Jianping Li
I know the central axis of Beijing, but when I was in college, it was our teacher who told a story about the Great Qing Dynasty, which made me understand the central axis of Beijing.
He said that during the Qing Dynasty, a foreign envoy came to Beijing to appear before the emperor, but when he came to China to appear before the emperor, he had to kneel. The foreign envoy said I didn't want to kneel. Qing officials in China adopted a ceremonial ceremony to let him enter the imperial city of Beijing from the front door. When he walked in from the Imperial City, he saw the first gate that existed in the Qing Dynasty. Now it's in the place of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, which was called the Qing Gate at that time. Then he found that the environment was different after he entered the imperial city. What were the characteristics of Beijing when he entered it? It is a quadrangle building with grey walls and grey tiles, and the building volume is not very high. The streets and alleys are very neat. Beijing has been its capital since the Yuan Dynasty. Hutong is very neat, and the horizontal and vertical directions are basically east-west. The houses all face south, and the hutongs are full of things. It is such a city with grey walls and grey tiles. But after he entered the imperial city, he found that it was different, especially after he entered the Qing Gate. He found yellow glazed tiles and red walls, and a avenue led him all the way to Tiananmen Square. It is from the place where Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is now, which used to be the gate of the imperial city. After coming in from this door, it is an imperial road. Now when you go to Tiananmen Square, you can still see a road paved with big stones in the middle of this square, which is opposite to the road in the middle of Tiananmen Square. This is the road on the central axis. In ancient times, it was called Imperial Road, which was the way taken by the emperor. When you entered the gate of the Imperial City, your sight immediately took you to Tiananmen Square. Oh, when he looked at Tiananmen Square, it was wonderful, with yellow glazed tiles, red columns and red walls. What is the building in front of him? White Jinshui Bridge, white Chinese watch, white stone lions and blue sky and white clouds set off. Alas, he realized that the architecture in China is completely different from that in the west, and it is completely oriental, which is what we often call the big roof and palace style. When he walked through Tiananmen Square, crossed Jinshui Bridge and entered Tiananmen Square, he faced another building exactly like Tiananmen Square, which was the terminal. Walking through the end gate, you will see the meridian gate, which stretches out to both sides like a giant to meet the emissary. However, there were not so many people in ancient times and there were very few people. Because there are few people, you look short in front of the high wall. He thinks the buildings in China are wonderful. Then, before he reached the meridian gate through the end gate, there was a greeting above the meridian gate. Someone was playing the trumpet and the bell and drum were ringing. There are bell towers and drum towers in front of the noon gate, and the bells and drums are ringing. When he crossed the meridian gate, he saw another Jinshui Bridge, namely the Inner Jinshui Bridge. The one in front of Tiananmen Square was called the Outer Jinshui Bridge. After crossing the Jinshui Bridge, we arrived at the Imperial City. When he saw the emperor, he was just outside a door. This door is the door in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Taihe Gate. After entering the meridian gate, I found the Hall of Supreme Harmony on both sides. You see, if you go to the Forbidden City, there are no trees or trees. This is to make the building more magnificent, that is, to let the building fully receive your vision. He followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites and crossed the Taihe Gate before arriving at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which was built on a high stone bench with three floors. After he climbed onto the stone bench, he said, Oh, I have to kneel down. Then, from this point on, I began to know the central axis of Beijing, but the story I told was only a small part of it.
