The Imperial Palace in Shenyang or Mukden, also known as the Imperial Palace of Shenyang ( Prosperous Capital ), is the palace built and used by the first two emperors of the Qing Dynasty ( 1616-1911 ) before the Manchus conquered and moved into China proper. The two emperor were Emperor Taizong known also as Huangtaiji. Emperor Shizu, better known as Emperor Shunzhi, had also spent some time here after acceding to the throne. Hence it has now a history of more than 360 years and along with the Forbidden City in Beijing is one of the only two imperial palaces that have been preserved to this day in China.
The palace is located in the center of the old quarter of the City of Shenyang. Consisting of some 300 chambers that form more than a dozen courtyards, the palace covers over 60 000 square metres. Enclosed by an imposing palace wall dominated by Daqing Gate in the center on the south side, the layout anf architecture of the palace suggest the power hierarchy of the Manchus and their life style, offering glimpses of certain aspects of the social conditions of the Qing regime in its early days. On the basis of the physical layout of the palace and the time different parts were built, we can divide the palace into three sectors, the central palace and the east and the west wing.

The east wing was built in the early days after Nurhachi made Shenyang his capital. The main palace hall. Which is called Da'Zheng'Dian or the Hall of Important State Affairs, looks onto an extensive square flanked on either side by a series of five pavilions which together are known as the Ten Pavilions of the Princes. This is a distinctive architectural feature among imperial palaces. The south-facing Hall of Important State Affairs which stands equidistant to the flanking pavilions is an eight-side wooden structure whose entrance is flanked by two pillars on each of which is a golden coiled dragon in the posture of rising skyward. All over the palace hall are exquisite carved designs of fairies, fiying clouds and flames, animals and Buddhist lotus vessels. Incorporating the architectural style of the Manchus as well as that of the Han and the Mongols, the palace hall is a well-proportioned architectural structure with a calm and measured outline. The eight-sided design is a symbol of the organization of the Manchus into eight qi's or banners.

A banner under the Qing regime was an integrated military and civilian organization or until foemed on the principles that "all are fighting men on an expedition and civilians back in the home region " and "till the land or go hunting when there is no war but join up when fighting breaks out ". In this way, the whole of the Manchu nation, irrespective of difference in social strata, was divided into what are known as the Eight Banners. In 1601 when the banners were first constituted under Nurhachi there were only four, namely,the Yellow Banner, the Red Banner, the Blue Banner, and the White Banner. Later, four more were added, namely, the Yellow-Bordered Banner, the Red-Bordered Banner, the Blue-Bordered Banner and the White-bordered Banner. Each of the eight was ruled by an official known as du'tong or military governor with Nurhachi himself as the supreme ruler.

Of the Ten Pavilions of the Princes, the first two, that is ,the two nearest to the Hall of Important State Affairs, were named Yi;Wang;Ting or Emperor Protection Pavilions where the supreme ruler presided over grand ceremonies or discussed state affairs with the princes and ministers. The eight others were where the military governors and princes discharged their duties. Each Emperor Protection Pavilion heads four other pavilions, which again signifies the existence of the Eight Qi's or Banners. The pavilions were simple and plain in design, yet looked impressively august. Emperor Renzong ( 1796-1821 ) had once celebrated the palace architecture in the following poem:

The hall Da'Zheng faces south in the center,

Flanked by the ten pavilions in the wings.

The eight banners all are lineal offspring,

In a single clan are gathered all colours.

The central palace begins with Daqing Gate in the south and ends with Qingning or Serenity and Peach Hall in the north. This part of the palace was an extension to the original palace built after Emperor Taizong was enthroned. In the first courtyard inside Daqing Gate stands Chong'Zheng'Dian or the Hall Where State Affairs Are Reverently Dealt With. Built in 1627, this was where Emperor Taizong granted audiences and discharged his daily duties. Compares with Dazheng Hall in the original palace, Chongzheng Hall certainly looks moer imposing and magnificent. In front of Chongzheng Hall are two pavilions, one on the east and one on the west, that are respectively named Flying Dragon and Soaring Phoenix. For the Qing emperors, Chongzheng Hall had a special significance as this was where Emperor Taizong formally proclaimed the adoption of the name Qing in place of the former Jin.

After Emperor Taizong succeeded in establishing a unified rule in northeast China, he held a grand ceremony in 1636 at which he proclaimed himself emperor. Before that, the rulers of the tribes in northern China called themselves as a rule khan, but Taizong decided to model his regime on the Chinese system and so called himself emperor. Not only did he change the name of the state to Qing in place of Jin but he also changed the name of his tribe from Nuzhen ( Jurchen ) to Man or Manchu. His decision to make the above-mentioned changes was ascribed by historians to his belief in what is known as the theory of wu'xing or the five fundamental modes of movement as represented by the five primary elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. As Jin was growing stronger and stronger with the unification of northeast China proper. However, according to the theory of the five primary elements,the name Ming can counteract the name Jin which means in Chinese gold or metal. The emperor of Ming had the surname Zhu. In the Chinese language, both ming and zhu connote "fire". According to the theory of the five primary elements, the five can reinforce or counteract each other and fire can overcome metal. Consequently Emperor Taizong changed the name of the stated to Qing and that of the tribe to Man both of which imply water which is the element that can overcome fire. In this way, he showed his determination to replace the Emperor of Ming with his own Emperor of Qing. After Taizong;'s son and successor Emperor Shizu succeesed in conquering Ming, the name Da' Qing or Great Qing was formally established. Only it has entered the annals of history as the name of the last feudal dynasty in China.

