Tian’anmen( the Gate of Heavenly Peace), is located in the center ofBeijing. It was first built in 1417 and named Chengtianmen( the Gate of HeavenlySuccession). At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was seriously damaged by war.When it was rebuilt under the Qing in 1651, it was renamed Tian’anmen, andserved as the main entrance to the Imperial City, the administrative andresidential quarters for court officials and retainers. The southern sections ofthe Imperial City wall still stand on both sides of the Gate. The tower at thetop of the gate is nine-room wide and five –room deep. According to the Book ofChanges, the two numbers nine and five, when combined, symbolize the supremestatus of a sovereign.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tian’anmen was the place where stateceremonies took place. The most important one of them was the issuing ofimperial edicts, which followed these steps:
1) The Minister of Rites would receive the edict in Taihedian( Hall ofSupreme Harmony), where the Emperor was holding his court. The minister wouldthen carry the decree on a yunpan( tray of cloud), and withdraw from the hallvia Taihemen( Gate of supreme Harmony)
2) The Minister would put the tray in a miniature longting( dragonpavilion). Beneath a yellow umbrella and carry it via Wumen( Meridian Gate), toTian’anmen Gate tower.
3) A courtier would be invested to proclaim the edict. The civil andmilitary officials lining both sides of the gateway beneath the tower wouldprostrate themselves in the direction of the emperor in waiting for the decreeto the proclaimed.
4) The courtier would then put the edict in a phoenix-shaped wooden box andlower it from the tower by means of a silk cord. The document would finally becarried in a similar tray of cloud under a yellow umbrella to the Ministry ofRites.
5) The edict, copied on yellow paper, would be made known to the wholecountry.
Such a process was historically recorded as “ Imperial Edict Issued byGolden Phoenix”.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties Tian’anmen was the most importantpassage. It was this gate that the Emperor and his retinue would go through ontheir way to the altars for ritual and religious activities.
On the Westside of Tian’anmen stands ZhongshanPark( Dr. Sun Yat-sen’sPark), and on the east side, the Working People’s Cultural Palave. The Park wasformerly called Shejitan( Altar of Land and Grain), built in 1420 for offeringsacrificial items to the God of Land. It was opened to the public as a park in1914 and its name was changed in 1928 to the present one in memory of the greatpioneer of the Chinese Democratic Revolution.
The Working People’s Cultural Palace used to be Taimiao( the SupremeAncestral Temple), where tablets of the deceased dynastic rulers were kept.
The stream in front of Tian’anmen is called Waijinshuihe( Outer GoldenRiver),with seven marble bridges spanning over it . Of these sevenbridges,historical records say the middle one was for the exclusive use of theemperor and was accordingly called Yuluqiao( Imperial Bridge). The bridgesflanking it on either side were meant for the members of the royal family andwere therefore called Wanggongqiao( Royal’s Bridges). Farther away on each sideof the two were bridges for officials ranking above the third order and werenamed Pinjiqiao( ministerial Bridges). The remaining two bridges were for theuse by the retinue below the third order and wre called Gongshengqiao( commonBridges). They anr the one in front of the Supreme Ancestral Temple to the eastand the one in front of the Altar of land and Grain to the west.
The two stone lions by the Gate of Tian’anmen, one on each side were meantas sentries. They gaze toward the middle axis, guarding the emperor’s walkway.In front of the gate stands a pair of marble columns called Huabiao. They areelaborately cut in bas-relief following the pattern of a legendary dragon.Behind the gate stands another pair of similar columns. The story of Huabiao maybe traced to a couple of sources. One of the versions accredits its invention toone of the Chinese sage kings named Yao, who was said to have set up a woodenpillar in order to allow the ordinary people to expose evil-doers, hence it wasoriginally called a slander pillar. Later it ws reduced to a signpost, and nowit serves as an ornament.
The beast sitting on the top of the column is called” hou”, a legendaryanimal, which is said to have been a watcher of an emperor’s behaviour. He wasdoing such duties as warning the emperor against staying too long outside thepalace or indulging in pleasure and urging him to go to the people for theircomplaints or return in due time. Therefore, the two pairs of beasts were giventhe names” Wangjunhui”( Expecting the emperor’s coming back) and “ wangjunchu”(Expecting the emperor’s going out) respectinvely.
