Palace

The Chinese word for "palace" is gong which, however, may refer to anyone of several different things. In the earliest Chinese writing it meant no more than an ordinary house. After the founding of the Qin Dynasty (211-206 B.C.), gong came gradually to emperor lived and worked. From about the same time, the Chinese palace grew ever larger in scale. The Efanggong (or Epanggong, according to the purists) of the First Emperor of Qin, according to an authoritative source, measured"5 li (21/2 km) from east to west and 1,000 paces from north to south." The Weiyanggong of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 25 A.D.) had, within a periphery of 11 kilometers. The Forbidden City of Beijing, which still stands intact and which served as the imperial palace for both Ming and Qing emperors (1368-1911), covers an area of 720,000 square meters and embraces many halls, towers, pavilions and studies, measured as 9,900 bays. It is one of the greatest palaces still existing in the world. In short, the gong grew into a veritable city and is often called gongcheng (palace city).

Apart from the palace, other abodes of the emperor are also called gong. So, the Yiheyuan Park used to be the Chengde and the Huaqingchi thermal spa near Xi'an both were xinggong or "palace-on-tour". Then there is another type of gong called zhaigong, where is one such zhaigong on the grounds of Beijing's Temple of Heaven.

Inside a great gong, certain individual building may also be called gong. The Qing emperors used to live at Qianqinggong(Palace of Heavenly Purity) in the Foridden City, whereas the living quarters of the empresses were at Kunninggong (Palace of Fenale Tranquility). The imperial concubines of various ranks inhabited the six gong or palace quadrangles on either side of the central axis of the Forbidden City. When the monaichs or their spouses died, they were buried in digong (underground palaces). The name gong is also used for religious buildings of great dimensions. The Potala Palace in Lhasa is a gong to the Chinese; the lama temples of Taoist priests are generally called Sanqinggong (palace of triple purity). 

For thousand of years in ancient China, the word gong was reserved exclusively for naming imperial and religious buildings. With the passage of time and political changes, many of the old "gong" have been opened to the general public for sightseeing. Furthremore, a number of buildings have been named "gong" or palace. For instance, Taimiao or the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing has been renamed the "Working People's Palace of Culture". On West Chang An Jie, a comparatively new building serves as the "Cultural Palace of National Minorities". Similar gong or palaces have been built in many cities of the country for the cultural, scientific and recreational activities respectively for workers, youth and children.