The ancient city of Pingyao is located in the middle of Shanxi Province in northern China. It was first built in the period of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty (827 BC to 782 BC) and expanded in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370 AD). More than 2,700 years of history. So far, it has relatively well preserved the basic features of the county town during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911 AD), making it the most complete existing ancient city in the Han ethnic area of ??China. Pingyao was China's financial center in the late Qing Dynasty and has the most complete ancient county layout in China. During the Spring and Autumn Period it belonged to the State of Jin, and during the Warring States Period it belonged to the State of Zhao. The Qin Dynasty established Pingtao County, and the Han Dynasty established Zhongdu County, which served as the capital for clan kings. The name was changed to Pingyao County in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were more than 20 bank accounts headquartered in Pingyao, accounting for more than half of the country's total. It was also known as the "Wall Street of Ancient China". The largest among them is China's first banknote "Rishengchang", which was founded during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty and is famous for its "connecting the world". Pingyao has basically preserved the prototype of the county seat from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and is known as the "Turtle City". The street pattern is in the shape of "earth", and the building layout follows the orientation of the Bagua, reflecting the urban planning concepts and form distribution of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are more than 300 ruins and ancient buildings of various types inside and outside the city, and nearly 4,000 well-preserved Ming and Qing houses. The streets and shops all reflect the original appearance of history. It is called a living sample for studying ancient Chinese cities. The Pingyao City Wall was built in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. It currently has 6 gates, 4 turrets and 72 watchtowers. Among them, the south gate section of the city wall collapsed in 2004, but most of the rest are still intact. It is one of the largest, oldest, and most well-preserved ancient city walls in China. It is also the core component of the World Heritage Pingyao Ancient City. part. In addition, Zhenguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Confucian Temple are also included in the protection scope of world heritage.
The ancient city wall
It is the city wall of Pingyao County. Built in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370), with a circumference of 6.4 kilometers, it is the oldest and largest existing city wall in Shanxi. There were repairs in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but basically it still had the same shape and structure as in the early Ming Dynasty. The city is square in shape, with walls about 12 meters high. The exterior is entirely made of bricks, with crenellations built into the walls. There is a moat outside the walls, which is 4 meters deep and 4 meters wide. There are six gates around the city, two on the east and west, and one on the north and south. Wengcheng was built outside the east and west to facilitate defense. There are 3,000 crenels and 72 watchtowers, which are said to symbolize the three thousand disciples of Confucius and the seventy-two saints. . The city wall has gone through more than 600 years of vicissitudes, and it still remains majestic to this day. The streets, shops and houses in Pingyao Ancient City maintain their traditional layout and style. The streets are in the shape of a cross and shop fronts are built along them. The pavement is strong and tall, with colorful paintings under the eaves and colorful carvings on the beams, giving it an antique feel. The residential houses behind the pavement are all courtyards with gray bricks and gray tiles, with clear axes and symmetry. The whole ancient city presents a simple style.
Zhenguo Temple
There is Zhenguo Temple at the north gate of the ancient city, which is the second treasure of the ancient city. The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall of the temple was built during the Five Dynasties (10th century AD) and is currently the third oldest wooden structure in China, with a history of more than 1,000 years. The colorful sculptures from the Five Dynasties period in the hall are rare sculpture art treasures.
Shuanglin Temple
The third treasure of the ancient city is Shuanglin Temple located in the southwest of the city. The temple was built in the second year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty (571 AD). There are more than 2,000 colored sculptures from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty (13th to 17th centuries AD) preserved in more than 10 main halls in the temple, which are known as the "treasure house of colored sculpture art".
Pingyao City Wall
Pingyao City Wall was built as a rammed earth city wall during the period of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty (827 BC to 782 BC). It was rebuilt in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370), and the original "nine miles and eighteen steps" was expanded to "twelve miles, eight minutes and four centimeters" (6.4 kilometers), and the rammed earth city wall was transformed into a masonry wall. According to the legend that "the mountains and rivers are facing the sun, and the turtles are playing in the water, and the city is built according to this, it is the victory." Taking the meaning of "good luck and longevity" of the divine turtle, it was built as "Turtle City". It was repaired 25 times in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The city wall is square in plan, with a circumference of 6162.7 meters and a height of 10 meters. The battlements are 2 meters high and the top width is 3-5 meters. The wall is made of solid soil, with blue bricks on the outside and bricks on the inside. 77 drainage channels were built. A 2-meter-high creneled wall (also known as a horse-blocking wall) was built outside the top of the wall. Taking the number of Confucius disciples and sages, there were 3,000 crenellations, 72 watchtowers, and a parapet built inside. There are four corner towers, a general tower on the east wall, and Kuixing Tower and Wenchang Pavilion on the top of the southeast corner.
