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existRevolution of 1911Later, the Manchu characters on the plaque were also removed, leaving only “Tiananmen” written in Chinese. (Picture source: Internet picture)
Wherever you goBeijingpeople,Tiananmen SquareIt is a place that must be admired and visited. This is a majestic and ingenious building. It is resplendent, majestic, majestic and unparalleled. It not only tells people the rich history of this building, but also shows the majesty of a great country. So, when was Tiananmen built? What was his first name? In fact, Tiananmen was built inMing Dynasty Yongleyears, times are calledChengtianmen.
After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he summoned skilled craftsmen and more than 200,000 civilians from all over the world to build the city of Nanjing. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu’s reign, Zhu Yuanzhang began to build Duanmen and Chengtianmen outside Jinshui Bridge. After Zhu Yuanzhang’s death, Zhu Di sent his troops southward in the name of “Jingnan” and used force to seize the throne of his nephew Zhu Yunwen.
In order to deal with the threat of ethnic minorities in the north, Zhu Di came up with the idea of moving the capital to Beijing. In the fourteenth year of Yongle’s reign, he summoned craftsmen to start building the Beijing Palace. In the 19th year of Yongle, Zhu Di officially moved the capital to Beijing.
It was against this background that Tiananmen Square in Beijing was built. Tiananmen was originally called Chengtianmen, which means “carrying destiny and receiving orders from heaven”. It was built in the 18th year of Yongle. Its designer was Kuai Xiang, a master architect at that time.
Kuai Xiang was a native of Yufan Village, Xiangshan, Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province. He was born into a family of carpenters. His father was a famous craftsman at the time and participated in Zhu Yuanzhang’s construction of Nanjing City. Influenced by his father, Kuai Xiang has been deeply fascinated by architecture since he was a child. By the time he reached adulthood, his craftsmanship skills were very high.
It is reported that Kuai Xiang was said to be “able to take charge of repairs in large camps” at the age of 16 and enjoyed the reputation of a “skillful craftsman”. When Kuai Xiang painted dragons on the pillars of the palace, he held a paintbrush in each hand and opened the bow left and right. After a while, the two flying dragons were painted at the same time, and they “joined together as one”.
In the fifteenth year of Yongle, Kuai Xiang, who was in his early 30s, came to Beijing according to the imperial edict and was appointed as the “Minister of Camp and Repair” to undertake the construction tasks of the palace. He completed the design and construction of Chengtian Gate with superb skills and outstanding talent. After its completion, Chengtian Gate was praised by the government and the public, and Kuai Xiang was also hailed as “Luban alive” by the people at that time. Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was also very happy with Long Yan and called him “Kuai Lu Ban”.
Chengtianmen was the main entrance to the imperial city at that time. It was a three-story pavilion with yellow tiles and cornices, and five wooden archways with ventilation on all sides. It was a complete replica of the Chengtianmen in Nanjing. In the middle of the archway, there was a plaque “Chengtian Gate” hanging high.
Tiananmen is magnificent. (Image source: Adobe stock)
Chengtianmen had an ill-fated fate and experienced many vicissitudes. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times in history, and finally became the magnificent Tiananmen Gate it is today.
On July 7, the first year of Tianshun reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the Chengtianmen gate tower was struck by lightning and caught fire. The wooden archway was destroyed in the fire. It was restored in the first year of Chenghua reign. In the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, the peasant army led by Li Zicheng invaded the city of Beijing. “They first transported firewood and piled it in the inner hall, set fire to it and fired artillery, destroying all the palaces. The sky was lit with flames all night long. In a moment, all the nine-door pyramid towers were on fire. The meadows outside the city were also burning, mirroring the flames in the palace.” Chengtianmen was completely destroyed in this man-made disaster, leaving only ruins.
In the eighth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the emperor issued an edict to renovate the Chengtian Gate. It took six years to complete and renamed it Tiananmen. On the basis of the original “inherited by heaven and ordered by heaven”, it added “the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the peace is long-lasting”. Meaning. The plaque is engraved in Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese characters. Later, the Mongolian characters were removed, and after the Revolution of 1911, the Manchu characters on the plaque were also removed, leaving only “Tiananmen” written in Chinese.
After the repair, the overall building of Tian’anmen is nine bays, five bays deep, with double eaves and six rows of columns, front and rear corridors, and a gabled roof. Outside the palace walls on both sides of the square, the central administrative agencies of the time were concentrated, including the Liubu, Zongren Mansion, Honglu Temple and Qintianjian.
During the process of building Tiananmen this time, the designer suggested to the emperor: “Dragon is a creature that loves water. Wherever there is a dragon, there must be water. Only when the dragon has water can it exert its divine power.”
As a result, a moat hundreds of meters long and more than 10 meters wide appeared in front of Tiananmen Square. Seven stone bridges with dragon reliefs were erected on the river. These are the current Jinshui River and Jinshui Bridge. In fact, the construction of Jinshui River has a more practical effect, that is, it provides sufficient water source for subsequent fires.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Tiananmen Square was far less spacious than it is now. It was surrounded by tall palace walls, forming a long and narrow enclosed courtyard with an area of only 110,000 square meters.
In front of Tiananmen during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was also a Golden List Gallery, which was used for scientific examinations and rankings. All the top scorers in high schools who passed the palace examination were named on the Golden List here.
This golden list was personally signed by the emperor and became the “imperial imperial list”, which was posted in the golden list corridor. There were dragon sheds on both sides of the list gallery. Those who won the top three prizes had to receive congratulations in the dragon shed as a token of appreciation. The emperor valued talents and chose eclectic candidates for the court. However, these buildings were destroyed in the ruthless fire and never seen again.
(Reference materials: “History of Ming Dynasty”, “Manuscript of History of Qing Dynasty”, “History of Tiananmen”, etc.)
Editor in charge: Hezi
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