Mukden Palace

The Shenyang Imperial Palace was begun in 1625 by Nurhaci and completed under his son Hong Taiji, serving as the seat of the Later Jin and then the Qing before the dynasty moved to Beijing in 1644. It is much smaller than the Forbidden City, around sixty thousand square metres, but architecturally more interesting in one respect: it shows Manchu and Mongol forms before they were absorbed into Chinese imperial convention, notably the Dazheng Hall, an octagonal pavilion in tent form, flanked by ten pavilions for the banner princes in an arrangement that recalls a nomadic camp rather than a Chinese court. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 as an extension of the Forbidden City listing.

History

Nurhaci, founder of the Later Jin dynasty, began the palace in 1625, his successor Hong Taiji added buildings by 1631, and the first three Qing emperors lived here until the dynasty took Beijing in 1644, after which it became a regional palace; the Qianlong Emperor enlarged it in 1780, and later Qing emperors usually stayed here for some time each year. A museum opened in the palace in 1928, and in 1955 it became the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum. In 2004 it was added to the World Heritage List as an extension of the Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, together with the Forbidden City (Wikipedia, Mukden Palace).

What's there

• Dazheng Hall - the octagonal tent-form hall with the ten banner pavilions.
• The Manchu layout - a palace plan reflecting nomadic camp organisation.
• The Qingning Palace - Hong Taiji's residence with a shamanic altar.
• The collections - Qing furnishings, weapons and imperial objects.

When to go

May to October; Shenyang winters are severely cold and the courtyards exposed. Weekends bring domestic visitors. The complex is compact enough for two to three hours.

What to expect

It is far smaller than Beijing's Forbidden City and visitors expecting comparable scale are disappointed. English interpretation is limited. Shenyang is an industrial city with modest tourist infrastructure.

Nearby

The Zhaoling and Fuling Qing tombs are elsewhere in the city; Qianshan lies south.

Key facts