Due to the need for military defense, Pingyao City Wall has six urns with heavy gates, one in the north and south and two in the east and west. The south gate is Yingxun, the north gate is Gongji, the upper east gate is Taihe, the lower east gate is Qinhan, the upper west gate is Yongding, and the lower gate is Yingxun. In Ximen Fengyi, each urn has a tower with double eaves on the top of the mountain, and there were originally suspension bridges outside the six urns with double eaves. There is a moat 3 meters wide around the outside of the city wall. There are Lutai Mountain and Liugen River in the south of the city. "The mountains and rivers are facing the sun, and you can play in the water in front of the turtle." So far, the city walls, streets, houses, shops, temples and other buildings of the ancient city are still basically intact, and the original form and layout have remained largely unchanged. They are all organic parts of the existing historical relics of the ancient city of Pingyao.
Wengcheng
A small city built outside the city gate, also called the Moon City, was used to enhance the city's defense capabilities. "Wu Jing Zong Yao First Collection: Guarding the City" records: "The urn outside the city is either round or square. Depending on the terrain, it is as tall and thick as the city, but one door is left open, and the left and right sides are as they please." Pingyao Ancient City Most of the Wengcheng gates and the main city gate are oriented at an angle of 90° (except for the South Gate and the Lower East Gate). Even if the enemy breaks through the Wengcheng gate, there is still a main city gate defense. Due to the narrow space in Wengcheng, it is not easy to deploy. The large-scale attack slowed down the enemy's attack speed, while the defenders at the top of the city wall could shoot from all directions, delivering a fatal blow to the enemy. As the saying goes, beating a dog behind closed doors or catching a turtle in an urn.
The city tower
Built on the top of the city gate, it was sometimes called "Qiao Tower" in ancient times. There are six towers in the Pingyao City Wall. They were built in the Ming Dynasty and repaired and rebuilt in the 42nd year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1703). The towers are 16.14 meters high, five bays wide and 13.72 meters wide, and four bays deep 10.04 meters. The shape is simple and elegant, and the structure is dignified and stable. The city tower is an exquisite and beautiful high-rise building on the top of the city wall. It is usually climbed high for observation, and the general takes command during war. It is an important high-altitude defense facility for a city.
Corner Towers
The turrets built on the four corners of the city wall are mainly used to make up for the weak defensive links at the corners of the city wall, thereby enhancing the defensive capabilities of the entire city wall. The corner towers respectively refer to the "Xiadie" tower in the northwest corner and the "Qiyue tower" in the northeast corner. The "Rui Ai Tower" in the southwest corner and the "Ningxiu Tower" in the southeast corner.
Dianjiang Platform
It is located on the top of the city wall between the upper east gate and the lower east gate. It is now a high brick platform. According to legend, after King Xuan of Zhou came to the throne in 827 BC, he sent General Yin Jifu to lead his troops in the Northern Expedition against the Yangtze River, and won consecutive battles. Later, he was ordered to station troops in what is now Pingyao, build additional city walls, and train soldiers and generals to practice martial arts here. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, in order to commemorate Yin Jifu's achievements, people built the Gaozhen Temple at the place where Yin Zeng ordered the military parade. When the city wall was being repaired in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the "Gaozhen Temple" was integrated into one. It is a broad platform on the top of the city. It is refreshing and refreshing to climb up and look into the distance. The poem says: "The platforms are hundreds of feet long and connected to the county town. In front of the battlements where Jifu was named." The battle fortress has been gone for a long time, and the dragon flag is timidly coming out of the car year."
The moat
is the ditch surrounding the city. In order to defend against invasion by foreign enemies, ancient humans dug trenches around settlements, and the resulting belt-like highlands inspired people to build walls. The emergence of the city can be seen as the result of taking soil from the site when the city wall was first built. The accumulated water in Hao Nei formed a pond or a river, which became an insurmountable line of defense. "Only the city surrounds the people, but only the pond surrounds the city." The "pool" is the barrier of the "city", so it is often called the "moat". The suspension bridge is a wooden plank bridge spanning the city moat. The outward end of the bridge is tied with a rope. The bridge deck can be lifted at any time through pulleys and winches to cut off the inbound and outbound route.
