The excavation of the western gate of the Great City, Song period Yangzhou, discovered the stratigraphical superimposition of the western gates respectively belonging to the Five Dynasties period Zhou Dynasty Lesser C...The excavation of the western gate of the Great City, Song period Yangzhou, discovered the stratigraphical superimposition of the western gates respectively belonging to the Five Dynasties period Zhou Dynasty Lesser City, the Northern Song period District City, the Southern Song period Great City and the Ming and Qing Yangzhou City,brought to light the formal evolution of this city-gate, and revealed the historical mystery that the Zhou Dynasty Lesser City was also the Song period Great City. At the end of the Northern Song period, the Song and Jin dynasties were confronting each other, and Yangzhou became an anti-Jin forward position. To meet military needs, a barbican was added outside the western city-gate. The gate itself was built of bricks and must have been vaulted judging from the structure of the two side gateways. The great importance of this discovery lies in the fact that the construction of this city-gate was more than 130 years earlier than that of the vaulted city-gate of Heyimen in the Yuan Dadu. The typological features of the western gate cum barbican of the Song period Great City distinctly reflect the defensive function of the three cities of Song period Yangzhou, and provide valuable material for studying ancient urban architecture, military defence and the character of Song period Yangzhou City. At present the ruined western gate of the Song period Great City has constructed into a museum, constituting a part of the treatured heritage in the historic city of Yangzhou.展开更多
文摘The excavation of the western gate of the Great City, Song period Yangzhou, discovered the stratigraphical superimposition of the western gates respectively belonging to the Five Dynasties period Zhou Dynasty Lesser City, the Northern Song period District City, the Southern Song period Great City and the Ming and Qing Yangzhou City,brought to light the formal evolution of this city-gate, and revealed the historical mystery that the Zhou Dynasty Lesser City was also the Song period Great City. At the end of the Northern Song period, the Song and Jin dynasties were confronting each other, and Yangzhou became an anti-Jin forward position. To meet military needs, a barbican was added outside the western city-gate. The gate itself was built of bricks and must have been vaulted judging from the structure of the two side gateways. The great importance of this discovery lies in the fact that the construction of this city-gate was more than 130 years earlier than that of the vaulted city-gate of Heyimen in the Yuan Dadu. The typological features of the western gate cum barbican of the Song period Great City distinctly reflect the defensive function of the three cities of Song period Yangzhou, and provide valuable material for studying ancient urban architecture, military defence and the character of Song period Yangzhou City. At present the ruined western gate of the Song period Great City has constructed into a museum, constituting a part of the treatured heritage in the historic city of Yangzhou.
