The mainstream view is that it should be pronounced pá ng gō ng. In ancient times, "A" refers to the winding place at the foot of the mountain, and there is no objection to reading "A". And "room" is "side", so it's time to read páng.
the origin of the name
afang was originally just the name of the front hall of the imperial palace, and Qin Shihuang intended to "choose another name" after the whole imperial palace was completed. Because the scale of the palace is too large, although hundreds of thousands of hard laborers participated in the construction work every day, it was still not completed until the demise of the Qin Dynasty. In this way, people call it Epang Palace. Why is this palace called "Afang"? There are different opinions in the past dynasties, and there are mainly the following viewpoints:
The first viewpoint: Ying Zheng, king of Qin, lived in Handan City and fell in love with a Handan woman named Afang. After the Qin Emperor unified the world, he wanted to make her his wife, but he was opposed by all the ministers because she was Zhao. Epang hanged himself in order not to embarrass Ying Zheng. Qin Huang named Epang Palace in memory of the woman he loved deeply.
The second view: A Fang is named after the palace site is close to Xianyang. "Ah, it's near, so it's near to Xianyang, and it's called Afang."
The third view: A Fang is named after the shape of the palace "Four A Pang Guang". Ah, in the ancient meaning, it can also be interpreted as Qu Chu, Qu Yu, Qu Ting, etc. The architectural structure of Epang Palace, which is "coiled, arched and surrounded by flexion", embodies the style and characteristics of "four rooms and wide rooms".
It is precisely because of this architectural style of Epang Palace that when explaining why this palace is called Epang Palace in the index of Historical Records of Qin Shihuang, he said: "This palace is famous for its shape, and it is said that its palace is four sides and wide."
the fourth view: it is called epang palace because the upper palace is high and majestic, and if it is located in Ashang, it will be a room. This view comes from the biography of Hanshu Jia Shan, in which the annotation says: "A Zhe, Da Ling Ye, was named A Fang, which means that A Shang is a house." That is to say, Epang Palace was named because the palace was built on Daling. According to archaeological excavations, the Epang Palace was built on a high platform, as stated in Hanshu.
the fifth viewpoint: The Annals of Chang 'an is interpreted as "A" because the palace is adjacent to the mountain and is unknown, so it is called Afang first. This statement comes from the "Historical Records", which says that before Afang is completed, Gong Cheng will be named.
Extended information:
Afang
"Afang", namely "Acheng". Located on the rammed earth foundation of the front hall of Epang Palace, it is the outer wall of the front hall and its affiliated buildings, which was constructed before the front hall. When the pedestal of the front hall of Afang was rammed, the fence was first built on the north and the east and west edges.
subsequently, the generous and solid north wall became the foundation for the construction of "Afang". At the western end of the ruins of the front hall of Epang Palace, there are villages called "Big Ancient City" and "Small Ancient City". Its location shows that "Acheng" is outside the "Qiandian" and inside the "Epang Palace".
the reason why Acheng has walls on three sides and no walls on the south is related to construction skills and political situation. From the engineering point of view, it is an important principle to arrange reasonably and improve the timeliness. Building "Acheng" is one of the contents of the design. It is not only the previous process of "Afang", but also convenient for site management.
"There is no wall in the south", which means leaving a passage for people, materials, etc. When the "Afang Qiandian" is built and the gate is completed, the south wall is closed. Unfortunately, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, in troubled times, the Epang Palace project was forced to be abandoned, and naturally there was no south wall.
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