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The Chinese Character, an Interpretable Chinese Culture

"Gong" (宫) is a pictographic character that looks like a house in the oracle bone inscriptions, with small frames inside representing interconnected small caves. In the cave period, caves were used as houses - in other words, the places people lived in. So the character “gong” was initially a general term for houses and rooms in ancient times. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, "gong" meant "palace" - the place where the emperor lived. It also referred to divinities' dwelling place, as in the phrases like "Penglai Gong" (meaning "Penglai Palace"), "tian gong" (meaning "celestial palace"), "gong shen" (meaning "palace guards" - door gods guarding celestial palaces), and so on. A palace is usually a building complex where the emperor used to handle state affairs and live. It is magnificent and rigorously laid out, fully demonstrating monarchical power. Palaces are the largest-scale buildings representing the highest level of Chinese architecture.

Palace Lanterns

A palace lantern is the illuminator hanging on the beam of a big hall. It is usually big in size and embedded with painted silk or glass...
Penglai Palace

Penglai Palace is the dwelling place of immortals. In ancient Chinese mythology, Penglai Mountain was one of the three divine mountains...