The City Wall in Xi an 西安古城墙

18 Mar 2009

China Travel tips/旅游提示, Xi'an/西安 1,405 views

Xi’an is one of Chinese cities of long history and rich culture inheritage. It’s City Wall and River impress me the most.At the time when Zhu Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was adonished by a hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to “build high walls, store abundant provisions and take your time in proclaiming yourself emperor.” Zhu Yuanzhang followed his advice.

Once the whole country was unified, he sent orders to the local governments to build city walls on a large scale. Zhu assumed that “out of all the mountains and rivers in the world, the central Qin is the most strongly fortified and strategically Dynasty structure, as a result of a wall building campaign.There is a rampart every 120 meters apart, that extends out from the main wall. The top of the rampart is at the same level as the top of the wall. The ramparts were built to allow soldiers to see those enemies who would try to climb the wall. The distance between every two ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy.

There are altogether 98 of them on the wall; each has a sentry building on top of it.The weapons in ancient times were primitive. The gates of the city wall were the only way to go into and out of town. Therefore, these gates were important strategic points. The feudal rulers racked their brains to try to defend them. In Xi’an, each of the east, west, south and north gates consists of three gate towers. The main gate tower is called zhenglou, Zhalou is the gate tower with a suspension bridge, and Jianlou is the arrow tower. Zhalou tower stands away from the wall. It is used to lift and lower the suspension bridge. Jianlou tower is in the center of the others. There are square windows in the front and on the two sides to shoot arrows from. The zhenglou tower is the inner one and is also the main entrance to the city. Jianlou tower and zhenglou are connected by walls and the encircled area is called wongcheng in which soldiers could be stationed. From wongcheng, there are also horse passages leading to the top of the wall.

These are gradually ascending steps that make it easy for war horses to ascend and descend. There are altogether eleven horse passages aroud the city.A moat, wide and deep, runs around the city. Over the moat, there used to be a huge suspension bridge which cut off the way in and out of the city, once lifted.Thus, the Ming Dynasty city wall formed a complex and well-organized system of defense. It is also the most complete city wall that has survived through china’s long history. The city call itself is a true display of the ability and wisdom of the working people in ancient times. It provide invaluable and substantial material for the study of the history, military science, and architecture of the Ming Dynasty.

Taday, after the repairs that have been made on the wall by the lacal government, the city wall has taken on a new look. A circular around the city. The thriving trees and flowers, the rockeries in the park, and the buildings of classical Chinese architecture, together with the city wall, make Xi’an all the more beautiful.

city wall

西安是一个文化底蕴极其深厚的城市，城墙与护城河是众多承载历史、传承文明的历史遗迹之一。早在明王朝建立前，当朱元璋攻克徽州之后，一个名叫朱生的隐士便告诉他应该“高筑墙，广积粮，缓称王”。朱元璋采纳了这些意见。当全国统一后，他便命令各县普遍筑城。而朱元璋以为“天下山川，唯秦中号为险固”。西安古城桓就是在这个建成的热潮中，在唐皇城旧城基础上扩建起来的。城墙每隔120米修敌台一座，突出在城墙之外，顶与城墙面平，这是专为射杀爬城的敌人设置的。地台之间距离的一半，恰好在弓箭的有效射程之内，便于从侧面射杀攻城的敌人。城墙上共有敌台98座，上面都建有驻兵的敌楼。古代武器落后，城门又是唯一的出入通道，因而这里是封建统治者苦心经营的防御重点。西安城东、南、西、北四座城门，都分别有正楼、箭楼、闸楼三重城门。闸楼在最外面，其作用是升降吊桥。箭楼在中，正面和两侧设有方形窗口，供射箭用。正楼在最里面，是城的正门。箭楼与正楼之间用围墙连接，叫瓮城，是屯兵的地方。瓮城中还有通向城头的马道，缓坡无台阶，便于战马上下。全城共建有马道是十一处。城墙四角都有突出城外的角台。角台除西南角是圆形的——可能是为了保持唐皇城转角原状外，其他都是正方形的。角台上修有较敌楼更为高大的角楼，表明了这里在战争中的重要地位。城四周环绕着又宽又深的护城河，正对城门处设有可以随时起落的吊桥，吊桥一升起，进出城的通路便被截断。明代西安城桓曾是一个庞大而精密的军事防御体系，也为我国现存最完整的一座古城堡。西安古城墙西安市了我国古代劳动人民的聪明才智。