The Zhengyangmen (or Front Gate, means south-facing gate) is a 38-metre-high brick structure and located at Qianmen (Front Gate), south of Tian'anmen Square. It is one of the few remaining gates of the city wall. It was built in 1420 in the early Ming Dynasty and renovated in 1977. In the old days, watchtowers placed at regular intervals around the perimeter guarded the wall. The double gate system played an important role in repulsing enemy attacks. If the first gate was breached, the enemy would still find themselves outside the city wall and would be fired upon from the tower over the inner gate.
Zhengyangmen is a fortress-like structure, which was built for the city's defense in 1439. It has 94 windows from which arches could shoot arrows. The tower was burned down several times before it was reconstructed in 1914.It was the pass the emperor used for travel to the Temple of Heaven for worshipping ceremonies. Only the imperial sedans and carriages were allowed to use the gate, while funeral ceremonies and carriages were forbidden to pass here.
Zhengyangmen appears on the following banknote(s):
| |
;)
;)