The third and last courtyard in the central palace was the residential quarters of the emperor. Built in accordance with the Manchu tradition of having the residential hall higher than the administrative hall, the courtyard resta on a pltform four metres in height. Designed as a Chinese-style quadrangle or si'he'yuan, the main residence hall here is Qingning or Serenity and Peace Hall with such side buildings as Guanwei Hall, Yougfu Hall, Linzhi Hall and Yanqing Hall where Emperor Taizong's five imperial concubines once lived. The empress, as expected, lived in Qingning Hall.

What is called Qingning Hall is actually a row a five chambers that communicate with each other with a covered corridor in front and at the back. The easternmost chamber which si divided by a partition wall into a southern chamber and a northern one was the bedroom of the emperor and the empress where there was an earthen bed or kang that could be heated during the cold seasons. In 1643, Emperor Taizong passed away on the earthen bed in the southern chamber. The four other chamber form one big hall which is surrounded on three sides with earthen beds. The floor is paved with huge square bricks that had been soaked with oil and then ground smooth. And stoves might be used in winter for added warmth. All these wrer typical features of housing in the frigid climate in the far north. At the western end of this big hall is a shrine before which are incense burners. There are also a large-size butchering table and two big cauldrons for cooking the animal sacrificed. It must be a unique practice of the Qing Dynasty and compared with all others to butcher and offer animals in sacrifice in the bed chamber of the emperor.

With the imperial household of Qing, sacrifices were offered three times a day. In the morning, at noon and in evening respectively. In addition, offerings were also presented in spring and autumn and other occasions. The sacrifices were as a rule offered in the direction of the west, and the ceremonies were officiated by a professional shaman called chama in Manchu who wore a special headgear and had small bells at the waist. During the ceremony, the chama held in his hand a single-faced drum and sang and danced at the same time. When the singing and dancing was over into the pig's war which, surprised and tortured scalding wine into the pain. This was known as lingsheng or pointing the way for the sacrificed animal. It was supposed that by virtue of this the pig had become a medium between the gods in heaven and humans on earth. After this, the pig was butchered and cooked and the meat was shared by all. This was known as chi'fu'rou or eating lucky meat.

In front of Qingning Hall near the southern end of the courtyard stands a spiritual post which the Manchua used traditionally to present offerings to heaven. Painted all red, the wooden post, square in the lower part and round towards the top, stands on a stone base with a tin container at the top. During the ceremony, coarse-ground rica and small pieces of pig innards were put in the tin container for cows and sparrows to come and eat and take up to heaven.

Why did the Manchus offer sacrifices to the crow? Story has it that long ago three fairy girls come down from heaven to bathe in the Lake of Heaven of the Changbai Mountain. The youngest of the three whose name id Fokulun accepts and eats a red berry carried to her by a little bird in its mouth. After this, she becomes pregnant and later gives birth to Aysinjoro Bukuliyongshun who is able to speak the moment he is born and grows quickly into a man. At the behest of his mother, he sails downstream in a raft and comes to a place known as Yilihada where he successfully stops an internecine war among three Manchu tribes and is voted the chieftain of all three. But his descendants begin to lead an extravagant and dissipated life, mercilessly exploiting and squeezing the people who then rise against the rulers and kill every one except young Fancha who somehow manages to get away. When the insurgents discover this, they start going after him in hot pursuit on horseback. As Fancha is running frantically in the wilds with the pursuers hot on his heels, he desperation, he lies down on a clump of weeds awaiting death. At this critical moment, a swarm of crows suddenly fly over and cover him up with their bodied. When the pursuers come near, they see crows everywhere but no sign of Fancha and in the clump of weeds only a decayed tree stump. Blaming each other for taking a tree stump for Fancha, the pursuers then leave the scene. In this way, Fancha is saved and with him the Aysinjoro clan which gradually thrives again. To show their gratitude to the crow for saving their common ancestor, the reigning household of Qing whose surname was Aysinjoro made it an inviolable practice to have a spiritual post set up before their residence for crows.

The west wing was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The centerpiece structure in this sector is Wen'Su'Ge or Tower of the Source of Culture which was one of the seven library towers in the country where what is known as Si'Ku'Quan'Shu or the Books of the Four Vaults of Classics, History, Philosophy and Literature were once kept. In 1772, Qianlong ordered the establishment of the Imperial Library of Books of the Four Vaults so as to collect together all the books published in the country. It took more than ten years to put together his imperial library which in the end consisted of more than 168 000 volumes, all emended and edited, that fell under four big divisions, namely, classics, history, philosophy, and collected works of literature. After this, seven hand-written copies of each book in the library were produced and kept respectively in Whenyuan Tower in the Imperial Palace in Beijing， Whenyuan Tower in Yuan'Ming'Yuan or the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. Wensu Tower in the Old Palace in Shenyang, Wenjin Tower in the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde, Wenzong Tower in Zhenjiang, Wenlan Tower in Hangzhou and Wenhui Tower in Yangzhou. Today the three libraries of Wenlan Tower, Wenjin Tower and Wensu Tower are still well preserved. To the rear of Wensu Tower in the west wing are such structures as the Yangxi Studio and the Nine-Chamber House which the emperor used as his study.

All through the history of Wing, almost every emperor had some personal things left in the Old Palace in Shenyang which so to say was the second most important storehouse of things that had been used by the imperial household, apart from the Forbidden City in Beijing. After the founding of the People's Repulic of China, the Old Palace was converted into the Palace Museum of Shenyang where there are on display a rich array of historical and cultural relics and valuable works of art, providing people with a rich and reliable suply of source materials for the study of the history and culture of the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty in especial.