Ancient Defensive Projects (3)

In ancient China, from the emperor’s capitals to the prefectures and counties, there were almost always city walls and moats built around them. Gatetowers, gateways, watch-towers, ramparts, and battlements were constructed so that the walls formed a strategically complete and impenetrable defensive system.

The most important gatetowers from the later Western Han period to the Sui Dynasty are multi-storied structures. Take, for example the east gate of HanguPass built at the end of the Han Dynasty. From the stone relief we can see that it was a gate with two passages. On top of each of the passages, there was a huge three-storied gatetower. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the gates had two-or three-storied towers. From the Tang to the Yuan Dynasties, the gatetowers were all single-storied. Only after the Ming Dynasty did gatetowers appear with two or more stories.

Gateways built before the Tang Dynasty were all beam-roofed, square-shaped wooden structures. In the period of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the span of gateways needed to be expanded, so slanted beams were used on both sides to support the roof; therefore a triangle-roofed gateway was formed. Such gateways can be seen in the frescoes in the Yongle Palace (Yuan Dynasty) and in the stone reliefs in Yanshan Temple ( Jin Dynasty) in Shanxi Province. Because of the constant use of gunpowder in incessant wars, wooden gateways were not resistant to fire. Thus from the Southern Song Dynasty, the technique that the southerners used to build arched waterways was gradually employed in the construction of gateways in the north. The earliest material examples were the gateways of the Yuan capital Dadu. This kind of gateway became popular between the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. For the same reason, gatetowers were also improved. As a result, battlements were added later on, wooden platforms were abolished, and the gatetowers were built in a drawn-back position, thus forming the common Ming-Qing-style gatetowers that we see today.

Wall building techniques have developed continuously to strengthen strategic and defensive capabilities. Consequently, parapets and battlements appeared on top of city walls. The battlement was the crenel, which was also called pini in ancient times. According to historical records, “the battlement was 85 centimeters high and 100 centimeters wide, and there was one every 50 meters apart.” To meet the needs of military defense work, the city walls were built high and thick. Watch holes and shooting holes were also constructed in the battlements.