The Main Hall of the Xuanyuan Palace is located in Yangwan village, Dongshan Town, Wuzhong Disctrict, Suzhou. It was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Council of China in 2006.
Xuanyuan Palace, also called Yangwan Temple or Xuwang Temple at the beginning, was used to worship Wu Zixu who was the prime minister of Wu at that time. Since Ming and Qing Dynasty, the title of the palace had been changed frequently. The main hall of Xuanyuan Palace was built on the mountain facing Lake Taihu, splendid and powerful. The depth of the palace could hold nine purlins without ceilings or caissons, while the height of it is more than 10m measuring from the ground to the main ridge. “Yueliang-a moon shaped beam” and “Panjian-the crosspiece between two short columns of the beams” are kept in a complete shape, while there are traces of colored drawings on the ridge purlins and on the upper gold purlins of the central bay. The lower purlins of the central bay use broken materials, which is expertly designed. The main hall of the Xuanyuan Palace is firm in shape and has the characteristics of Southern Region of Yangtze River. There are prismatic columns in the palace with wooden drum as the bottom material. It also uses keratotic plugs as the “side feet” which lean to the center. Columns and bracket set need many materials. The crossbeams adopt True rising beams in the front while at back sideling supports at the top and bottom. All of these reflect the styles before Ming Dynasty, and provide material objects of the styles, the characteristics and the structures of architecture in south Yangtze River before Ming Dynasty.
