Beimen Bridge

Beimen Bridge

Beimen Bridge is a cultural relic protection unit of Nanjing City.

Beimen Bridge is located on the south side of the intersection of Zhujiang Road and Beimenqiao Road in Xuanwu District, Nanjing. It is 21.3 meters long and 17.3 meters wide, featuring a stone arch structure and was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty.

Beimen Bridge was called Xuanwu Bridge during the Five Dynasties period, but was later renamed to its current name due to its location near the northern gate of the capital city Jiangning Fu of the Southern Tang Dynasty, commonly known as Beimen Bridge. During the Song Dynasty, it was once named Qinghua Bridge (the area south of the bridge was originally the site of Qinghua Market) and Wusheng Bridge (a military training ground for imperial guards was once located nearby during the Song Dynasty). The inner side of the bridge’s arch is inscribed with “Caotang Bridge,” also known as Caotang Bridge, though the origin of this name is unclear.

In the sixth year of the Tianguan era of Yang Wu (909 AD), the powerful minister Xu Wen sent his adopted son Xu Zhigao to govern Jinling. Three years later, Xu Zhigao was promoted to the position of prefectural governor due to his achievements.

In the eleventh year of the Tianguan era of Yang Wu (914 AD), Xu Zhigao began constructing the prefectural city and built the Grand Commandery Government Office.

In the second year of the Wuyi era of Southern Wu (920 AD), Xu Wen dispatched Chen Yanqian to oversee the construction of the Jinling Prefecture City, though the scale was not very large.

In the fourth year of the Taihe era of Yang Wu (932 AD), in August, Xu Zhigao, who had gained military and political control over Yang Wu, “expanded the Jinling City to a circumference of twenty li,” widening the existing city walls and adding sheep-and-horse walls. At the same time, conscripted laborers were used to dig a moat along the city, which later became known as the “Yang Wu City Moat.” At that time, a stone bridge was also built over the moat outside the northern city gate, Xuanwu Gate, and was called Xuanwu Bridge.

In the first year of the Shengyuan era of Southern Tang (937 AD), Xu Zhigao accepted the abdication from Yang Wu, officially proclaimed himself emperor, established the state of Southern Tang, changed the name of Jinling Prefecture City to Jiangning Prefecture City, and carried out large-scale construction of the capital city. The new city of Jinling in the Southern Tang Dynasty had a perimeter of 12.5 kilometers, “with the west bordered by Shicheng, the south connecting Changgan, the east linked to Baiqia (i.e., today’s Dazhong Bridge), and the north limited by Xuanwu Bridge.” According to research, the city wall foundation of the new Jinling City in the Southern Tang Dynasty was three zhang and five chi wide, the top two zhang and five chi wide, and two zhang and five chi high, with eight city gates: South Gate, Lower Water Gate, Longguang Gate, Zhaizhai Gate, West Gate, Xuanwu Gate, East Gate, and Upper Water Gate. The Xuanwu Gate was the northern gate of the Southern Tang capital, and the Xuanwu Bridge over the northern moat outside the Xuanwu Gate was thus also called Beimen Bridge. The scope of the new Jinling City in the Southern Tang Dynasty continued into the Song and Yuan dynasties, and was not altered until the early Ming Dynasty. It holds an important transitional significance in the urban development history of Nanjing.