We understand the central axis, so the first topic I want to talk about is the charm of the central axis. We had a painting in ancient China, which everyone may know. Anyone who has been to Henan knows that there is a Kaifeng city in Henan. Kaifeng was called the capital of song dynasty in ancient times, and the capital of song dynasty sold a painting called Riverside Scenery in Tomb-Sweeping Day. Chinese painting is divided into long scrolls, which is a unique aesthetic of China people. I wonder if there are any artists here. Western painting is one viewpoint, while Chinese painting is multiple viewpoints. Chinese painting can tell a story, and it can completely express one thing. Then I think I'll introduce the painting "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" first, and then we will understand the charm of Beijing's central axis. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is the representative of China's long scroll landscape painting. What does it describe? It is during their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day that people go to festivals, have a spring outing and take part in this series of activities. Then there are a few trees in the farthest place, which are very sparse, and then you gradually feel people and houses. It takes you from far to near, and then gradually moves towards prosperity and excitement; In the middle of this painting, he drew a bridge outside the capital of song dynasty, which is an arch bridge. When you get to this bridge, you can appreciate people and let you reach orgasm. You should take a closer look at this photo. People on the bridge come and go, and people on the bridge have to cross the bridge. The people on the bridge told the people on the bridge to be careful. The boat can't touch the bridge. Everyone under the bridge was nervous about letting the boat cross the bridge, including the people on the shore. Only when people cross the bridge can you realize that it is entering the city. There is a gatehouse, and the atmosphere is a little relaxed. I stopped painting when I went to town, so the author drew a short paragraph. When I went to Kaifeng, I asked them why. They said that the painting was not finished, and there was still a paragraph left to be found. Actually, it is not. This is the charm of Chinese painting, that is, it leaves you unlimited imagination space. At that time, this capital city of Bianliang was the capital of Song Dynasty, which was very prosperous. It was impossible for the author to draw all the prosperous things. He left you unlimited imagination, from the suburbs to the town to the side bridge, to the peak, and from the side bridge to the next one, so that you have a smooth process, and then go to the city. I stopped painting after I entered the city, and I can imagine it is so prosperous without going into the city.
Then, let's talk about the central axis of Beijing. I'm here to introduce its charm to you. Because Beijing is repairing Yongdingmen recently, and everyone knows that Yongdingmen is being repaired. Why? It is the starting point of the southern end of our central axis. Let me introduce this central axis to Trish, who enjoys the charm of the Qingming Riverside. If time goes back to the Qing Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, there would be no such convenient transportation at that time. Unlike modern means of transportation, people can ride horses and take sedan chairs at most. When a foreigner enters Beijing by land, the first point of view to meet him is Yongdingmen. Yongdingmen with towers and watchtowers is a city, which makes you feel that you are going to the city. Let me give you this feeling first. Entering Yongdingmen, although I entered the city, I felt a wide road. When you enter Yongdingmen, we will restore Yongdingmen recently. To the east of Yongdingmen is the Temple of Heaven, and to the west is the Xiannongtan. From the beginning, this central axis gives you the impression that the central axis is obvious and symmetrical on both sides, but there are not many buildings. At that time, the shops were not covered outside the altar like now, and the sides were scattered, just like our ""walked in from Yongdingmen, and the first thing that caught our eye was the overpass. Everyone knows that there is an overpass in Beijing now, but no one has seen it, including me. Tianqiao is a Luoguo Bridge. It is said that you can't see the front door when standing in the south of Tianqiao, and you can't see Yongding Gate when standing in the north of Tianqiao, so you can meet a small climax after entering the city. After this climax, you will see a very busy market, which is facing the front door of the majestic Beijing. The Ming Dynasty called it Zhengyangmen. This is the front door. You can see the front door.
