page_title: Heian Palace
section_title: Shishinden
hierarchical_section_title: Heian Palace / Inner Palace (Dairi) / Shishinden
caption_attribution_description: Kyoto
context_page_description: The Heian Palace was the original imperial palace of Heian-kyō, the capital of Japan, from 794 to 1227. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre of for most of the Heian period, was located at the north-central location of the city in accordance with the Chinese models used for the design of the capital.
  The palace consisted of a large rectangular walled enclosure, which contained several ceremonial and administrative buildings including the government ministries. Inside this enclosure was the separately walled residential compound of the emperor or the Inner Palace. In addition to the emperor's living quarters, the Inner Palace contained the residences of the imperial consorts, as well as certain official and ceremonial buildings more closely linked to the person of the emperor.
  The original role of the palace was to manifest the centralised government model adopted by Japan from China in the 7th century — the Daijō-kan and its subsidiary Eight Ministries. The palace was designed to provide an appropriate setting for the emperor's residence, the conduct of great affairs of state, and the accompanying ceremonies.
context_section_description: The largest building of the Dairi was the Throne Hall (紫宸殿, Shishinden), a building reserved for official functions. It was a rectangular hall measuring approximately 30 m (98 ft) east to west and 25 m (82 ft) north to south, and situated along the median north-south axis of the Dairi, overseeing a rectangular courtyard and facing the Shōmeimon gate. A tachibana orange tree and a cherry blossom tree stood symmetrically on both sides of the front staircase of the building. The courtyard was flanked on both sides by smaller halls connected to the Shishinden, creating the same configuration of buildings (influenced by Chinese examples) that was found in the aristocratic shinden style villas of the period. 
  The Shishinden was used for official functions and ceremonies that were not held at the Daigokuden of the Chōdō-in complex. It took over much of the intended use of the larger and more formal building from an early date, as the daily business of government ceased to be conducted in the presence of the emperor in the Daigokuden already at the beginning of the ninth century. Connected to this diminishing reliance on the official government procedures described in the Ritsuryō code was the establishment of a personal secretariat to the emperor, the Chamberlain's Office (蔵人所, Kurōdodokoro). This office, which increasingly took over the role of coordinating the work of government organs, was set up in the Kyōshōden (校書殿), the hall to the south-west of the Shishinden.
caption: The Shishinden of the present-day Kyoto Imperial Palace, built according to Heian period models
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