Imperial City
Beijing's Imperial city was built during the Yongle era (1402–1424). It was expanded northwards, eastwards, and southwards from the foundations the Imperial city of Dadu of the Yuan Dynasty as an expansion of the Forbidden city, which was solely for the use of the imperial family. It was rectangular in shape, except in the southwestern corner, which was the location of Qingshou Temple. The walls averaged 7 to 8 metres in height, and were 2 metres thick at the base and 1.7 metres at the top. It was painted red on the exterior, with glazed imperial yellow tiles at the top. It had a perimeter of 10.6 kilometres (north: 2,506 metres, south: 1,701 metres, east: 2,756 metres, west: 3,724 metres). There were seven gates (some sources count four, six, or eight gates), of which Tiananmen, Di'anmen, Dong'anmen, and Xi'anmen are the four referred to by the saying "Inner city nine gates, Outer city seven gates, Imperial city four gates (内九外七皇城四)".
The main central southern gate of the Imperial city was Damingmen. It was made of bricks, in imitation of the Forbidden city gates. Its base was of white marble in the Xumi foundation style. The gate tower was in the single-eaved Xieshanding style with glazed imperial yellow roof tiles. It had five pillars on the front, three archways at the centre, and white marble railings. Its name was changed to Daqingmen (大清門 "Great Qing Gate") in 1644, when the Manchu first entered Beijing, establishing the Qing dynasty. A white marble tablet on the gate had the name "Daqingmen" engraved in gold on an azure background. In 1912, when the Qing dynasty was overthrown and the Republic of China was established, the gate's name was changed to Zhonghuamen (中華門 "Gate of China"). The city planners decided to reuse the tablet and simply write the words "Zhonghuamen" on the reverse of the tablet. However, when it was taken down and flipped over, they discovered the words Damingmen (大明門 "Great Ming Gate") already appeared on the back of the tablet; it had already been re-used. A new tablet made of wood was created instead. In 1954, with the recommendation of Soviet city planners then working in Beijing, the gate was dismantled for the future Tiananmen Square. Its location is now the site of the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
Located southwest of Tiananmen, Chang'anzuomen is similar to Damingmen. It was also called "Qinglongmen" or "Longmen", meaning "Dragon Gate", because during the Ming and Qing dynasties, results of the imperial examinations were posted on this gate. Successfully passing the examinations would result in a person entering the Forbidden city to work in imperial bureaucratic positions, normally forbidden to commoners. It was dismantled in 1952 when the Chang'an Avenue was expanded.
Located southeast of Tiananmen, Chang'anyoumen was similar to Damingmen. It was also called "Baihumen" or "Humen", meaning "Tiger Gate", because during the Ming and Qing dynasties, prisoners were executed just west of this gate. It was dismantled in 1952 when the Chang'an Avenue was expanded.
Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace"), originally called Chengtianzhimen, was renamed during the Qing dynasty. It was located at the midpoint of the southern wall of the Imperial city. The Daming Huidian (the collected statutes of the Ming dynasty) refer to it as the main gate of the Imperial city. Tiananmen is one of several gates that lined up on a north-south axis at the main entrance to the Forbidden city. Its platform is 13 metres high. It has a white marble base of Xumi style and five archways. The gate tower was built in multi-eaved Xieshanding style with glazed imperial yellow roof tiles. It is nine rooms by five rooms (originally five rooms by three rooms during the early Ming dynasty) and 33.7 metres high. It was completely reconstructed in 1958 and subsequently repaired on several occasions.
Duanmen was located directly north of Tiananmen. It was similar to Tiananmen. It can be seen as an outer gate of Wumen, which was the main entrance to the Forbidden City. This conforms to the Rites of Zhou's five gate rule's "Zhimen" or "Kumen".
Dong'anmen was located slightly south of the midpoint of the Imperial city's eastern wall. Single-eaved Xieshanding style with glazed imperial yellow roof tiles, it was seven rooms by three rooms, and had three archways, each fitted with a pair of red-painted golden-nailed doors. It was destroyed by fire in 1912 during Cao Kun's insurrection against Zhang Xun. In 2001 the site was cleared to become the Beijing Imperial City Site Park.
Xi'anmen was located slightly north of the midpoint of the Imperial city's western wall. It was similar to Dong'anmen. It was accidentally burnt down on 1 December 1950. A smaller version of the gate tower was built on its original site, using the same materials of the original gate tower, as a commemoration.
Beianmen was located at the central axis of the Imperial city's northern wall. The north gate of the Imperial city, it was commonly referred to as "Houzaimen" during the Ming dynasty. It was renamed "Di'anmen" during the Qing dynasty. It was similar to Dong'anmen, but slightly bigger in scale. It was dismantled between 1954 and 1956.
Read more about this topic: Beijing City Fortifications
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