Xi'an
City Walls
 When
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the
Ming dynasty (1368-1644), captured Huizhou,
a hermit named Zhu Sheng admonished him
that he should 'built high walls, store
abundant food supplies and take time to
be an Emperor,' so that he could fortify
the city and unify the other states. After
the establishment of the Ming dynasty, Zhu
Yuanzhang followed his advice and began
to enlarge the wall built initially during
the old Tang dynasty (618 -907), creating
the modern Xian City Wall. It's the most
complete city wall that has survived in
China, as well being one of the largest
ancient military defensive systems in the
world.
After the extension, the wall
now stands 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 12-14
meters (40-46 feet) wide at the top and
15-18 meters (50-60 feet) thick at the bottom.
It covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in
length with a deep moat surrounding it.
Every 120 meters, there is a rampart which
extends out from the main wall. All together,
there are 98 ramparts on the wall, which
were built to defend against the enemy climbing
up the wall. Each rampart has a sentry building,
in which the soldiers could protect the
entire wall without exposing themselves
to the enemy. Besides, the distance between
every two ramparts is just within the range
of an arrow shot from either side, so that
they could shoot the enemy, who wanted to
attack the city, from the side. On the outer
side of the city wall, there are 5948 crenellations,
namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook
and shoot at the enemy. On the inner side,
parapets were built to protect the soldiers
from falling off.
 Since
the ancient weapons did not have the power
to break through a wall and the only way
for an enemy to enter the city was by attacking
the gate of the city wall. This is why complicated
gate structures were built within the wall.
In Xian, the city wall includes four gates
and they are respectively named as Changle
(meaning eternal joy) in the east, Anding
(harmony peace) in the west, Yongning (eternal
peace) in the south and Anyuan (forever
harmony) in the north. The south gate, Yongning,
is the most beautifully decorated one. It
is very near to the Bell Tower, center of
the city. Important greeting ceremonies
organized by the Provincial Government are
usually held in the south gate square.
Each city gate has three gate
towers: Zhenglou, Jianlou and Zhalou. The
most outside is Zhalou, which stands away
from the City Wall and is opposite to Zhenglou.
It was used to raise and lower the suspension
bridge. Jianlou with small windows in the
front and flanks was used as a defensive
outpost. Zhenglou, in the inner, is the
main entrance to the city. The wall connects
Jianlou and Zhenglou Towers. The area between
them within the wall was called 'Wong Cheng',
in which the soldiers stationed. From Wong
Cheng, there are sloped horse passages leading
to the top of the city wall.
Initially, the wall was built
with layers of dirt, with the base layer
including also lime and glutinous rice extract.
Throughout the time Xian City Wall has been
restored three times. In 1568, Zhang Zhi
(the government officer of that period)
was in charge to rebuild the wall with bricks.
In 1781, another officer, Bi Yuan, refitted
the city wall and the gate towers. More
recently (since 1983) the Shaanxi Provincial
Government restored the city wall again.
A circular park has been built along the
high wall and the deep moat. The thriving
trees and flowers decorate the classical
Chinese architecture of the wall, adding
additional beauty to the city of Xian.
A nice suggestion for tourists:
Try biking on the City Wall, you will have
an enjoyable and interesting experience.
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