Corner platform and turret
Corner platform is a pier that protrudes from the four corners of the city wall and is integrated with the wall. There is a tower and oar built on each corner platform, which is called corner tower. The orientation of the turret is at an angle of 135° with the big wall, and the height and volume of the building are between those of the city tower and the watchtower. During wartime, the defenders in the turret had a commanding position and a wide field of vision, allowing them to monitor and defeat attacking enemies from various angles. Due to their unusual strategic location, the corner platform and turrets have been listed as important projects in the past maintenance projects of the Pingyao City Wall. During the six-year overhaul between Daoguang and Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty, the dilapidated "four corner watchtowers" (i.e. turrets) were simply demolished and a taller two-story brick and wood pavilion was rebuilt. The floor plan of the building is square, covering an area of ??27 square meters. The front facade has an arched door, and there are brick steps leading to the second floor. The second floor has round observation windows on all sides. The building is made of brick, with wooden floors and roof. Xieshan pose, five spines and six animals. Traditional architectural art is integrated into the military fortress.
Horse Face and Watchtower
"Horse Face" is an attached pier protruding outward in the city wall. It is so called because it has a long and slender shape, like the face of a horse.
The design of the "horse face" not only enhances the firmness of the wall, but also eliminates blind spots on the battlefield during city defense battles: once the enemy approaches the city, the guards on adjacent horse faces can be organized into a cross-shooting net to defeat the intruders. He was attacked on both sides and completely defeated. There is a horse face every 60 to 100 meters in the Pingyao city wall. On the horse face there are towers and oars for observing the enemy's situation, which are called "enemy towers". According to old records, when the Pingyao city wall was rebuilt in the early Ming Dynasty, only forty "enemy towers" were built. In the third year of Longqing (1569), the number increased to 94. In the third year of Wanli (1575), the entire city was covered with bricks and stones. , 72 watchtowers were rebuilt into brick and wood structures. They have been repaired for generations and remain to this day. "The watchtowers are square in plan, covering an area of ??10.24 square meters, double-layered, with four brick walls, a hard top, and tube tile covering." There are ridges on the roofs of the two enemy towers on the left and right sides of Menweng City. There is an arched door on the ground floor facing the city. There is a wooden staircase in the building, a floor slab on the upper floor, and two arched windows on each side of the upper floor. Looking up at the watch towers, they are like sentries standing in a row, which is awe-inspiring. The windows upstairs resemble the ears and eyes of a giant. There are numerous watchtowers, and they even face a certain street in the city, from which they can monitor. It can be seen that both in peacetime and wartime, the watchtower also has the function of security and prevention.
Wall and Guancheng
The plan layout of Pingyao City Wall is square, facing south and 15° to the east. The reason why the city pursues "squareness" is not to explain the ancient saying that "the sky is round and the earth is round, and the Tao is in the center", or it comes from scientific architectural conception: except for circles, only squares can be enclosed by the shortest perimeter to form the largest area. . Although the orientation of the city is towards the south, the county seat is not as good as the imperial city, so it is oriented 15° eastward according to local conditions, which is in line with the prevailing wind direction all year round and bathes in abundant sunshine every day. In front of the city is the Zhongdu River, and in the distance are Lutai Mountain and Chaoshan Mountain. The mountains and rivers are facing each other, and they are full of vitality. The circumference of Pingyao City Wall is 6162.68 meters (consistent with the "eight and four centimeters of twelve miles around" in the early Ming Dynasty), of which the east wall is 1478.48 meters, the south wall is 1713.80 meters (the straight-line distance between the southern ends of the east and