Wanshou Palace rises from ruins to reclaim cultural, commercial status

Renovation plans

The architectural grandeur of the original Wanshou Palace earned acclaim from overseas missionaries.

In April 1595, Italian Matteo Ricci visited the palace in Nanchang while on his way to Nanjing in Jiangsu province for missionary work. In a letter to a friend, he described the palace as "magnificent, both inside and out, filled with merchants, as if there were trade fairs every day; it was very lively".

In China, sites relating to folk beliefs often served as gathering places for merchants as well as venues for cultural exchanges, Mei said.

This reflects the evolution, commercial development, traditional customs, and grassroots culture of a city as showcased by Wanshou Palace, he added.

The Wanshou Palace commercial district — located 1.2 kilometers from Tengwang Pavilion and a short walk to the Ganjiang River — leveraged strategic land and water links to develop a vibrant cargo network, cementing its status as a commercial hub, according to the Nanchang County Chronicle.