After crossing the overpass, the environment on both sides is different. It is no longer the kind of quiet temple full of trees, but a long market, and the front door is not as wide as it was in ancient times. We recently chatted with their archaeologist and said that Qianmen Street was very wide at that time, and there was no road, but it was a dirt road, which was very wide. There are shops on both sides of the road, like zhushikou and Qianmen Street, which makes people feel lively. It's really different from the countryside. We're going into town soon. What's ahead? This is a tall front gate tower. What do you see in front of Qianmen Tower? A pair of big stone lions, there is an archway in front of them. At that time, old Beijing was called Wupailou. Where are we going? To the five arches. In old Beijing, there is an archway in front of every city wall. Generally speaking, there are three archways, three bays and only five archways in front of the door. Now there is an archway in front of the front door, which is fake. For the convenience of transportation, it used to be floor-standing. After the archway, you can see three big stone bridges. In the past, you saw a big stone lion, which was very magnificent. When you entered the front door, you first built a watchtower. Now there are watchtowers and watchtowers at the front door. During the war, this watchtower was full of arrow holes and was used for archery. Behind it, you don't see the watchtower at the front door until you enter the watchtower. I said this is the biggest watchtower. I said this is the tallest watchtower at the front door. After the gatehouse, there is a square street called Chessboard Street between the front door and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, which is square and neat. This chessboard street forms a Little Square in front of the imperial city. There are towers and squares on the central axis, which are very rich in connotation. When you arrive in this Little Square, look ahead. It's the imperial capital. We feel that there is a climax from Yongdingmen to the front door through the overpass, which feels like entering the city. But this climax does not retreat. Immediately is the imperial city, rows of golden palaces. The leader is the Daqingmen, which was renamed Zhonghua Gate after the Republic of China, and Daming Gate was built only in the Ming Dynasty. We will introduce this door to you later. Through this door is Tiananmen Square. Just now we talked about Duanmen, Wumen and Taihemen, and then you can see the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhonghe Hall, Baohe Hall, the Forbidden City, then Sangong, Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Hall and Kunning Palace, and then the imperial garden of the Forbidden City. On this line, you can feel that Beijing is the imperial city and the place where the emperor lives when you climb to Jingshan. Looking down from Jingshan, we can't see the temple, only a golden roof, just as we reached the peak by playing a tune, just as we reached Bianqiao by appreciating a painting, so we reached the peak by appreciating the ancient buildings in Beijing.
After stepping down from the golden halls of these halls in the Forbidden City, I will give you a buffer when I leave the Shenwu Gate, and then I will improve it for you. I went to Wanchunge in Jingshan, which is the commanding height of the whole city and Beijing, making you feel that the notes are coming up again, and then they are coming down. Behind Jingshan, we are now called Jingshan Children's Palace, which was called Shouhuang Hall in those days, and it is also a main hall. Behind this main hall is Wan Chunting, which allows you to slide down and get out of Jingshan. There is also a door, the back door of the imperial city. Just now I said that the front door is Daming Gate, followed by Di 'an Gate. After the Di 'anmen, there is a back door bridge. Everyone who lives in old Beijing knows that the back door bridge is just after Di 'anmen. The structure of the back gate bridge is similar to that of the overpass. After crossing the back door bridge, you have a slight fluctuation. Now the back door bridge is slowing down, because we have to take modern means of transportation, and it has also been arched to let you cross the slope. What do you see after crossing the slope? The tall drum tower, which is second only to the front gatehouse, is very magnificent. After the Drum Tower, there is a 100 meter building-Bell Tower, which is even thinner than our ancient seal and carved there. The emblem of our Olympic Games is represented by a seal, which is firmly tied in that place, just like a piece of music ups and downs, and has been collected here in the bell tower. So what's left? Let's have a look. The front is the Drum Tower, and the back is the Bell Tower. What's around the bell tower and drum tower? It is a quadrangle, and the movement of the central axis from the Drum Tower to the Bell Tower ends like a powerful note, but it leaves people with infinite reverie and makes the movement of the central axis disappear in these houses.
