Gates of Beijing's Inner City Walls

 

While gates were also created for the walls of the Imperial and Outer Cities, the Inner City gates have been the most specialized. They separated the living quarters of the commoners from those of the elites, and were the first entryways for material goods to be transported into the Palace. When creating the city plan, Yongle consulted Rites of Zhou. According to the book, the city should be build on a north-south axis that aligns the Emperor's power with Heaven. The entrance to the Imperial City would be on the south, facing Heaven, and exit on the north (12). This layout thus determined the usage of different gates for the Inner City. The most important gates were thus those on the south, while the least significant were located on the north.

 

The following is a list of the gates' usages (14):

 

Gates to the south of the Imperial City: 

Zhengyangmen: direct entry into the Imperial City, for imperial family to use only

Xuanwumen: to transport prisoners

Chongwenmen: busiest gate, for taxing and transport of goods

 

Gates to the east of the Imperial City: 

Dongzhimen: to transport timber and wood materials into the city

Chaoyangmen: for the arrival of grains from southern China

 

Gates to the west of the Imperial City:

Fuchengmen: to transport coal into the city from Xishan, a mountain range west of Beijing

Xizhimen: to transport water

 

Gates to the north of the Imperial City: 

Deshengmen: for soldiers to exit the city 

Andingmen: to transport feces

 

Let’s go back to learning more about the evolution of Beijing’s walls…