佛祖歷代通載 12.56

12.56

（二十五　丙戌）　歸政於帝。帝固辭。后乃臨朝○始建明堂。貞觀五年欲建明堂。勅孔頴達等十人定議制度。不成乃止。天皇永徽三年。宣問無式樣。群儒執議不定又止。乾封至三年。下詔又令群儒取議。復不克定而止焉。天后垂拱二年。又取議群儒創制。垂拱四年正月五日功畢。其制凡高二百九十四尺。東西南北各三百尺。而有三層。下設四方。中十二辰。上設二十四氣。鑄銕為槽。二十四步為辟雍之水。造舟為梁以通道路。與前代制度有別。夏曰世室。殷曰垂屋。周曰明堂也。

(25. Bingxu [686 CE]) She returned the government to the Emperor. The Emperor firmly declined, and so the Empress held court. ○ The Mingtang (Bright Hall) was first constructed. In the fifth year of Zhenguan, there was a desire to build the Mingtang; an imperial decree ordered Kong Yingda and ten others to deliberate and establish the design, but as it could not be completed, it was halted. In the third year of Tianhuang's Yonghui era, an inquiry was made, but there was no blueprint; the Confucian scholars' debates could not be resolved, so it was halted again. In the Qianfeng era down to the third year, an edict again ordered the Confucian scholars to deliberate, but again it could not be settled and was halted. In the second year of the Empress of Heaven's Chuigong era, she again took up the deliberations of the Confucian scholars to create the design. On the fifth day of the first month of the fourth year of Chuigong, the work was completed. Its structure had a total height of two hundred and ninety-four feet, each of the four directions measuring three hundred feet, and it consisted of three tiers: the lower layer represented the four directions, the middle represented the twelve terrestrial branches, and the upper represented the twenty-four solar terms. Iron was cast into channels, with the waters of the circular moat (piyong) measuring twenty-four paces; boats were constructed as bridges to allow passage for roads. It differed from the designs of former dynasties: under the Xia it was called the Worldly Chamber (Shishi); under the Yin it was called the Overhanging Roof (Chuiwu); and under the Zhou it was called the Bright Hall (Mingtang).