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[[Image:Heijo-daigokuden.jpg|right|thumb|500px|The Daigokuden (Great Audience Hall), rebuilt 2010.]]
*''Built: [[710]]''
*''Abandoned: [[784]]''
*''Japanese'': 平城宮 ''(heijou kyuu)''
The Heijô Imperial Palace, in [[Heijo-kyo|Heijô-kyô]] (today, the city of [[Nara]]), served as the Imperial Palace from [[710]] until [[784]]. Like other early Japanese Imperial capitals, the palace and its surrounding city were based closely on Chinese models.
The Imperial capital was moved to Heijô from [[Fujiwara-kyo|Fujiwara-kyô]], roughly 20 km to the south, in 710. It was then moved to [[Nagaoka-kyo|Nagaoka-kyô]] in [[784]], and the palace was abandoned, left to fall into ruin; nothing remains today except some earthenwork foundations, but the [[Suzakumon]] (the main southern gate) was rebuilt in 1998, and the [[Daigokuden]] (Great Audience Hall) in 2010.
The Daigokuden, completed in [[715]], was originally located in the center of the entire palace complex, but later in the 8th century, the complex was expanded out to the east. The name ''Daigokuden'' refers to the North Star, and to the foundation of the universe.
No documentary sources have survived indicating the appearance of the palace, but archaeological research, along with consideration of what is known about the palace at [[Kuni-kyo|Kuni-kyô]] (capital very briefly in the 740s) and other contemporary structures, such as [[Yakushi-ji]] and [[Horyu-ji|Hôryû-ji]], as well as information about the [[Heian Imperial Palace]], has allowed scholars to infer much.
Additional construction later in the 8th century destroyed much of what archaeological research might have otherwise found about the original (early 8th century) Heijô Palace, but enough has been found to confirm the ground dimensions of the original Daigokuden.
The Hall is believed to have been painted chiefly in an imperial vermillion, with numerous golden and other metal fittings; these served the double purpose of contributing to the palace's impressive appearance, and protecting the wood from rot. The building itself is believed to have been a two-story structure, with a hipped-gabled roof covered in roughly 100,000 blackened ceramic tiles.
The throne, or ''takamikura'', is believed to have been seated within a hexagonal compartment, open towards the south. The southern facade of the hall was open, allowing the [[Emperor]], seated on that throne, to face south out over a plaza where courtiers, visiting emissaries, and the like would gather; the Halls of State, where administrative matters were handled, were also located to the south of the Daigokuden. Here, the Emperor oversaw governmental decisions, banquets, receptions for foreign envoys, New Year's celebrations, and other such events. Most of the other major buildings in the complex were located to the east.
The Suzakumon sat at the southern end of the complex, directly to the south of the Daigokuden; the main north-south avenue of the city, called Suzaku-ôji, extended southward from this gate.
Other structures within the palace complex included the Imperial residences, known as the Dairi, agencies for governance and administration, known as the ''sôshi'', sites of national ceremonies, and ''teien'' (gardens), used for banquets. The complex was surrounded by large walls, and contained 12 gates in total.
==Today==
Ancient documents, extant artifacts, and archaeological research were taken into account in the rebuilding of the Suzakumon and Daigokuden. The latter was completed in time for considerable celebrations conducted in 2010, on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of Heijô/Nara having become the capital in 710. The rebuilt Daigokuden is 53.172 meters long from east to west, 28.653 meters from north to south, and 23.345 meters tall, atop a foundation platform that is 3.574 meters high. The whole thing is 29.014 meters high at its highest point (the golden ''[[shibi]]'' mounted on the roof).
No documentary sources survive indicating the interior appearance, but, based on what is known about the Chinese Imperial Palaces, and other related sites, it was painted mainly in red and blue-green, with images of lotuses, the twelve animals of the Chinese [[zodiac]], and the symbols of the [[Four Directions]]. The bluish-black tinge of roof tiles excavated at the site was recreated by painting the tiles in a loose black clay with a high concentration of iron, and then fired for around two days, at a temperature of around 1100 degrees. No signs of golden ''shibi'' - golden guardian fish adorning the roof - have been found in excavations, but as it is known they were quite standard at that time, ''shibi'' roughly two meters tall have been installed atop the reconstructed Daigokuden.
To the south of the Daigokuden, several slightly raised platforms of earth, ringed in stone, remain from the original palace construction. Circular base stones that once supported wooden pillars are visible, revealing the size and shape of the original palace buildings, which would have been constructed around a grid of evenly-spaced pillars, still a key element of Japanese traditional architecture today.
{{stub}}
==References==
*Plaques on-site.
==External Links==
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=%E5%B9%B3%E5%9F%8E%E5%AE%AE&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=34.691098,135.791917&spn=0.018878,0.042272&sll=34.414186,-119.859201&sspn=0.018941,0.042272&t=h&hq=%E5%B9%B3%E5%9F%8E%E5%AE%AE&radius=15000&z=15 Heijô Palace on Google Maps].