In the old days, Tian’anmen, as a part of the Imperial City, was meant forimportant occasions. The two rows of chaofang( antechamber), on the sides behindthe main gate, wre reserved for civil and military members of the governmentwaiting for imperial audience and in front of the gate, were offices of imperialadministration.
On October 1, 1949, chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed on Tian’anmen Rostrumthe founding of the People’s Republic of China. Since then Tian’anmen has beenthe symbol of New Chine\a. Chairman Mao’s portrait is hung above the centralentrance, flanked by two slogans:” Long Live the Great Unity of the Peoples ofthe World”. Today , the splendour of Tian’anmen attracts million of visitorsfrom all over the world. The Rostrum on its top was opened in 1988 to the publicfor the first time in its history. It offers a panoramic view of the Square andthe city proper.
Tian’anmen Square
Situated due south of Tian’anmen, the Square has an area of 44 hectares(109 acres) that can accommodate as many as one million people for publicgatherings. It has witnessed may historical events in China’s modern history andis a place for celebrations on such festive days as international Labour Day onMay 1st and national Day on October 1st.
Around the Square are several famous buildings:
1 The Great Hall of the People
This is one of the largest congressional buildings in the world. Built in1959, the hall consists of three parts: a 10,000-seat auditorium in the center,a banquet hall in the north wing facing Chang’an Street, with a seating capacityof 5,000, and offices for the Standing Committee of the National Peoples’Congress of China in the south. In addition, thirty-four reception chambers arenamed after various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directlyunde the Central Government, plus Hong Kong and Macao. Each is different fromthe other in decoration and furnishings to stress their local features.
2 The Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the ChineseRevolution
These two museums were also built in 1959. the museum of Chinese Historyhouses a permanent exhibition in four parts, covering the entire process ofChinese history spanning from 1.7 million years ago to 1919:
1) The Primitive Society( 1.7 million years ago to the 21st centuryBC);
2) The Slave Society(21st century BC to 476 BC.);
3) The Feudal Society(475 BC. To 1840 AD.);
4) The Semi-Colonial and Semi- Fedual Society(1840 to 1919.)
The Museum of the Chinese Revolution covers the period from 1919 to1949.
3 The Monument to the People’s Heroes
the monument was built in memory of thousands of martyrs who died for therevolutionary cause of the Chinese people. Its construction began on August 1,1952 and was not completed until 1958. in the form of an obelisk, the Monumentas made of more than 17,000 pieces of tranite and white marble. The purple pieceinlaid in the front of the Monument was brought from Qingdao, Shandong Province.It is 38 meters(124ft 8 in) high, the loftiest of its kind ever seen in thecountry. Not only is it an historic memorial for immortal heroes, but also it isan artistic work of excellent architectural value.
On the front side of the Monument is an engraved inscription in Chinesecharacters written by Chairman Mao Zedong, which reads” Eternal Glory to thePeople’s Heroes!”. On the back of the Monument is an article written by ChairmanMao, but in Chinese calligraphy by the late Premier Zhou Enlai.
At the top of the Monument are eight gigantic carved wreathes of suchflowers as peony, lotus and chrysanthemum, symbolizing nobility, purity, andfortitude. At the base of the monument are eight marble reliefs depicting theChinese historic events since 1840. They are:
1) The Burning of Opium in 1840:
2) The uprising of 1851 in Jintian, Guangxi;
3) The Revolution of 1911;
4) The May Fourth Movement of 1919;
5) The May 30th Movement of 1925;
6) The Uprising of 1927 in Nanchang, Jiangxi;
7) The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression from 1937 to 1945;
8) The Victorious Crossing over the Yangtze River by the Peoples’sLiberation Army in 1949. This relief is flanked by two smaller ones—“ Supplyingthe Front” and “ Greeting the P.L.A.”.
4 Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum
Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Pepublic of China, passedaway on Sepember 9, 1976. In commemoration of this great man, a mausoleum beganto be constructed in November 1976, and was completes in August the followingyear. The Mausoleum was officially opened on September 9, 1977.