Afang was originally just the name of the front hall of the imperial palace. Qin Shihuang originally planned to "rename it" after the entire imperial palace was completed. Because the palace was so large, even though hundreds of thousands of hard laborers participated in the construction work every day, the palace was still not completed until the fall of the Qin Dynasty. In this way, people called it Afang Palace. Why is this palace called "Afang"? There are different records in the past dynasties, and there are different opinions. There are mainly the following opinions:
The first opinion: Qin Wang Yingzheng fell in love with a Handan woman while living in Handan City. Named Afang, Emperor Qin wanted to make her his queen after he unified the world, but was opposed by the ministers because she was the daughter of Zhao. Afang hanged himself in order not to embarrass Ying Zheng. Emperor Qin named it Afang Palace in memory of the woman he loved deeply.
The second view: The name Afang is named after the palace site is close to Xianyang. "Ah, it's close, so it's close to Xianyang, so it's named Afang."
The third view: The name Afang is named according to the shape of the palace's "Si A Pang Guang". In ancient meaning, it can also be interpreted as Quchu, Quyu, Tingzhiqu, etc. The architectural structure of Epang Palace, which is "twirling and winding, with winding corridors and curved waists, and clustered around," embodies the style and characteristics of the "four Epangs". It is precisely because of this architectural style of Epang Palace that when explaining why the palace is called Epang Palace in the index of "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang", it is said: "This is the shape of the palace, which means that the palace is wide in all directions."
The fourth point of view: The reason why it is called Afang Palace is because the upper palace is so tall that it is as if it were a room in Afang Palace. This view comes from the "Hanshu Jiashan Biography". The annotation in the biography says: "Ah, Daling is also named Afang, which means that it is so high that the upper part is the house." This means that the Afang Palace is because of The palace was named after it was built on a large mausoleum. Judging from archaeological excavations, Epang Palace was built on a high platform, as stated in the "Book of Han".
The fifth point of view: "Chang'an Chronicle" explains that "A" is because the palace is adjacent to the mountain and has no name, so it was first called Afang. This statement comes from the "Historical Records" saying that before Afang is completed, Gong will be named after it is completed.