Ruins of Deji Gate

Ruins of Deji Gate

The ruins of Deji Gate are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The ruins of Deji Gate are located directly opposite the Tianhou Palace at the southern gate of Quanzhou City, Fujian Province.

The Jubao Street and Wan Shou Road near Deji Gate in front of the Quanzhou Tianhou Palace were distribution hubs for imported and exported goods during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Historical records indicate that in the 11th century, “exotic and prohibited goods piled up like mountains” both inside and outside Zhen Nan Gate. In the 13th century (during the Southern Song Dynasty), Prefect You Jiugong expanded the area and built additional wing walls, “using the river as a shield and constructing them with stone.” Commerce flourished both inside and outside the city, with “eighty painting workshops” and “a population of no less than five hundred thousand.” By the 13th century, the area around the city gate had become even more prosperous, praised by contemporaries as a place where “merchant ships from all over the world and treasures from various foreign lands converged.” In the 12th year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1352), Regional Governor Xie Yuli expanded the southern Luocheng, increasing the original city wall perimeter from 20 li to 30 li, and renamed Zhen Nan Gate to Deji Gate. During the 14th century (the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty), the Deji Gate city wall was thickened and heightened, and a moon-shaped barbican was constructed. It underwent multiple renovations afterward until it was damaged in the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948).

The site covers an area of 2,000 square meters and consists of the Deji Gate, city walls, gate passages, piers on both sides of the gate passages, inner and outer moats, an arched bridge, as well as a barbican and its gate. Many stone carvings from the 13th to 14th centuries representing Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, as well as iron cannons from the 14th to 19th centuries (Ming and Qing Dynasties), have been unearthed here. The gate ruins extend about 14.10 meters deep, divided into two gate passages in the front and back, the widest being 4.10 meters. The gate passage floor is paved with long, square, and irregular stone slabs, featuring anti-slip grooves. Stone beams were laid where the gate passage crossed the moat. The remaining gate structure measures 36.50 meters from north to south and 49.10 meters from east to west. The city walls are built with stone on both the inner and outer sides, with a base width of 4.8 meters and remaining height of 0.5 to 1 meter. The barbican is crescent-shaped, measuring 41.1 to 43.6 meters from east to west on the outer side, 22.4 meters from north to south, with a base width of 4.2 to 4.4 meters, and surrounded by an outer moat. The barbican gate is located on the western side, extending 5.06 meters in depth, with two gate passages in the front and back, the widest being 3.10 meters, and a base width of 3.10 meters. The existing cultural layers of the ruins overlap, relatively intact, preserving historical traces of urban expansion and reconstruction from the 11th to the 20th century.

In 2006, the ruins of Deji Gate, as an ancient site from the Song to Yuan dynasties, were included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Location

Tianhou Road, Licheng District, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units