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In Beijing, the names of many places like Andingmen, Chaoyangmen and Fuchengmen end with "men," which refers to "gate" in the Chinese language
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During the rule of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), several gates were made in the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, the Inner City and the Outer City. These gates strengthened the defense of the city and regulated the entry of outsiders into the city. Originally, most of these city gates were fortified by walls on the outer side as part of the city's structural plan. These walls acted as secondary gate towers which were situated just outside the city gates. The main city wall and the fortifications on the outside were connected by curtain walls that were semi-circular in shape. These semi-circular walls that were similar to earthen jars were called "urn walls". In the Inner City, Xizhimen stands as an example of a square shaped "urn wall". Many of these "urn walls" had "urn towers" on the top, from where an eye could be kept on the enemy and archers could take a shot at them. In this way, these "urn walls" were important to the defense of the city. |
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© imagesofasia 2007-08 |
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