Ancient City Walls and Gates of Pingyao
Being one of the four wholly-protected ancient cities in China, Pingyao Ancient City is thought of as the 'treasure house' of ancient Chinese architectures. (The other three are Langzhong Ancient City, Shexian County and the Old Town of Lijiang. Pingyao Ancient City is situated in the south of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, the history of its original construction dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th Century BC -771BC ) and later being enlarged in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) for defense reasons.
Pingyao city wall was constructed in the West Zhou Dynasty (827¡ª728 B.C) when General Yin Jipu stationed his troops here to prevent an invasion of barbarians. The original walls were of tamped earth and were located northwest of the present city.Pingyao city, originally named Pingtao, was built in the early Northern Wei Dynasty. In 424, its name was changed to Pingyao. Over the centuries its walls were rebuilt and lengthened from 9 li plus eighteen paces to over 12 li, (6.4 kilometers). The outside was faced with stones and bricks starting in 1370, and the wall underwent frequent repairs and rebuilding during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It¡¯s ten meters high, 6163 meters around, and three to five meters wide at the top. While the west, north and east walls are straight, the southern one curves, forming a rough square. The northern and southern walls have one gate each, the eastern and western walls, two each. Each gate has a barbican entrance with an inner and an outer door and had a tower above it, three of which have been rebuilt. Each gate used to have a drawbridge to cross the moat, which today is outside three sides of the city and is more than 3.3 meters deep and 3.3 meters wide. Scholar trees and willows formerly lined the moat.
Built with rammed earth inside and brick and stone outside, the ancient city walls measure 10 meters high and 6162.7 meters long with 3-5 meters wide tops. Except the southern wall, which zigzags a bit according to the land contour, the other three walls all go straight, making the city area a square one. One city gate was built each to the southern to northern walls and two city gates were built each to the western and eastern walls. All six city gates have gate towers and inside gates attached to them. A watch tower was built on the wall top every 50-100 meters away, totaling 72 watchtowers in all along the four walls. The parapets measuring 2 meters high each were built along the outside edges of the walls with 3000 mouths left open for defense shooting. It is said that Confucius once had 72 disciples and 3000 students, therefore 72 watch towers and 3000 parapets?? openings on the top of the four walls were built. There were another four grand watch towers originally built on the four corners of the squared walls, but they all disappeared long ago, with only one Great Scholar Tower and one Nameroll Calling Platform on the wall tops left today. Dug around the walls is a defense ditch measuring more than 3.3 meters in depth and 3.3 meters in width with trees planted along it. A drawbridge is built in front of each gate.
Pingyao City is called ??Tortoise City?? by local people, because the southern gate and the northern gate look like the head and tail of a tortoise, respectively, while the two gates in the eastern wall and two gates in the western wall look much like the four legs of a tortoise. With the outer gate extended a bit out of the inner southern gate and two wells dug outside on either side, the tortoise city seems, to have its own head and its two eyes. What??s more, the northern gate curves a bit towards the east, the four gates in both the western and eastern walls curve a bit all towards the south. This design shows as if a tortoise is crawling forward. Some people say it was for preventing the flood coming from the north-west that the city walls were built in such a pattern. But there is no definite proof for this saying except the symbolic meaning of eternity given by the shape of a tortoise according to the Chinese mentality
Tips: From Taiyuan City to Pingyao Ancient City, buses run every 20 minutes. You can catch a bus on Jianshe Nan Lu, opposite Taiyuan Railway Station and at the railway station in Pingyao Ancient City to return. The buses run from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The bus fee is CNY 10. Pingyao Ancient City is not very big, so you can take a wonderful rickshaw tour. Pingyao Ancient City is a popular destination for travelers, so you can find hotels with good facilities everywhere. Of course, hotels with the characteristics of ancient architecture are recommended, thus you will experience the atmosphere of ancient times. On the Ancient Ming and Qing Street , you can find hotels that must be booked in advance and some local snacks such as Pingyao Beef that has been well-known from the Ming Dynasty, and Wan Tuo (a kind of delicious food made of flour).
| Admission Fee: |
CNY 120 (Ancient Pingyao City, this scenic spot is included) |
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