Beijing has opened many roads, such as Liangguang Road and Ping 'an Avenue. It has been suggested that it is possible to get through from Dongzhimen to Xizhimen. I said that's impossible. When the ancients designed this city, it was an artistic enjoyment. He felt that the bell tower left people room for imagination. I just want to say, what is the ancient capital? Newspapers talk about protecting and maintaining the ancient capital every day. The style of the ancient capital of Beijing is based on these blue-gray hutongs and quadrangles, which set off the high-rise buildings above the central axis, like a magnificent poem and a song. Then, these, together with the surrounding tall city walls, are dotted with gardens, such as Beihai, Wang Fu and temples, which constitute an ancient capital from the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty to the development of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After the Qing dynasty came to Beijing to enter the customs, we did several things. As we all know, after the Ming Dynasty occupied the Yuan Dynasty, the city walls were greatly changed, and the imperial palace in the Yuan Dynasty was basically abandoned. So today Jingshan is the palace of the Yuan Dynasty, which is equivalent to a palace as important as our Hall of Supreme Harmony. what is the purpose? You can't let your Yuan Dynasty country come back. Daming Jiangshan is going to start a career. It plays such a role. Of course, this Jingshan is very cleverly built. It should be used not only as a town mountain, but also as a leaning mountain for the construction of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty. The ancient buildings in China are called back-to-back, because the northwest wind blows in Beijing and there should be mountains behind them. This building is very good. This plant grows in front of the mountain, facing the sun. There are two Jinshui Bridges and two Jinshui Bridges surrounded by water. This is a very good feng shui in ancient times, creating a very good environment in which man and nature are very harmonious. What happened after the Qing Dynasty came? It didn't have a building as big as the Ming Dynasty, but it did several things. One of them is the construction of five pavilions on Jingshan Mountain, which greatly strengthens the human landscape, and the construction of a white tower on Beihai, which is some landmark buildings of the city.
The artistic charm of the central axis is multifaceted. What we are talking about today is only the appreciation from far and near, so the central axis has a long history as a city. Then, why does Beijing have such a beautiful central axis as music and poetry? It is the accumulation of the Chinese nation's 5,000-year history, which is the ancient capital of Beijing. Basically Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Now we commemorate 850 years, and it has been 700 years since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, this 700-year history is the last glory of China ancient city construction. Therefore, Chang 'an, An, Bianliang and other cities in the early Tang Dynasty were all under construction, but where did the final architectural achievements go? Concentrated in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and concentrated in Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is our ancient city building. As an ancient city building in feudal society, it has reached its peak and is unparalleled in the world. So many French experts said after arriving in China that Beijing belongs not only to you, but also to all mankind. You should take good care of Beijing and don't take it as your own. We French and Russians also think it is the cultural heritage of mankind, and this is the meaning.
Then I want to talk about the second topic, about the history of the central axis. When did this central axis start? Through archaeological excavations, we found that China has the idea of this central axis, that is, the idea of having a center. The history is very long. To what extent? So it was 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. What was the basis? Now the earliest archaeological excavations are based on the Goddess Temple in Hongshan Culture. What does Hongshan Culture mean? In Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China, there is a place called Hongshan in the suburb of Chifeng. This place is called Hongshan. The remains of human activities more than 5000 years ago were found here. Jade was first discovered at this time. At that time, it was probably in the agricultural society, that is, from the stone society to the agricultural society, they began to have some pottery and jade. Moreover, studying China, China is a country of dragons. The earliest dragon shape was also in Hongshan Culture, a very simple dragon shape. Hongshan Culture and Hongshan Culture discovered so far have been studied for several years. Later, they found that Hongshan Culture was the intersection of the northern and southern cultures in China, and the farming culture in the Central Plains went to the north, and then the mountain forest culture in the northeast and the grassland culture in Inner Mongolia went there. This is a rendezvous point.
Where is the further development of Hongshan Culture? There is a county in the northeast called Jianping County, which is in the upper reaches of Liaohe River. There have been major archaeological discoveries in this place in the past two years, so what have you found? I found an ancient place of sacrifice, which is the location of its altar. From north to south, there are round and square ones, strung together on an axis and a central line. Archaeologists were surprised to find that. What did they find? It is strikingly similar to the altar of the Temple of Heaven today! I don't know if you have been to the Temple of Heaven. You must enter the Temple of Heaven from the south gate. It's called Zheng Zheng, and you go from south to north. The first altar is called Mouqiu altar, which is dedicated to heaven. There is a central stone in the middle. You stand in the middle, and you are round when you speak. The Temple of Heaven is actually two altars, and the real sacrifice to heaven is in a circular altar. Behind the circular altar, there is an artifact called the imperial vault, and even the courtyard with the echo wall is round. The ancients said that the sky is round and the earth is square. After crossing the imperial vault, you go north. It has a courtyard wall. Over the wall, there is a avenue that leads you to the Hall of Prayer for the New Year. I wonder if you paid attention to this road when you went to the Temple of Heaven. When you walk this road, the tree, you can see its pole. When you walk in, you can see the height of the tree. In fact, the ancients created artistic conception to make you gradually align with the sky. When you go to the north end, there is a passage below. Some people say that it is the earliest overpass in Beijing, and there is a passage under it. The road is actually getting higher and higher, but you think it is flat, but you don't feel it. Walking through this avenue, you will find that the courtyard of the Hall of Prayer for the Year is square, so it is strikingly similar to the archaeological discovery on an axis five thousand years ago that we just introduced, indicating that our culture has been in the same strain for five thousand years, and it is a kind of inheritance relationship, but its cultural connotation and architectural connotation are constantly enriched. This is the earliest history that we know about the central axis.
