Fortifications of Xi'an
Fortifications of Xi'an Xi'an City Wall | |
---|---|
西安城墙 | |
General information | |
Type | Fortification |
Country | People's Republic of China |
Coordinates | 34°15′58″N 108°56′35″E / 34.266°N 108.943°E |
Technical details | |
Size | 14 km (8.7 mi) |
Asia-Pacific |
The fortifications of Xi'an (Chinese: 西安城墙), also known as Xi'an City Wall, in Xi'an, represent one of the oldest, largest and best preserved Chinese city walls. It was built under the rule of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as a military defense system. It exhibits the "complete features of the rampart architecture of feudal society".[1] It has been refurbished many times since it was built in the 14th century, thrice at intervals of about 200 years in the later half of the 1500s and 1700s, and in recent years in 1983. The wall encloses an area of about 14 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi).
The Xi'an City Wall is on the tentative list of
Location
Xi'an City Wall is located in the urban district of
History
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the
The wall was initially built solely from tamped earth. During the
According to the Shenboo Atlas of 1933, in the 1930s most people lived within the perimeter of the Xi'an Wall but still there were a lot of unoccupied open areas. Among the visitors who came to see the Xi'an Wall were American captain (later general)
The Xi'an City Wall was proposed as a
Features
The Xi'an Wall is rectangular in shape and has a total length of 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), with almost all stretches subjected to some kind of restoration or rebuilding. Along the top of the wall is a walkway, which would typically take four hours to cover.[9] It is built in the Chinese architecture style.[1] As a defense fortification, it was constructed with a moat, drawbridges, watch towers, corner towers, parapet walls and gate towers. The wall is 12 metres (39 ft) in height with a width of 12–14 metres (39–46 ft) at the top and base width of 15–18 metres (49–59 ft). Ramparts are built at intervals of 120 metres (390 ft), projecting from the main wall. There are parapets on the outer side of the wall, built with 5,984 crenels, which form "altogether protruding ramparts". There are four watch towers, located at the corners and the moat that surrounds the wall has a width of 18 metres (59 ft) and depth of 6 metres (20 ft).[10] The area within the wall is about 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi), enclosing the small area of 14 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi) occupied by the city.[11]
The southern embrasured watchtower constructed in 1378, was destroyed by fire in 1926[8] during the civil war of 1926, and was restored in September 2014. This was done after a careful historical review of documents related to the historical features that existed before it was damaged. The other three watchtowers forming the northern, eastern and western gates of the wall were also examined during the planning phase of the modifications done for the South Tower. They were modified, without affecting the integrity of the wall, by an encompassing hall offering protection to the structures by using steel, wood work and the ancient-type tiles and bricks structure.[8] Major gates have ramp access except the South Gate which has entry outside the walls.[9]
There is an "Archery Tower", which provides security to one of the four gates of the Xi'an wall. Created as a large trap-like chamber, capped by a tower filled with windows, it gave an advantageous position for archers to shoot arrows (in the initial years of building the wall) and later cannonballs at the opposing revolutionary forces. In the event that the enemy was able to breach the walls through the main gate they would become trapped in the small chamber that faced yet another gate and thus be easy targets for the defending troops.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties Description". UNESCO Organization. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ "Introducing X'Oan". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ "Xian City Wall". Official web site of The Tourism administration of Xi'an. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Beijing Review. Beijing Review. 2008.
- ^ Lynn2013, p. 123.
- ^ a b c So & Zelin 2013, pp. 233–34.
- ^ So & Zelin 2013, p. 234.
- ^ a b c "Shaanxi Top 10 events of cultural heritage in 2014". Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Xī'ān City Walls". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Bushell 2012, p. 33-36.
- ^ Xi'an City Wall. Heritage Key. University of Maine at Farmington Archived 2009-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Xi'an City Wall". China Bibliography – Hua Umf Maine. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
Bibliography
- Lynn, Anne Wien (2013). All Things Chorus. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4759-5947-5.
- Bushell, Stephen W. (2012). Chinese Art. Parkstone International. ISBN 978-1-78042-924-3.
- So, Billy K.L.; Zelin, Madeleine (2013). New Narratives of Urban Space in Republican Chinese Cities: Emerging Social, Legal and Governance Orders. BRILL. pp. 233–34. ISBN 978-90-04-24991-2.