Xibianmen

Xibianmen

Xibianmen is the gate at the northwest corner of the outer city of Beijing. It is located next to the turret at the northwest end of the city wall of Beijing. It is mainly composed of the turret, arrow tower and urn city. Xibianmen and DongBianMen are two city gates built later in Beijing. They were named Pianmen. Later, it was called disorderly, and became a "convenient door".

Purpose of construction

In the 43rd year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty (1564), in order to defend against the harassment of Mongolian cavalry, strengthen the defense of Beijing City, and ensure the safety of Beijing City, the outer city surrounded by the southern suburbs was built, and the west gate was built at the westernmost end of the outer city. In the situation at that time, the ruler's strongest desire was peace, which was overwhelming.

The origin of the name

There are two versions about the origin of the name of Xibianmen

1. The convenience gate is convenient for North-South access and convenient for construction.

2. Xibianmen City

The west side of the city, and is the combination of the inner city and the outer city. Therefore, the gate can be named "Pi ā n" because of its location, which is also called "xipian gate". But because the pronunciation of "Bian" and "Pian" is similar, "xipianmen" has been read as "Xibianmen" for a long time.

Architectural history

summary

In the 32nd year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty (1553), because of the Mongol cavalry invading South several times and the increasing number of residents outside the city, the outer city was built around the capital. Later, because of the lack of financial resources, only a section around the southern suburbs was built, and five gates were set up, such as Yongding gate, which made the wall of the capital "convex". Later, the north-east and northwest corners of the outer city and the junction of the inner city were respectively opened with a city gate facing north. The regulation was relatively simple, and the gate tower was only 11 meters high, which was called the east gate and the west gate respectively. In the 43rd year of Jiajing reign, the outer city and its seven gates were repaired. A semi-circular urn with a diameter of 31 meters was added to the Xibianmen gate. The crenels of the city wall at the junction of the inner and outer cities on the east side of the gate were strengthened. The moat outside the gate was dredged. At the same time, a three hole water gate was built to the east of the gate, so that Yuquan mountain could flow smoothly into Tonghui river nearby. In the Qing Dynasty, a small archery tower with a width of 9 meters and a height of 4.7 meters was built on the urn. After 1949, the city building was demolished. Xibianmen tower, Jianlou and Wengcheng were demolished in 1952. When the subway was built in 1966, the wall nearby was demolished. In 1988, the municipal government renovated the 195 meter inner city wall close to the east side of the tower, restored the tower at the junction of the outer city, shared 130000 pieces of new city bricks, and preserved seven section relics, namely the "Ming Dynasty Beijing City Wall Relics", and erected a monument as a Memorial, which is a cultural relic protection unit in Beijing. In 1966, the ring subway was built and part of the city wall nearby was demolished. In 1988, the municipal government renovated the 195 meter inner city wall close to the east side of the tower, and rebuilt the "eight stare eye" archery tower at the original site of the outer city, retaining seven section relics. Different from the DongBianMen site, the old city bricks were not collected in the restoration process of the Xibianmen site, but the new city bricks were used to restore the city buildings, so the Xibianmen site looks much more orderly than the DongBianMen site. The ruins of Xibianmen tower are located in the south section of the second West Ring Road. You can see the tower and the city wall by driving on the second ring road.

Construction scale

The tower is 10.5 meters high, and other shapes and sizes are the same as those of DongBianMen. It was built in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty. At that time, the nomads in the North plundered more frequently, Beijing became more and more prosperous, and the number of residents inside and outside the city increased, so they built the outer city around the capital. However, due to the underestimation of the construction scale and financial constraints, only a section of the southern suburb was built. Near the junction between the East and West ends of the outer city wall and the inner city wall, two gates facing north were built, namely the east gate and the west gate. The scale of its initial construction was very small. In the 43rd year of Jiajing, the city building was expanded and the semicircular urn was added. In the Qing Dynasty, the arrow tower was added to the urn.

The Xibianmen tower is a single-layer, single-layer and small-sized building with a grey tile top, square doors on all sides and no windows. It is 11.2 meters wide in three rooms, 5.5 meters deep in one room and 5.2 meters high. The wooden square gate is set in the middle of the platform, and the tower is connected with the platform, with a height of 11.2 meters. The urn is a semicircle, 30 meters wide from east to west and 7.5 meters long from north to south. Jianlou is a single-layer, single eaves, hard Hill style, with a gray tube tile roof. It has a wooden square gate on the South back, arrow windows on the East, West and north sides, two floors on each side, four holes on each floor on the north and two holes on each floor on the East and west sides. It is 9 meters wide in three rooms, 4.6 meters deep in one room, and 4.7 meters high. It has a central gate on the platform, with an arched roof on the outside (north half) and a wooden square gate on the inside (South half), with a height of 10.5 meters. Now Xibianmen is located in the north of Nanjing City in Liao Dynasty, in the north of Zhongdu city in Jin Dynasty, in the southeast of tongxuanmen, and in the southwest corner of Dadu city in Yuan Dynasty. The gate tower is only 11 meters high.

But unfortunately, this picture is far from a convenient one.

Evolutionary place names

After Xibianmen, it evolved into a film name, which generally refers to the intersection of xibianmenwai street and the vicinity of Xibianmen East Street and Guanganmen Beibinhe road. The north is under the jurisdiction of Xicheng District, and the south is under the jurisdiction of Xuanwu District. Xibianmenwai street used to be the main road from tongxuanmen of Jinzhong capital to Juyongguan Pass. It was the official road of xibianmenwai in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was called Lishen Street (part) in Ming Dynasty and guangheng street in Qing Dynasty. It was renamed after 1949, and its two sides are mostly residential buildings built after liberation. Xibianmenwai street was formed in the early 1970s and officially named in 1987. Guanganmen North Riverside Road, formerly known as Guanganmen north riverside, was named in 1965. On the east side of the ruins of Xibianmen city wall is now Xibianmen bridge, a large-scale directional full interchange with a total length of 409 meters, which was completed in 1992. Located in the southwest of Xicheng District. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was one of the seven gates outside the capital. In the early Ming Dynasty, Beijing was built in the southwest suburbs.

Address: Yuemiao square

Longitude: 112.7346410007

Latitude: 27.243417000305

Chinese PinYin : Xi Bian Men