The Political Space Construction and Historical Writing of the Xingqing Palace in Chang‘an City of Tang Daynasty

The layout of Xingqing Palace had two special features: the front gate was westward and the palace was divided into northern and southern division.Tang Xuanzong‘s purpose was searching the omens foreshadowing his accession to the throne,so he paid more attention to the Dragon Pond in the southern division,which had omens such as Tianzi qi(“天子气”) and yellow dragon.In order to publicize the friendship between Tang Xuanzong and his brothers,and model his virtue,Tang Xuanzong built the Hua‘e xinanghui Building(“花萼相辉楼”) at the western-southern corner of Xingqing Palace.In the middle and late of Kaiyuan period,the political function of Hua‘e xinanghui building weakened ,and the important role it played was replaced by Qinzhengwuben Building(“勤政务本楼”).In the late of Kaiyuan and the early of Tianbao period,as the real image of Li Er was placed in the Datong Palace,the northern division became more important than the southern division.The Xingqing Palace can‘t played the role of palace by itself,so Tang Xuanzong built the Jiacheng(“夹城”) between the two palaces,which interlinked the Xingqing Palace,Taiji Palace and Daming Palace.In the opinion of Northern Song historians,the Xingqing Palace was a imperial palace of Chang‘an.In the opinion of some Southern Song historians,the Xingqing Palace was a temporary abode,which was open to discussion and not accepted by historians of later dynasties.