Solid Walls

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The walls of the yuan dynasty is built mostly the rammer earth, no outside bag, so a rain ChengZhuan build by laying bricks or stones may be caused by rain erosion of soil wall damage.In order to protect the wall, then covered by programmed walls, and when it rains reed reed rain flows to the surface down, like rainy days as they wear hemp fiber.But such measures also is not very reliable because of lax, there will always be covered the walls and make possible, so to damage the hongwu period in Ming dynasty, started the massive rebuilding of the project. The walls in BeijingOne thing both sides wall inner city is using the yuan dynasty soil walls in heart, as wall brick wall lateral plus two layers of bricks inside.With big, the inner ChengZhuan outer with small brick.The inside wall of large ChengZhuan add erect a.The inner city north wall is built of emperor hongwu new heart is also, the middle wall built, inside and outside rammer earth all the ChengZhuan, add build by laying bricks or stones inner city is Ming yongle south walls are built, center on the loess, lateral fill of soil layer is a small brick wall, small brick walls QiYou big ChengZhuan, outside a great ChengZhuan medial build by laying bricks or stones.

The wall of Ming dynasty Beijing brick mostly in shandong liaocheng, henan, linqing etc, the glaze of anyang near the canal, the place not far away from Beijing, transportation distance is convenient, local and high quality clay, so an ideal ShaoZhuan site.According to estimation, brick of the wall inside city of Beijing towers, JianLou amount (including buildings in about SanSiQianWanKuai,.

Ming dynasty Beijing ZhiDie brick walls top QiYou outside, also called the crenel, each crenel high has 1.9 meters wide and 1.5 meters, thick 0.7 meters.QiYou parapet walls inside, about a metre high, more than 70 centimeters thick, is to prevent soldiers slip down the wall built.According to the statistics, internal and external wall of Beijing 20772 a, were the crenel under more than 12600 boreholes crenel.

Less than 90 meters every wall with a barbican (also called pier, horse faces), the height of the same with walls, towers than walls, but to the top, bottom protruding as long 15 m, width about about 13 meters.Barbican's role is to make the city soldiers to shoot with bows and arrows in the wall root place such as the enemy.If no barbican, city soldiers must upper might shoot out the enemy soldiers in the walls, root not only very inconvenience and may be the enemy's weapon hit.Have the barbican, soldiers from the prominent department towers attack enemy soldiers lateral.The distance between the two barbicans just does not exceed archer range.

Beijing ShouCheng medial wall built for the soldiers with uptown brothers.they ribbon-laced, slope in 15 degrees above, about 4 ~ 5 meters wide, so called ribbon-laced, probably officers can also ride from here uptown brothers.they.

Beijing each gate inside city built towers above all, these towers is located in a CWR on railway, and the wall around the bottom of the pile caps are closely linked, open a vaulted squarely coupons hole, is the city gateways, where there are two fan porches, opening doors, outsourcing nails, the front has big bubble copper nail.Door behind the door bolt.

Ming dynasty Beijing built during the inner city towers, each orthodox years towers are faced TongWa rests the summit, spread ash, green glazed tile cutting edge.The towers are generally surface broadly seven rooms, the width between 5, but there are also width, like ChaoYangMen between 3 FuChengMen is three rooms, deep.The inner city each tower specifications are not consistent, in general, to ZhengYangMen specifications in the highest towers in ChongWenMen, the Forbidden City, the most spectacular is a bit poor some, dongzhimen, xizhimen and sent some DeShengMen, AnDingMen, ChaoYangMen, FuChengMen specifications, lowest, each tower had fluctuation two layers, ShouCheng soldiers put floor can be overlooking.

WaiCheng towers towers than the inner city short.The tallest is located in the south part of central axis YongDingMen, about 20 metres high towers, gates, surface broadly 7 rests the summit between, between ZhengYangMen descend three corresponding, and remote.Second is the gate, now guangning door, also rests the summit, fluctuation floor gates, a bit shorter than YongDingMen towers.Guang qu men and ZuoAn door, right Ann doors are single eaves jehiel the top layer of the tower, only 15 meters high, dongbianmen and the shape XiBianMen more small, highly only 12 meters, is single eaves rests the summit a layer of towers.

Beijing each gate towers outside of a right in front of the JianLou, JianLou, called on both sides have walls around, and the walls of WaiCheng inside, conterminous, so in the gates place formed a small drum outwards, and this is a WengCheng.WengCheng plane shapes square, like the dongzhimen, xizhimen WengCheng;Also has a rectangle, like the ZhengYangMen, DeShengMen WengCheng;And, like the semicircle of XiBianMen dongbianmen, WengCheng.Some other WengCheng basically is square, but the two sides wall in adjacent thru adopted arc not right angles.

