The Imperial Historical Archives is China’s oldest state archives. In the early century, it housed a copy of the Yongle Encyclopedia (Yongle Dadian) and later it was used to store important historical documents of the emperors such as the“True Narration”(Shilu),“Imperial Teaching” (Shengxun) and“Precious Records”(Yudie). A total of 152 cabinets of gold-plated camphor wood covered with a cloud and dragon design in copper are used to store the materials.

Situated on a north-south axis, the main building stands like a palace with its yellow glazed tiles. Not a single bit of wood went into the construction; the five-meter-thick wall and gate guarded by a stone ensure that the building is completely fireproof. This is the last of its kind, a Ming Dynasty architectural wonder, to be found in Beijing.