Danfeng Gate of Daming Palace
Danfeng Gate is the south gate on the central axis of the Daming Palace of the Tang Dynasty. It is 200 meters long from east to west. Its length, quality and specifications are the longest among the city gates in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, reflecting its various dignity and atmosphere. Royal style. Its regulation and scale are both the highest among the capital gates. It is of great value to the study of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty and the archeology of Chinese capitals. It is hailed as "the first gate in the prosperous Tang Dynasty" by the cultural relics and archeology circles.
The Danfeng Gate has been in use for more than 240 years. It faces the Hanyuan Hall in the north, and there is an imperial road more than 600 meters long between the two. Danfeng Gate was first built in the second year of Longshuo (662), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. During the large-scale construction of Daming Palace, it was built on the southern wall of Daming Palace, that is, the eastern section of the north wall of Chang'an City. In the second year of Emperor Suzong's reign (757), it was renamed "Mingfengmen" and soon renamed "Danfengmen". Since its completion, Danfeng Gate has become the main passage for the emperors of the Tang Dynasty to enter and exit the palace, and it has the highest standard among the gates of the Daming Palace. There is a tall gate tower on Danfeng Gate, which was an important place for the emperors of the Tang Dynasty to hold grand ceremonies in foreign dynasties such as enthronement, amnesty announcement and Yuan Dynasty reform. The Danfeng Gate site is located in the north of Ziqiang East Road in Xi'an City. During the excavation in 2005, it was measured that the gate pier was 74.5 meters long from east to west and 33 meters wide from north to south. It had a five-hole doorway, each doorway was 8.5 meters wide, and there was a stone threshold in the middle. It is consistent with the record in historical records that "Fengmen has five openings and ten openings and closings". A horse path 3.5 meters wide and 54 meters long was built on both sides of the pier and inside the palace city for climbing the city.
In October 2010, the Danfengmen Site Protection and Exhibition Project was officially completed and opened to the public. The interior is set up with a multimedia display of Daming Palace and Danfeng Gate on the first floor, a cultural relic display area of Daming Palace on the east side of the second floor, and a viewing platform for the Danfeng Gate ruins on the west side.