Each seat is consistent, the shape JianLou JianLou most of ZhengYangMen majestic.ChengTai high about 12 meters, gates TongWa rests the summit, spread ash, green glazed tile cutting edge.South flank kuo nine rooms, BaoSha seven rooms, north out of southeast west on three sides JianChuang has four layers, the south were 52 hole, things two sides each have 21 hole, the front door JianLou high 38 meters wide and 52 meters, width 32 meters, is the highest in JianLou in Beijing.

9 in the inner city, only the front door JianLou door open have openings, but under the door and ZhengYangMen is same, peacetime all closed does not open, only the emperor discrepancy just open it.ZhengYangMen WengCheng covers an area of the biggest, appears as things narrow rectangle, other WengCheng have one door, ZhengYangMen WengCheng besides JianLou underneath of a door, still around on each side, opened a door in JianLou below is moat, river three stone bridge.Bridge between the south have a five arch and Beijing says 'five arched', refers not to, but the five five arched the archway expounded.

Beijing JianLou modelling the inner city gates and the front door JianLou basic same, positive is rests the summit, behind the gates BaoSha five rooms.There are three major below the front row of arrows hole, a row of arrows double-hipped roof above, below the JianLou holes of the arrow is not very consistent, number of holes JianLou because of small size some some holes are less, the arrows.

The inner city gates WengCheng has a characteristic, is the same remoteness wall WengCheng gates are all open, like enterprise to the north of WengCheng dongzhimen wall facing south, on the south side of the door of the gate toward the north ChaoYangMen WengCheng, this to troops from one gate outside transferred to another by gates and provided convenience.Wl fucheng xizhimen, on the wall ChongWenMen on the wall door, enterprise, the Forbidden City is so, ZhengYangMen WengCheng is on the east, south, west three sides open gates, but DeShengMen, AnDingMen wall beicheng exception, two WengCheng gates all toward the east, I do not know what reason.

WengCheng WaiCheng than the inner city, and has two small WaiCheng using semi-circular layout, the gate of the inner WengCheng and different, all in the JianLou below open.YongDingMen JianLou positive two row of arrows hole, each row about seven holes on both sides, two row of arrows hole, each row, so that a total of 26 a three arrows holes.With the JianLou behind, only one door holding summer.Cast to the enemy soldiers arrows crossbows, firearm.

WengCheng of building, apparently in order to strengthen the defense, gate to gate is the whole city fortification, is also a weak point of the enemy attack key, and the gates thereof are made of wood, although pack, plain, is still better than fe more vulnerable to enemy walls the destruction of the siege equipment.More importantly, once the fort, the enemy army gates can be through the streets of the gate to deep thrust, rapid directly threatening the safety of emperor city, WengCheng reigns, construction of the defense made the gate increased line of defense, so even if the enemy WengCheng, ShouCheng scored the army still can promptly ordered troops, will the enemy in the walls of WengCheng annihilation below.

In order to make the yugoslav capital more firm outside the walls, Beijing, and parallel with moat.Moat is not natural rivers, but artificially mining, are generally will HaoQian soil dug up the wall built walls ramming heart.So it can kill two birds with one stone, save Labour.Moat YuQuanShan introduced by the river water from outside the HaoQian.MingZhengTong years and will deepen, and laid the moat made Banks, and each gate on the moat for pedestrians in and out with stone bridge, city traffic.Moat about 30 meters wide, deep about 5 meters, about 50 meters away from the wall.The stone bridge on the river outside the iron barriers can switch installed, in case of over-centralization can shut down.

Swedish scholars of Beijing RenLong had starwood walls and gates made image of the analogy: 'if we put it (Beijing) compared to a giant body, gate mouth, like giant respiratory and speak all the way through this, the whole city life pulse is concentrated at the gate of the place. This discrepancy, including not only large vehicles, pedestrians and livestock, and people's thoughts and desires, hope and despair, and the symbol of death or brand-new life. The wedding procession in funeral or where you can feel the city gate, so that the city of the pulse of life and will through this narrow way of moving - the beating, the extremely complex gives Beijing the organism to the life and movement rhythm' (' Beijing's walls and gates ').The old city is, indeed, a living object, it has its skeleton, digestive system, blood circulation system, nervous system, the city each family constitute its every cell, a dime a dozen small hutong, wide street is capillary is that it's aorta, the palace was it's brain, the central government is its yamen central nervous system, the wall is its tough thick skin, and the gates thereof are its 7 and excretion organs.