Qing dynasty, it was changed to an examination hall for examinees. In the east gate, Tiren gate, there is a Zhuang yuan ji di board specially set up for Long Qirui in 1841, and Zhuang yuan is the examinee who get the first rank in the examination held by the Emperor. And four names are listed in the front of this board because of their excellent scores, Chen Jichang, Long Qirui, Zhang Jianxun and Liu Fuyao. In the west gate, Zunyi gate, there is a Bang yan ji di board, specially made for Yu Jianzhang in 1865, who got the second rank in the examination held by the Emperor.
Mount Duxiufeng is a part of this palace, and it is featured with the erectness and specialty of Guilin mountains. There are 136 stone inscriptions on the mountain, and one of most famous inscriptions has a verse describing Guilin scenery-Guilin's scenery is best among all under heaven. In the east of Duxiufeng, there is a pool, Crescent Moon Pool (Yuyachi) which is unearthed from a spring, and named from its appearance like a crescent moon, and it is one of four famous pools in Guilin. In the top of the mountain, there is a pavilion, Duxiu pavilion, 7 meters high, 4.8 meters wide and 4.8 meters long. On this mountain, there are many buildings, Xuanwuge, Guanyintang, Sanke temple, and Sanshen ancestral temple, Dushuyan, Taipingyan. Dushuyan is in the southeast of Mount Duxiufeng, and is named from Yan Yanzhi's study in here. Taipingyan is in the southwest of this mountain, and this cave has stone carvings.
