| Qianmen
"Front Gate"
other
sites in Beijing |
Beijing, China |
Click for a south-facing
panorama
Click for a northward
panorama
Click on an image
to enlarge
Qianmen is the modern name for the gate south of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Originally named Zhengyangmen (The Gate of Straight Positivity), the gate lies on the same north-south axis as the imperial path through the Forbidden City, and it was the route the emperor took when he went to Tiantan (The Altar of Heaven), in the outer city, to make offerings. It is a double gate and the smaller south gate is closed to the public, but the north gate has a very interesting museum on the history of Old Beijing. One of the more interesting things that is has is a model of the city during Qing times.
The old
city gates had a standardized design: two towers with a walled courtyard
in between. Except for Zhengyangmen, the outer tower had no gate.
Rather, there were gates through the left and right-hand walls of the courtyard
that allowed passage to and from the outside. An arched tunnel leading
into the city was carved through the gates. This arrangement made
the gates easy to defend: An enemy trying to breach the gate would
be surrounded by high walls and be under a constant barrage of arrow fire.
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Left: Map of Beijing's
city center
All images copyright 2001 professor Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University, Utah, USA. Visit his webpage at www.pomosa.com |