[[Category:Nara Period]]
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]
*''Built: [[710]]''
*''Abandoned: [[784]]''
*''Japanese'': 平城宮 ''(heijou kyuu)''
The Heijô Imperial Palace, in [[Heijo-kyo|Heijô-kyô]] (today, the city of [[Nara]]), served as the Imperial Palace from [[710]] until [[784]]. Like other early Japanese Imperial capitals, the palace and its surrounding city were based closely on Chinese models.
The Imperial capital was moved to Heijô from [[Fujiwara-kyo|Fujiwara-kyô]], roughly 20 km to the south, in 710. It was then moved to [[Nagaoka-kyo|Nagaoka-kyô]] in [[784]], and the palace was abandoned, left to fall into ruin; nothing remains today except some earthenwork foundations, but the [[Suzakumon]] (the main southern gate) was rebuilt in 1998, and the [[Daigokuden]] (Great Audience Hall) in 2010.
The Daigokuden, completed in [[715]], was originally located in the center of the entire palace complex, but later in the 8th century, the complex was expanded out to the east. The name ''Daigokuden'' refers to the North Star, and to the foundation of the universe.
No documentary sources have survived indicating the appearance of the palace, but archaeological research, along with consideration of what is known about the palace at [[Kuni-kyo|Kuni-kyô]] (capital very briefly in the 740s) and other contemporary structures, such as [[Yakushi-ji]] and [[Horyu-ji|Hôryû-ji]], as well as information about the [[Heian Imperial Palace]], has allowed scholars to infer much.
Additional construction later in the 8th century destroyed much of what archaeological research might have otherwise found about the original (early 8th century) Heijô Palace, but enough has been found to confirm the ground dimensions of the original Daigokuden.
The Hall is believed to have been painted chiefly in an imperial vermillion, with numerous golden and other metal fittings; these served the double purpose of contributing to the palace's impressive appearance, and protecting the wood from rot. The building itself is believed to have been a two-story structure, with a hipped-gabled roof covered in roughly 100,000 blackened ceramic tiles.
The throne, or ''takamikura'', is believed to have been seated within a hexagonal compartment, open towards the south. The southern facade of the hall was open, allowing the [[Emperor]], seated on that throne, to face south out over a plaza where courtiers, visiting emissaries, and the like would gather; the Halls of State, where administrative matters were handled, were also located to the south of the Daigokuden. Here, the Emperor oversaw governmental decisions, banquets, receptions for foreign envoys, New Year's celebrations, and other such events. Most of the other major buildings in the complex were located to the east.
The Suzakumon sat at the southern end of the complex, directly to the south of the Daigokuden; the main north-south avenue of the city, called Suzaku-ôji, extended southward from this gate.
Other structures within the palace complex included the Imperial residences, known as the Dairi, agencies for governance and administration, known as the ''sôshi'', sites of national ceremonies, and ''teien'' (gardens), used for banquets. The complex was surrounded by large walls, and contained 12 gates in total.
==Today==
Ancient documents, extant artifacts, and archaeological research were taken into account in the rebuilding of the Suzakumon and Daigokuden. The latter was completed in time for considerable celebrations conducted in 2010, on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of Heijô/Nara having become the capital in 710. The rebuilt Daigokuden is 53.172 meters long from east to west, 28.653 meters from north to south, and 23.345 meters tall, atop a foundation platform that is 3.574 meters high. The whole thing is 29.014 meters high at its highest point (the golden ''[[shibi]]'' mounted on the roof).
No documentary sources survive indicating the interior appearance, but, based on what is known about the Chinese Imperial Palaces, and other related sites, it was painted mainly in red and blue-green, with images of lotuses, the twelve animals of the Chinese [[zodiac]], and the symbols of the [[Four Directions]]. The bluish-black tinge of roof tiles excavated at the site was recreated by painting the tiles in a loose black clay with a high concentration of iron, and then fired for around two days, at a temperature of around 1100 degrees. No signs of golden ''shibi'' - golden guardian fish adorning the roof - have been found in excavations, but as it is known they were quite standard at that time, ''shibi'' roughly two meters tall have been installed atop the reconstructed Daigokuden.
To the south of the Daigokuden, several slightly raised platforms of earth, ringed in stone, remain from the original palace construction. Circular base stones that once supported wooden pillars are visible, revealing the size and shape of the original palace buildings, which would have been constructed around a grid of evenly-spaced pillars, still a key element of Japanese traditional architecture today.
{{stub}}
==References==
*Plaques on-site.
==External Links==
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=%E5%B9%B3%E5%9F%8E%E5%AE%AE&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=34.691098,135.791917&spn=0.018878,0.042272&sll=34.414186,-119.859201&sspn=0.018941,0.042272&t=h&hq=%E5%B9%B3%E5%9F%8E%E5%AE%AE&radius=15000&z=15 Heijô Palace on Google Maps].
[[Category:Nara Period]]
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]