Friends who are familiar with history and palace fighting dramas must be familiar with the Three Palaces and Sixth Courtyard. They have also heard of the three names of East Palace, West Palace and Middle Palace, and know that in different dynasties, this palace The people living in the three palaces are also different. The reason why there is no South Palace and North Palace is because these three palaces neither refer to the location nor the names of the palaces, but refer to the prince, concubines and queen. However, Nangong and Beigong have no names that can be used to refer to them, so naturally they have not left any traces in history.
First of all, the East Palace mainly refers to the prince's palace, and it also used to refer to the residence of the empress dowager and the concubines in the harem. The East Palace is also called Spring Palace or Green Palace because of the character "东" in it, which means it is spring and its color is green. Some historical works show that during the Zhou Dynasty, there were records of the prince's residence being called the East Palace. During the Western Han Dynasty, the Empress Dowager's palace was also called the East Palace. Until the Tang Dynasty, the Empress Dowager's palace gradually became the epitome of the residence of the prince, that is, the prince.
The West Palace was usually the representative of the concubines in the harem in ancient times. "Spring Resentment in the West Palace" by a Tang Dynasty poet describes the sorrow of the concubines living in the deep palace, and also shows that the West Palace was another name for the residence of the concubines at that time. However, due to different dynasties, the people living in the West Palace are also different. For example, the Taiji Palace in the Tang Dynasty refers to the West Palace, and the West Palace in the Qing Dynasty refers to the Xianfu Palace, Chuxiu Palace, and Yikun Palace.
The middle palace specifically refers to the residence of the queen after the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it does not refer to just any palace. For example, the middle palaces of the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty were also different. In the Western Han Dynasty, they were Weiyang Palace and Jiaofang Palace, while in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were Changqiu Palace. In the Ming Dynasty, it referred to Kunning Palace and Jingyang Palace. In the Qing Dynasty, it was Changchun Palace, so all the queen's bedrooms can be collectively called the Middle Palace.
The East Palace, West Palace and Middle Palace often appear in historical works and other literary works. From the point of reference, they are not the names of a certain palace, but representatives of the prince, concubines and queens in history. With nothing to refer to, Nangong and Beigong have no meaning of existence. In addition, there is also a saying that the emperor sat north and faced south, and the north and south directions were used for walking and were not suitable for building palaces. Of course, this view is just a family opinion.