So when was this central axis introduced into the city? So now there are some archaeological discoveries. We see that this city is called Zhou Wangcheng, which was designed by The Book of Rites according to the Zhou Dynasty. At that time, it was called Wang, or the son of heaven. What kind of city should he live in? So it was a rule in the Zhou Dynasty that Little Square in the middle of the imperial city was Miyagi, in the middle. This has not changed until now. Our Forbidden City is in the center of the city, Your Majesty. But what changes have taken place between the cities of the Zhou Dynasty and our present cities? At that time, it was emphasized that there were three doors on each side and the roads should face each other. Its nine meridians and nine latitudes, the longitude and latitude are horizontal and vertical, all facing each other. Then who is it for? Then put the imperial city in the middle. This is the earliest thought of establishing the capital in ancient times. This idea has been verified by many experts, saying that it originated from China's well-field system. Because China's well-field system is square, and squares are constantly paved together, this is China's earliest idea of building a city. So many cities in China are square, and all planned cities are square. Another major feature of Beijing is planning first, then building. As we all know, people in Shanghai, Dalian and Qingdao will find that cities are built by topography, seaside and some rivers. Many cities span a big river and are built by it. Beijing is not. Beijing city was planned first. It turned out to be a clearing, and the ruler was useless, and the capital was useless. Jin Zhongdu is now in Baiyun Temple in the south of our city, and Yuan Dadu is planned on a flat land. The first idea of planning is based on the idea of Zhouwangcheng, which is a square city with the imperial city in the middle. However, this concept changed after the Han Dynasty. Now the archaeological excavation is in Cao Cao's time. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao built a yecheng. In addition to facing every road, this Yecheng has a more prominent road facing the Imperial City, which was the first to mention the central axis of the city.
What we see here is the Imperial Street in Kaifeng. This Imperial Street is actually a central axis, which originally faced the imperial city. A line takes you into Yujie, a central axis, and buildings are built on the central axis. Two black ones are two rivers; Great changes have taken place in the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty has changed. The Zhouwangcheng mentioned just now has three doors on each side. What changes have taken place in the Yuan Dynasty? It is a very important change to change the north side of this city wall from three doors to two doors. This important change is to make the central axis inaccessible, because the central axis comes from the front door, which should be the south gate and the north gate, and it can only be reached through the middle. Then from the Yuan Dynasty, we investigated that there were four gates in the north of Jinzhongdu, which was quite chaotic. Yuan Dadu wanted to have a plan first, and made major adjustments when planning. This adjustment is to build two doors at the north gate, one called Anzhen Gate and the other called Jiande Gate. Now there are Anzhen Bridge and Jiande Bridge. In the Ming dynasty, the south of the city moved five miles, and this pattern was still maintained. Two city gates were built, one called Andingmen and the other called Deshengmen. So what did he create? That is, the central axis from south to north is blocked and not allowed to pass, resulting in a large area of residential buildings around the north bell tower being a wall, a wide wall. Their scholars who study city walls told me that the wall thickness in Beijing is different, and the north wall is high and thick, which conforms to Beijing's natural environment. In winter, the northwest wind is strong, so you see that the big north room of Beijing quadrangles is higher, isn't it? Just to block the northwest wind. So this change in the Yuan Dynasty also affected Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. In another Yuan Dynasty, it pushed the building of the central axis all the way to the northernmost part. It's different from Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. We just talked about the bell tower and drum tower at the end of the central axis, so look at the Atlas of Beijing History compiled by Hou Renzhi, who made this picture particularly clear. Its northernmost part is a temple called Wanning Temple. Wanning Temple has a building called Central Pavilion, which is a temple. There is also a temple on the central axis of Jinzhongdu, now called Tianning Temple. When you go out to Xibianmen, its central axis faces a temple. What is a temple? It is a religion, but it is a god. Its original humanistic color is to lead the central axis to the end, to a religious god, and the Ming Dynasty turned God into a human being.
