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| Kingto—Tour in Beijing >> Beijing City
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Beijing City Gate
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In the city’s long history, the earliest walls
were built in Zhongdu, capital of the Jin
Dynasty. At that time more than one million
civilians and soldiers toiled for three years to
expand the old Liao capital, taking Bianliang
(now Kaifeng), capital of the Northern Song
Dynasty, as the model. According to Ming Dynasty
survey records, the Jin city walls had a
perimeter of about 18 kilometers.
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Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty
destroyed the Jin capital. The sumptuous
palaces were set ablaze, the fires
burning for more than a month.In 1624,
Yuan rulers abandoned the site of the
former Jin capital and constructed a new
city known as Dadu,centered in the Jin
emperor’s
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palaces. The new city walls, with a
perimeter of 30 kilometers, measured
21.6 meters at the base and 16.7 meters
at the top. This was the embryonic form
of present–day Beijing.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming
emperor, attacked and captured the Yuan
capital Dadu and established his new
capital at Nanjing. His son Zhu Di
renamed Beiping (Northern Peace) Beijing
(Northern Capital) in 1403, and in 1421
officially made it the capital of China.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, plans
were made for a new encircling wall
outside the old walls. Work was begun on
the southern city wall, but lack of
finances brought work to a halt at the
completion of the eastern and western
corner towers. This resulted in a
truncated pyramidal shape for the inner
and outer cities.
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Economic construction and
development since 1949 has
necessitated the gradual
demolition of the city walls.
Twenty–eight radial roads
connect the city center and
suburban scenic areas, factories
and schools. The old city walls
remain only in name; row after
row of multi – story buildings
have already been built on their
ruins. |
The
standing city gates, however, are
wonderful reminders of the past. Not
counting the Hepingmen (Peace) Gate, the
Fuxingmen (Rejuvenation) Gate and the
Jianguomen (National Foundation) Gate,
the city of Beijing at one time had 20
gates. Today, the four gates of the
Forbidden City–Meridian Gate (Wumen),
Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwumen) and
East and West Flowery Gates (Donghuamen
and Xihuamen) still retain their
original form. Of the gates in the old
inner walls, only the southern gate,
Zhengyangmen, remains intact.
Originally, the outer side if each
city gate was frontier by
fortifications. An essential part of the
overall city plan, they took the form of
secondary gate towers just outside the
gates. Connected to the main city wall
by semi–circular curtain–walls, they
resembled earth ware jars and were known
as “urn walls” (wengcheng). Xizhimen is
an example of a square “urn wall.”
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The main function of the “urn
walls” was to strengthen defense
capabilities of the garrison
troops protecting the city. “Urn
towers” on top afforded
protection to archers inside
while allowing them to shoot
freely. In the event of a
surprise attack, the main gates
were quickly closed to prevent
the enemy from entering the
city.
When the |
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defense prepared for an
engagement with the enemy, they
first concentrated their forces
within the “urn walls.” If the
enemy entered the “urn walls,”
they became an easy target for
the troops at the main city
gate. There were usually one or
two temples within the “urn
walls,” where people used to
pray to the gods for protection.
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