The Ganquan Palace or Sweet Spring Palace (Chinese: 甘泉宫; pinyin: Gānquán Gōng) was a Qin dynasty (221–207 BCE) imperial palace with later additions by Emperor Wu of Han in 138 BCE. It was a temporary imperial residence (离宫, lígōng) outside the capital, which was Xianyang for the Qin and Chang'an for the Han.[1] Its ruins are located in Chunhua County, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China. It is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Ganquan Palace
甘泉宫
History
FoundedQin dynasty (221 – 207 BCE)

The Book of Han records that in 121 BCE when General Huo Qubing defeated the armies of the Xiongnu prince of Xiutu (休屠, in modern-day Gansu), he "captured a golden (or gilded) man used by the King of Xiutu to worship Heaven".[2] The statues were later moved to the Yunyang 雲陽 Temple, near the royal summer Ganquan palace in the capital of Xianyang:[2]

漢武帝將其部眾討凶奴,並獲得二金(人),(各)長丈餘,刊〔列〕之於甘泉宮,帝(以)為大神,常行拜褐時
Emperor Han Wudi directed his troops to fight the Xiongnu and obtained two golden statues that he displayed in the Ganquan Palace and regularly worshipped.

— Book of Han, and Inscription of Cave 323 in the Mogao caves

References

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  1. ^ Yù Hǎi (zh:玉海) Scroll 155 written during the Southern Song dynasty
  2. ^ a b Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 4–6. ISSN 0082-5433.