This is the bell and drum tower at the end of my central axis. What is the bell and drum tower for? Unlike the Imperial Capital, it tells the time and serves the people. Surrounded by people and people, there is also a major change. What's the difference between the central axis of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty and the central axis of our past dynasties in history? I think there are several important differences: first, the central axis of Ming Beijing stretches southward. As I said just now, the total length is 8 kilometers, or 7.8 kilometers to be exact. Why is it so long? It greatly lengthens the buildings entering Beijing, from Yongdingmen to Qianmen, that is to say, from the front door to the main entrance of the city. There is an outer city in Beijing, which lengthens the axis for you to appreciate and feel, which is a feature; Second, Ming Beijing made a great contribution to the central axis, that is, it inherited this neat symmetry in ancient times. After entering the central axis, I will give you a symmetry as soon as I enter the Yongding Gate. Here, the Temple of Heaven, here, the Xiannongtan, here, the ancestral hall of Tiananmen Square, and here, the National Altar, are now the Cultural Palace and Zhongshan Park, so you can arrange them neatly here. The national altar and ancestral temple in the Yuan Dynasty are on both sides of the city, not next to the central axis. Therefore, this central axis has affected the transformation of Tiananmen Square. As we all know, during the renovation of Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People was here and the History Museum was here. Although these two buildings are Western-style, there are some yellow glazed tiles on them, which have absorbed the national characteristics of China. Most importantly, they are neatly placed on both sides of Tiananmen Square, which is very important for our urban construction. Then the central axis of the Ming Dynasty not only inherited the ideas of the Yuan Dynasty, but also built Jingshan Mountain. The original central axis has buildings, which are round. You can check the previous one. There are no mountains on it, but mountains are piled up. Then, this mountain has a great influence on the design of today's Olympic Park, that is, digging lakes and piling. What is its ingenuity? Making Jingshan the commanding height of the whole city on the central axis not only increases the urban landscape, but also greatly increases the connotation of the central axis. The last change is to put the bell and drum tower at the end of the central axis. This is the 5000-year historical evolution of the central axis, which finally formed such an excellent and magnificent central axis of Beijing.
Whether you are working in Beijing or traveling in Beijing, you must really know Beijing when you come to Beijing. I don't think you can understand Beijing without understanding the central axis.
When a foreigner enters Beijing by land, the first point of view to meet him is Yongdingmen. We can see from the Full Map of Ganlong Capital that there was no watchtower at that time, but there was, and it was very short. This short, when it comes to the outer city, it was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Some people say that during the Jiajing period, large-scale construction was carried out, and our Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Yuetan, including the large hanging hall and ancestral hall next to Jingshan Mountain, were all overhauled during the Jiajing period. At that time, I was still facing the harassment of fighting against the northern minorities, so I built the city wall and built the outer city at this time. Of course, the outer city is relatively simple to repair, which is much worse than the inner city.