west walls is only 1500 meters), and the west wall is 1494.35 meters meters, the north wall is 1476.05 meters, and the east, west and north sides are straight. Only the south wall shrinks and moves like a turtle as it meanders along the Zhongdu River. The ancient Chinese etiquette stipulates that the emperor's city is nine li in size, the duke's city is seven li in size, the marquis and earl's city is five li in size, and the viscount's city is three li in size. Pingyao City is three miles square and is obviously the largest city among the lowest level (i.e. county town) in ancient times. According to historical records, the old city of Pingyao three years before Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty was nine miles and eighteen steps away. From the last words of an ancestor of a citizen with the surname Ji in the city, we learned that in the ninth year of Zhizheng (1349) of the Yuan Dynasty, the west of Shaxiang Street in the current city was still outside the city, where "mulberry gardens became forests and hundreds of birds sang". In the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1369), a flood caused disaster and destroyed the west city wall, leaving behind red mud and sand. When the city was expanded the following year, the city wall was moved westward, resulting in today's Shaxiang Street. Furthermore, the name of the current Yaochang Street in the city comes from the kiln where city bricks were fired during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Since it is a kiln, it should be located outside the old city, so the northern city wall must not be far from the Yaochang Street area. Based on this judgment, the perimeter of the old city is very consistent with the saying of "nine miles and eighteen steps". Three years of expansion and reconstruction in Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty established the basic shape of the existing city wall. The wall is "three feet and two feet" high, with a base width of 8 to 12 meters and a top width of 3 to 6 meters. The early walls were built with rammed earth, and the base of the rammed earth wall was filled with natural earth. In the rammed earth layer left over from the Ming Dynasty, there are wooden plugs with a diameter of 6 cm to 7 cm, starting from the ground, every two meters is a layer, and the wooden plugs are distributed at a distance of 2 meters to 3 meters. The diameter of the rammed pit in the rammed earth is 15 cm, the depth is 2 cm-3 cm, and the ramming layer is 12 cm-15 cm. The wall fee is 15%-20%. There is a stone foundation on the outside of the rammed earth wall, and the retaining wall is wrapped with special blue bricks (34 cm * 17 cm * 7.7 cm). Inside the retaining wall, there are brick stacks of 58 cm * 80 cm built every 5 to 6 meters to connect with the rammed earth wall. The thickness of the retaining wall from bottom to top is 87 cm, 70 cm, and 53 cm respectively. The height of each layer accounts for about one-third of the total height of the wall, and the wall yield is 9%. The section of the wall forms a trapezoid. At the root of the outer eaves wall, water-dispersing steps are built along the direction of the big wall, commonly known as small city walls. The steps are 1 meter high and 3-5 meters wide, and the table is paved with half bricks on the side. At the head of the outer eaves wall, there are brick crenel walls, 2 meters high and 53 centimeters thick. Each stack is 1.39 meters long. There are three layers of eaves bricks on top, and there is a lookout hole 25 centimeters high and 17.7 centimeters wide in the middle. There are crenel openings between the battlements, 53 cm wide, for shooting. Under each section of the crenel wall, a rectangular "gun eye" as large as the crenel was opened to accommodate the gun body and launch it in a kneeling position.
The creneled wall with 3,000 crenels alternates between virtual and real at the head of Pingyao City. It eliminates the rigidity of high walls and thick walls in terms of shape, and satisfies the pursuit of balance between yin and yang in terms of Yi Xue. The soldiers and horses defending the city during war are enough to block arrows and stones. Therefore, The crenel wall is also called the horse blocking wall. At the top of the inner eaves, a low brick wall is built to protect the safety. The top of the city wall is made of blue bricks, and the water is dispersed at the water outlet under the parapet wall, and then drained to the city horse road through the brick water tank.
