Daqingmen

Zhonghuamen

synonym

Daqingmen generally refers to Zhonghua Gate (Beijing Zhonghua Gate (South Gate of the imperial city of the Forbidden City))

Zhonghua Gate refers to the South Gate of the imperial city of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was built according to the Hongwu gate of the Forbidden City in Nanjing. It was originally called Daming gate in the Ming Dynasty and Daqing gate in the Qing Dynasty. It was renamed Zhonghua Gate in the period of the Republic of China. On the central axis of Beijing, it was originally located in the north of Zhengyang gate, and is now in the south of the monument to the people's heroes and the memorial hall of Chairman Mao. This gate used to be a symbol of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which could not be opened in ordinary days. In 1976, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall was built on the original site. Zhonghua Gate is different from Zhengyang gate and Tian'anmen Gate in that it is not a city building, but a masonry structure with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain.

Historical evolution

Zhonghua Gate was first built in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, according to Hongwu gate of Nanjing imperial palace. When it was built, it was the South Gate of the Imperial City, and the ancients respected the south, so it enjoyed the status of "gate of the country". Its name changed with the change of dynasties. In Ming Dynasty, it was called damingmen. Jiejin, a scholar of University, wrote the couplet of "sun and moonlight, Tiande mountain and river, Zhuang emperor's residence". In 1644, it was renamed daqingmen. After the revolution of 1911, it was renamed Zhonghuamen in 1912. To expand Tiananmen Square in 1952, it was demolished in 1954 at the suggestion of Soviet experts. After Mao Zedong died in 1976, the memorial hall of Chairman Mao was built on its original site.

Architectural features

As the boundary between the imperial city and the marketplace, Zhonghua Gate has a solemn and heavy architectural style, and has a high degree of regulation. According to the records of the Da Qing Hui Dian, "the Da Qing gate, with cornices and ridges on the three towers, is square in front of the gate, surrounded by stone railings, one lion on the left and one lion on the right, and one stone tablet on the dismount.". Zhonghua Gate is a brick and stone structure building with a single eaves on the top of the hill. Similar regulations are used in the Ming Tombs, the eastern tombs and the Western tombs of the Qing Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty, between daqingmen and Zhengyangmen, there was a square square surrounded by stone railings. In the Ming Dynasty, it used to be a downtown street, commonly known as "Qipan Street". There was a dismounting tablet outside the gate, where the civil servants dismounted from the sedan chair and the military officers dismounted. Inside the gate was the royal royal road. Except for the Dragon chariot and Phoenix chariot of the emperor, Empress and empress dowager, other people could only walk through. In the Qing Dynasty, when the emperor got married, only the empress's sedan chair could enter the Forbidden City through the Daqing gate, while the sedan chairs of other concubines could only enter through the Shenwu gate. The middle gate can only be opened when you meet the emperor, empress dowager, emperor and empress. The others go through the side gate. On both sides of Tiananmen Square, there are many rooms in the wall of daqingmen, commonly known as Qianbu corridor. They are the offices of Yamen. They collapsed in the Republic of China. The two gates at the junction of the wall and Chang'an Street are Chang'an left gate and Chang'an right gate.

Anecdotes

After Li Zicheng entered Beijing in 1644, the gate was changed to "Dashun gate" in early April. Li Zicheng soon failed and withdrew from Beijing without a plaque.

The door plaque of the Qing Dynasty is made of stone, carved with lapis lazuli and inlaid in stone. After the founding of the Republic of China, we decided to change the name of daqingmen to Zhonghuamen on October 9, 1912 (the day before the celebration of the first anniversary of the 1911 Revolution). We wanted to remove the stone plaque and engrave it with "Zhonghuamen" on the back. When we removed the stone plaque, we found that it was actually "damingmen". It turned out that the people of the Qing Dynasty had already thought of this method more than 200 years ago, so they had to rush to make a new wooden plaque, which was inscribed by Wang Zhixin of Beijing Zhaoyin and hung under the eaves. The plaque is kept by the social and Cultural Affairs Administration of the Ministry of culture. After that, it will be handed over to the capital museum.

Address: Shenyang Palace Museum, 171 Shenyang Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang

Longitude: 123.45571032639

Latitude: 41.79723801059

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in the ticket of Shenyang Palace Museum.

Chinese PinYin : Da Qing Men