Gate of China (Beijing)

The Gate of China in Beijing was a historical ceremonial gateway in Beijing, China, located near the centre of today's Tiananmen Square. It was demolished in 1954. This gate formed the southern gate of the during the and dynasties. It was located on the central axis of Beijing, and was located to the north of and south of Tiananmen. Unlike these two defensive gates, the Gate of China was a purely ceremonial gateway, with no ramparts, but instead a brick-stone structure with three gateways.

History

The gate was first built in the period of the Ming dynasty. As it was the southern gate of the Imperial City, and in ancient China "south" was regarded as the most eminent direction, this gate enjoyed a status as "Gate of the Nation". Its name has changed as dynasties rose and fell. In the Ming dynasty it was known as the "Great Ming Gate", and bore a set of engraved couplets "The Sun and Moon illuminate the virtues of Heaven; The Mountains and Rivers make magnificent the home of the Emperor" . When the Qing dynasty replaced the Ming, the gate's name was accordingly changed to the "Great Qing Gate" in 1644. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the gate's name was changed to the "Gate of China". In 1952, with the expansion of Tiananmen Square, consultants from the Soviet Union recommended demolishing the gate. In 1954 the gate was demolished. In 1976, after the death of Mao Zedong, a mausoleum was built for him on the site of the former gate.

Architecture

As the dividing point between the Imperial City and the commoners' city, the Gate of China was built to be formal and stately. The Great Qing Code prescribed that it was to have three gateways, flying eaves, a perfectly square plaza before it, two lions on each side, and a "dismounting stele" on each side . It is similar in style to the Great Red Gate at the Ming Dynasty Tombs and imperial tombs of the Qing dynasty.

In the Qing dynasty, the space between the Great Qing Gate and the was a square plaza surrounded by a stone fence. During the Ming dynasty, this space had been a busy market place, called "Chessgrid Streets" because of the narrow alleys between stalls.

The Dismounting Steles outside the gate marked the place where officials must exit from sedan chairs or dismount from horses. Upon entering the gate, only the Emperor, Empress, and Empress Dowager may ride in sedan chairs. In the Qing dynasty, the Empress may only enter the Forbidden City via the Great Qing Gate on the occasion of her wedding. All other concubines and consorts can only enter via the back gate, the Gate of Divine Might.

Tablet

The main tablet hanging above the gate was carved out of stone, with the individual characters made of Lapis lazuli and fitted into the tablet. On October 9, 1912, the day before the one year anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, the Republic of China government decided to change the name to "China Gate" to celebrate the overthrow of imperial power. It was thought that they could simply take down the tablet, reverse it, and carve the new name on it. When the stone was taken down, however, they discovered that the inside was inscribed "Great Ming Gate": it seems the artisans had already thought of the idea two hundred years ago. So a wooden tablet was quickly made, and the mayor of Beijing wrote the three characters "中華門" .

The original stone tablet is now in the Capital Museum in Beijing.