The Shenyang Palace Museum，Witnessing the Transition from Ming to Qing
The Shenyang Palace Museum，as the place is now called，was built by the founder of the Manchu-Qing，Nurhachi，and his son，Huangtaiji（Abahai）。
It was used as an official palace by Manchu rulers.A previous capital of the Manchus had been in Liaoyang，but in 1625 Nurhachi decided to move to Shenyang andbuilding of the new palace was begun.The complex has over one hundred buildings containing more than 500 rooms.It occupies 670，000 square meters in the center of the old part of Shenyang.The buildings inside the palace are well preserved and this constitutes China’s second most important grouping of palace halls after thePalaceinBeijing.AftertheManchu-ruledQing（1644–1911）moved the capital to Beijing，the palace in Shenyang was renamed and became a subsidiary capital palace.Its architectural style carried on the traditions of ancient Chinese architecture，melding Han，Manchu，and Mongolian arts into one entity.Historically invaluable，in2005 the Shenyang Palace successfully applied for world cultural heritage site status.
The Chongzheng Hall is the center of the Palace complex.A central axis follows the line from the Daqing Gate to the Qingning Palace，dividing the palace into three parts that run north-south.The central line of thepalacecontainsitsprimarybuildings，with t h e Chongzheng Hall as its core，where the Emperor managed affairs of state.Various other buildings are secondary to its grandeur.In the rear are the Phoenix Tower and various buildings that housed the royal concubines.The eastern line of buildings has a Great Governing Hall as the main focus，with subsidiary pavilionsforRight-and Left-Wing Princes and the Eight Banners.These are also known as the Ten Princely Pavilions.Right and Left in the Manchu heritage referred respectively to West and East，since the worldview of the Manchu faced southward.These buildings symbolized the establishment of rule by the Eight Banners prior to moving“south through the pass”and taking over China.The complex is the only remaining trace of the legacy of the Eight-banner military rule in the architecture of the palace.The Great Governing Hall was used for large ceremonies，such as promulgating imperial edicts，announcing that the army would be moving out on a campaign，receiving the triumphant return of troops and their officers，and enthroning a new emperor.The Ten Princely Pavilions were where the Right and Left-Wing Princes and the Eight Banner heads conducted affairs.This practice of having princes and officials actually work together inside the palace was rare.The Great Hall and the subsidiary Princely Halls form a shape that derives from the Tent Palaces of nomadic tribes.These eleven buildings are in fact the symbolic representation of eleven royal tents：tents are mobile，they can be transferred from one place to another，whereas these Halls and Pavilions are fixed in place.The western line of buildings are anchored by a pavilion called the Wensu Pavilion.Subsidiary buildings include one in which the emperor read the Siku Quanshu（complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature），an encyclopedic collection of Chinese classical works.
Items exhibited in the Shenyang Palace Museum have primarily been passed down in history from the old Palace，such as the sword of Nurhachi，the“waist-dagger”of Abahai，a deer-horn chair，and so on.In addition，invaluable paintings from masters of both the Ming and Qing dynasties are exhibited here.