However, through historical research, I found that not only that, but also the ancient city of China has the ancient hierarchical system of China, which runs through every step, not only the registration of people, but also every place pays great attention to this level. Later, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, we renovated Yongdingmen to prevent it from surpassing the inner city when it became rich. Then the tower of Yongdingmen is not from the Ming Dynasty, and the tower we are repairing now is from the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the Qing emperor had a feeling that Yongdingmen was very important. What I just said is the starting point of the southern end of the central axis, and it is also a sign of entering Beijing. Therefore, when Emperor Qianlong repaired this tower, he specifically proposed to raise it higher than other outer cities, but at the same time, he also told that it could not be lower than the inner city tower like the inner city tower, so it should be thinner and shorter than our Qianmen tower. This is the rule, and this hierarchy should be reflected.
This is a plan. You can see a little bit about this watchtower and the watchtower nearby. What shall we plan? It is the symbol of the south central axis of Yongdingmen, that is, there are roads on both sides, a square behind the tower and a square in front, and that road is Qianmen Street. Then you can see these two sides, which are a dark color after entering the gatehouse, namely the Temple of Heaven and the Xiannong altar. To restore its big forest, we must restore the environment and atmosphere where we entered the central axis. This is the Yongding Gate.
This picture is a picture of an old overpass, which is the only one I have ever seen so far. Then the previous paragraph made up a TV series, saying that there is no bridge on the overpass, but in fact there is a bridge on the overpass. In ancient times, this overpass was made of white marble with railings and was an arch bridge. There is water under the bridge, clear water, which can also cross the boat. In the early years, this ship could still cross, so where does the overpass face? It is the front door from south to north, so the emperor worships heaven from here. It means that the emperor sacrifices to heaven and the son of heaven takes the overpass.
So when the emperor crossed the bridge, the people were watching from a distance, with the flag of the empire on it and the guard of honor in front. Crossing the bridge is very spectacular. And the overpass is in the shape of a Luo pot. Go there and then go to the west gate of the Temple of Heaven. Now there are more doors in the Temple of Heaven, including the North Gate and the East Gate. There is no door in the north. Just now I said the climate of the north in Beijing, the climate of the north, and the north usually talks about high walls. Simon was right. The emperor worshiped Tian Ximen and went in. Simon just walked along the central axis and passed the overpass. It turns out that one of them is studying the Beijing altar. They were surprised to find that the gate of the Temple of Heaven faces west and the gate of the Xiannongtan faces east. These two gates face the central axis. The door of Ditan is also in the west, facing the central axis and facing this, so the door of Yuetan faces east and the door of Ritan faces west, so the doors of Ditan all face the central axis. The central ideas of the ancients and emperors were very strong, and they all faced the middle.
Then, the overpass is such a bridge, but basically what we are seeing now is similar to the architectural decoration of Houmen Bridge. If you go to Houmen Bridge, you can still see the traces of the ancient bridge. It used to be white marble, but now it is very gray and black. But there is a bridge under it. At the end of Qing Dynasty, there was a tram in Beijing, just outside the front door. Qianmenwai Street is inconvenient to open to traffic, this Luoguo Bridge, arch bridge. In ancient times, it didn't matter to take a sedan chair, so the bridge was put down. By the time the main road was expanded in the 1930 s, the bridge was completely demolished and the railings were gone, leaving the name of an overpass. We can now know that there is an overpass missing on the central axis, which has not been planned yet.
This is the "Full Map of Beijing" of the building of Qiangatehouse, painted during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. You see, this urn is much bigger than the one just now. In the circle of this city, the tower behind is the watchtower, and this is the watchtower in front and the watchtower at the front door. Then why is the front door called the front door? Because it is in front of the imperial city, it is the door in front of the imperial city, so the people call it Qianmen, Daqianmen. In fact, its scientific name is Zhengyangmen. Before the Yuan Dynasty, this main entrance was called Li Zhengmen, and the gate of the Yuan Dynasty was in Tiananmen Square today. Before the Yuan Dynasty, this south wall was moved to the south by a mile in the Ming Dynasty in the generation of Chang 'an Avenue today. Then there are two small buildings in the watchtower at the front door, just in front of the watchtower. These are two small temples. At that time, when there was a war, people wanted to attack the city. You easily hit a wall gun and entered the city gate. For its safety, it built an urn, which is to strengthen the defense of war.