The ruins of the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province Photo: VCG

An archaeological excavation at the ruins of the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, was officially announced on Saturday, signaling a significant new chapter in the study of China's ancient capitals. This initiative, which will start at the end of July 2025 and be jointly organized by the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Nanjing City Wall Management Office, and the Nanjing Archaeological Institute, is the first research-driven and proactively initiated excavation project at the site with a clearly defined academic focus.

Zhou Xueying, a professor with the School of History at Nanjing University, said that the excavation in Nanjing will not only advance the understanding of the city's own history but also shed new light on the origin and development of Beijing's Forbidden City, which was modeled after its Nanjing predecessor.

The imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, once the centerpiece of the early imperial capital, occupies a unique place in the history of Chinese city planning and imperial architecture. The Nanjing palace complex was laid out as a double-walled, square fortress, comprising both an inner imperial city and an outer royal city, becoming the model for the construction of Beijing's Forbidden City, the imperial palace built in 1420 after the third emperor Zhu Di moved Ming Dynasty's capital to Beijing. Despite more than six centuries of war and urban transformation, the site remains a testament to the grandeur of ancient Chinese palace design.

Most of the palace's above-ground structures were lost to conflict and development, with only scattered architectural remnants - such as stone bases and column foundations - hinting at the original scale and craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty complex, the Yangtse Evening News reported. In the past decades, modern buildings have sprung up across much of the former palace grounds, leaving only the core area relatively undisturbed.

Recognizing the urgent need for systematic research and preservation, the latest excavation is centered on identifying the precise locations, layouts, and construction features of the palace's three main halls: the Fengtian Hall, Huagai Hall, and Jinshen Hall. According to the official plan, dig sites have been selected within the Ming Palace Ruins Park - specifically to the west of the presumed location of the Huagai Hall. 

The project adheres to principles of axial symmetry and minimal intervention, aiming to both reveal the hall's preservation status and gather crucial data on its spatial organization and building techniques. The excavation is scheduled to run from late July till the end of December, the cultural and tourism bureau of Nanjing also confirmed to the Global Times. 

Of the three main halls, the Huagai Hall holds particular historical significance. Completed in September 1367, it became the site where Zhu Yuanzhang - the founder of the Ming Dynasty - ascended the throne in January 1368, proclaiming the new era of Hongwu. The architectural legacy of the Huagai Hall extended far beyond Nanjing; it served as the prototype for the Zhonghe Hall in Beijing's Forbidden City, a name and function retained into the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), according to the Yangtse Evening News.

Historical records describe the Huagai Hall as a square, single-eaved, and four-cornered structure standing 19 meters high, with a floor area of 580 square meters. It featured three bays and was topped with a pyramidal roof. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the hall and the later Zhonghe Hall functioned as the emperors' resting place before major state ceremonies and as a venue for reviewing ritual documents, seeds, and agricultural tools ahead of important sacrifices.

This ambitious excavation is expected to yield significant findings about the construction, organization, and preservation of the Ming Palace's core buildings. Zhou told the Global Times that the project will not only advance research and conservation of the Nanjing Ming Palace site but also provide invaluable comparative data for studies of Beijing's Forbidden City. By shedding light on the foundations of China's imperial capitals, the project will deepen understanding of the evolution of palace architecture and city planning during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

This excavation allows for the expansion and improvement of the existing Ming Palace Ruins Park, further supporting Nanjing's efforts to apply for World Cultural Heritage status for the Ming City Wall, Liu Zheng, a member of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, told the Global Times.

In recent years, archaeological discoveries related to the Ming Palace have surfaced from time to time. Notably, during the road widening and renovation project of a street in Nanjing, a section of a north-south-oriented city wall was uncovered. In December 2024, this was confirmed to be part of the eastern wall of the imperial city of the Ming Palace, the Xinhua News Agency reported.