Guangji building

Guangji building

Guangji gate tower, formerly known as "Guangji tower", also known as "Hanjiang tower", is also known as "Dongmen tower" among the folk. It ranks first among the seven towers in Chaozhou City. Jinjiang controls the mountain and protects the town bridge. It is one of the symbols of a famous city.

Guangji building was built in the third year of Hongwu (1370) of Ming Dynasty. It was repaired in different degrees in the past dynasties. It was rebuilt in 1931. With its profound historical, scientific and artistic value, it has been announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council.

Historical evolution

Guangji building in Chaozhou was built in 1370, the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, and rebuilt in the 20th year of the Republic of China. This restoration restored the style of the Ming Dynasty. It is a palace style building with three stories, four eaves, wood and stone structure and green tile roof. However, the original Guangji building of Ming Dynasty no longer exists, and only some components are left. The designer has to design according to the appearance of Guangji building in the ancient city of Chaozhou in Qing Dynasty and the style of Guangji building described by the painters in Qing Dynasty, referring to the architectural form of Ming Dynasty left in Chaozhou City, and adopting the method of "off shelf and re repair", that is, to install the old components of the old building in situ, fully reflecting "repair as old" principle. In the decoration details of the beams and columns of the city building, the designers mainly consider the traditional technology of Chaozhou, and also refer to the national characteristics of ancient buildings in Beijing, Xi'an and other places to reshape the cultural relic buildings with Chinese traditional style and local characteristics. The newly restored Guangji building is 6 meters higher and wider than the original one restored in the Republic of China.

Guangji gate tower is a palace style three-story attic on Xieshan mountain. The outer gate was originally "Wanchun in the East". The building is located on a high and thick platform. The arch is open in the middle. It is seven rooms wide and five rooms deep. The front and back of the building are connected and supported by wood and stone columns. It crosses the city wall and becomes a arcade. The roof is paved with double-layer big green tiles, and the eaves of each layer are inlaid with blue glass, with water dripping from the hook head, carved hurdles and painted buildings, surrounded by windows, flying attic and flowing elixir, which is majestic and spectacular. Climbing the tower and looking around, you can see that Han is underwater in the north, the long bridge lies in waves, and the distant mountains are like Dai. In case of summer and autumn, the tide is high, and the sails are small. When you see the river beating pier, when you see the waves splashing on the shore, you can enjoy the painting and poetry. Inside the building, there is a couplet saying: "ten thousand peaks stand in front of the house, and one water meets the sky", which is the freehand brushwork of this landscape. In the late spring and March, when you climb the tower and look at it, the water of the Hanjiang River rises, the river is open, the long bridge lies on the waves, the vast expanse of smoke and mist, the picturesque peak of the pen and the shuttle of boats make it a unique scenery. Therefore, the eight sceneries in Chaozhou have the victory of "watching the tide in the East Tower".

In the process of construction, a plaque of Guangji gate, which is said to be written by Wang Yuan, the magistrate of Ming Dynasty, was excavated under the gate. The original plaque was enlarged and placed on the gate, while the original plaque was embedded inside the gate. The plaque of "Guangji building" was written by Xiao, a famous calligrapher, "Wanchun in the East" was written by Rao Zongyi, a great master of Chinese culture, and "the first city in Lingdong" was written by Liu Bingsen, a calligrapher. In order to increase the anti-seismic force, the wooden beam column joints of Guangji building are required to be tight and loose properly, and are combined by clamping, and the Redwood with higher strength than Chinese fir is used as the column and main beam, which can achieve the purpose of not collapsing in large earthquake and not damaging in small earthquake. In order to avoid the damage of roof tiles caused by typhoon, the front wall of the building is equipped with detachable window sashes, which are replaced by lattice fans (called flash doors in Chaozhou) to fully ventilate. Under the eaves, a cross arch bucket is also installed on the lintel of the top of the door, leaving a gap to disperse the wind. In case of a big typhoon, open the window sash to let the wind flow through, you can receive the effect of protecting the building.

According to the system of three stories and four eaves, the original appearance was restored before the restoration in 1931; the restoration was based on the picture of Chaozhou ancient city in Qing Dynasty and relevant historical documents, and with reference to the city building of Ming Dynasty in the same period, that is, the city platform was restored to its original height, but not thickened, so as to maintain the original functions of defense, flood prevention and sightseeing of the East Gate building. The cement bearing columns on the second floor were restored to stone columns, while wooden columns were still used on the third and fourth floors to restore the wood stone structure and cancel the cement structure; the beams, doors and windows, railings and tile ridges were restored to Ming style, and the demolished components were used as much as possible after screening, so as to preserve more historical information; the exposed parts of tile surface, wall, ground, stone and steps were not directly used with cement; the surface was five rooms wide and the depth was three rooms deep, The four side ring windows are changed into lattice doors, reflecting the characteristics of Chaozhou ancient buildings and the rough style of urban defense buildings. At the same time, couplets, plaques and brief introductions of Chaozhou sages will be added on each floor to enhance the cultural connotation of Guangji gate tower. I believe that in the near future, Guangji gate tower will reappear the glory of the past and provide a good place for more tourists!

Architectural features

The Guangji gate tower was designed according to the palace style three-story hilltop. The Ming Dynasty stone and wood structure was restored. The ground elevation of the first floor was 19.8 meters. The original functions of defense, flood control and sightseeing of the east gate tower were retained. The original cement bearing columns on the second floor were restored to stone columns, while wooden columns were still used on the third and fourth floors, and the original cement structure was cancelled. The beams, doors and windows, railings, tile ridges, etc. were restored to the Ming Dynasty form, and the demolished components were used as much as possible after screening, so as to preserve more historical traces. The exposed parts of tile surface, wall, ground, stone, steps, etc. were not directly cemented Among them, four ring windows were changed into lattice doors. The total height of the gate of Guangji tower is 24.43 meters, which is about 2.4 meters higher than the original one. In the process of interior decoration, the construction unit specially purchased superior tung oil from Guangxi as the main paint raw material for wood structure, and specially hired famous ancient architecture masters in Chaozhou for painting and gilding, which better reflected the characteristics of Chaozhou ancient architecture and the rough style of urban defense architecture, thus improving the cultural connotation of guangjimen tower.

The main renovation project of guangjimen tower has been basically completed and is entering the stage of interior decoration. It is expected to be fully completed in the first ten days of January 2004. At that time, guangjimen tower, the most spectacular of the seven gates in the original Chaozhou ancient city, will reappear beside the Hanjiang River with the elegant demeanor of the ancient city building in the Ming Dynasty, and become a brilliant stroke of "protecting the ancient city and building a famous city" in our city.

Address: Huancheng East Road (near Guangji Bridge)

Longitude: 116.65123748779

Latitude: 23.674619674683

Chinese PinYin : Guang Ji Lou