City Gates and Walls
Pingyao City has six ancient city gates, two on the east and west sides. A bird's-eye view of the ancient city of Pingyao looks like a tortoise about to move. The "tortoise" has its head south and its tail north. The four east and west gates are likened to the four legs of a tortoise. Therefore, it is known as the "Turtle City" among the people. Outside the south gate, the Zhongdu River meandered by in ancient times, which inspired the ancient literati to lament that "playing in the water in front of the turtle, the mountains and rivers facing the sun, the city was built with this in mind". The turtle is a symbol of good luck and longevity. The term "turtle city" originated from the ancients' worship of the "four spirits". The "turtle city" means solid gold soup and long-term peace and stability. Pingyao City is high in the south and low in the north, with doors opening on all four sides. Folks distinguish the six gates based on their orientation and terrain. They call the six gates the South Gate, the North Gate, the Upper East Gate, the Upper West Gate, the Lower East Gate and the Lower West Gate. In fact, each originally had its own name. According to the Records of Fenzhou Prefecture and Construction Volume in the 37th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty: "In the third year of Longqing, the county magistrate Yue Wei built a suspension bridge outside each of the six gates, erected brick gates on each side, and erected lying stones. Magnificent view. The second gate on the east side is called "Zhukou", and the other is "Kou Shun". The second gate on the west side is called "Zhakou", and the other is "Wei Enemy". Note. In the 22nd year of Wanli, it was added and the urn circle was demolished. The south gate was called Fenkou and the north gate was called Xirong. "In the Qing Dynasty, during the major repair of the city wall 30 years after Daoguang, the six gates were rebuilt. Name them and receive the plaques in person: Yingxun, Gongji, Taihe, Yongding, Qinhan, and Fengyi. The city faces both south and east. The south gate welcomes the harmonious wind from the southeast and is called the "Ying Xun Gate". The ancients used the North Star as the symbol of the north. Confucius said: "Government should be based on virtue, such as Beichen. The north gate is called "Gongji Gate", which means that everyone is respected by the four directions; the upper east gate is located in the direction of vitality, which means that it is full of vitality and maintains peace. "Taihe Gate"; the upper west gate is named "Yongding Gate" in the hope that the country will be consolidated forever, the country will be peaceful and the people are safe; the lower east gate has been a strategic hub of the city since ancient times, and the word "Qin Han" is written on the gate, which is intended to warn people to "take advantage of Han in military affairs" ", with the mission of defending the country and protecting the family; the name of the lower west gate "Fengyi Gate" seems to be influenced by the early myth about a phoenix coming to the court outside the west gate, "Xiao Shao ninety percent, the phoenix comes to Yi", the phoenix comes and Appearance is an auspicious sign, which makes people think of virtuous government, benefiting the people, and prosperous national destiny. The city wall is a wall used for defense in war, and the city gate is the weak point in the defense line. In order to strengthen the defense, in addition to the city gate built along with the wall, another heavy gate is built to form the inner gate. Another line of defense, the enclosed space between the inner and outer gates is like a small city outside the big city. The "small city" is called "Wengcheng". During the war, the Wengcheng provided excellent conditions for the defenders to detour from the enemy. Feng Shui practitioners used the Wengcheng to "avoid evil spirits". But very realistically, the Wengcheng was enough to shield the wind and dust from the suburbs. The Wengcheng system in China began in the Han Dynasty. There is no research on when the city first had an urn city. We only know that the lower east gate urn city was built in the fourth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1509), and the north gate urn city was built in the 31st year of Jiajing (1552). In the eleventh year (1562), the city tower was updated. In the twenty-second year of Wanli (1594), "the three people who built the east and west barbicans all used bricks and stones." In the thirty-fifth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1696), the south gate barbican was repaired. Forty In 1701, the upper east gate urn city was repaired. In the 42nd year of Kangxi (1703), the emperor's western tour passed through Pingyao, so the six towers were renovated. In the forty-fourth year (1705), the doorway of the upper east gate gate was repaired. From the 30th year of Daoguang (1850) to the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), a comprehensive and large-scale city wall repair project was carried out. "Five gates in the east, west, north and west were built, and the foundations were still repaired, but the height of the south gate was increased by several feet." , created the existing regulations. Among the six ancient city gates, there are four east and west gates, facing each other. The heavy gates of the upper east gate, upper west gate and lower west gate all open to the south, facing the mountains and rivers in the distance, so that they can "take in the air"; the heavy gate of the lower east gate all opens to the south. The central axis of the gate is parallel to the central axis of the inner gate. It faces the official road leading to Kyoto to show respect for the imperial court. Although the main gate of the south gate is opposite to the inner gate, it still faces south due to the situation. The heavy door of the north gate is 90° to the inner door and opens to the east, bathed in the eastern dawn.
The gate tower
refers to the gate tower on the city wall, which is the symbol of the "city". Its majestic appearance shows the majesty of the city and the style of the nation.
The city tower in Pingyao existed in the Ming Dynasty and was rebuilt during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. The towers at the south and north gates are built in the style of a two-story, seven-purlin and mountain-mounted corridor with triple eaves. The towers at the east and west gates are built in the style of a mountain-mounted corridor with two stories and seven purlins and double eaves. In ancient or modern wars, the brick-and-wood structure of the city tower served as a lookout, the headquarters of the generals who defended the city, and an extremely important shooting point. In modern defensive battles, its function is no longer sufficient.