In 1567, during the Longqing era of the Ming Dynasty, the Naxi chieftain Mu Dong ordered the construction of Dajue Palace as part of his family's Shuhe Courtyard. Today, this timber-frame structure on Zhonghe Road in Shuhe Ancient Town houses the Lijiang Ancient Tea Horse Road Museum. Visitors entering the south-facing courtyard encounter a white marble flowerbed where Ming Dynasty plum and sweet osmanthus trees still grow, casting shadows on the stone floor.

Dajue Palace covers an area of 290.30 square meters and is 7 kilometers away from the old town.Inside the main hall, which spans fifty-seven square meters under a single-eave gable-and-hip roof, the air is quiet and dim. The post-and-beam timber frame supports beams decorated with openwork carvings of birds and flora. On the east and west walls, six surviving mural panels cover twenty-one square meters. Painted during the Wanli era under Chieftain Mu Zeng, these works are historically attributed to the Jiangnan artist Ma Xiaoxian.

The murals merge Han, Tibetan, and Naxi Dongba artistic styles. Ma Xiaoxian used a mineral-color palette and a technique called gold-relief to give the deities a raised, tactile texture. On the west wall, the bodhisattva Manjushri sits in quiet contemplation, while the east wall displays Samantabhadra. Nearby, the eighteen arhats appear alongside guardian deities, their smooth linework still visible after four centuries.

The palace has adapted to changing times. During the Republic of China era, the sound of chanting sutras was replaced by the voices of children when the courtyard buildings became classrooms for Shuhe Primary School. Today, the space preserves the memory of the trade caravans that traveled the tea routes. The museum displays leather crafts from the local cobblers and artifacts from the horse caravans. The structure remains a quiet sanctuary where the scent of ancient plum blossoms meets the silent gaze of painted deities.