In the historic core of Shiping Old Town, Yunnan, the former Sanyuan Palace preserves the memory of an important Taoist site within the old Zhouhoupu neighborhood. The palace was built in 1560 during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and completed in 1561. It was initiated and funded by Wang Shi, also known as Wang Shouxiang, a local scholar who was eighty-five years old at the time. The palace was established as a place for the people of Shiping to offer prayers and seek blessings and peace.

The former palace once stood in Zhouhoupu, one of the nine administrative neighborhoods of the historic walled town. Its presence gave the present-day Sanyuan Street its name. Historical records describe Sanyuan Palace as a Taoist institution dedicated to the Three Officials—the Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, and Water Official—who were traditionally associated with granting blessings, absolving sins, and relieving misfortune.

Today, the original Sanyuan Palace no longer survives as a complete architectural complex. Fragments associated with the site also retain traces of its historical building history. A wooden box dated 1919 bears the inscription “Zhouhoupu Sanyuan Palace,” indicating its connection with the palace during the Republic of China period. Bricks incorporated into the surviving old walls include one inscribed with “Made in Shiping Prefecture in the Bing Shen year of Wanli,” corresponding to 1596, and another associated with the reconstruction of Shiping's city walls in 1626. These surviving materials provide tangible evidence of the reuse of historical building components within the old town.