The Gate Tower of Qufu Ming Dynasty Old City

The Gate Tower of Qufu Ming Dynasty Old City

The Gate Tower of Qufu Ming Dynasty Old City is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Gate Tower of Qufu Ming Dynasty Old City is located atop the south and north gates of the Ming Dynasty Old City in Qufu. These are the gate towers of the southern and northern gates of the old city.

The southern gate is called Yangsheng Gate (later renamed Wanren Gongqiang). Its gate tower was first built in the eighth year of the Zhengde era (1513), featuring a depth of three bays, a width of five bays, corridors on all sides, a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, and is covered with gray and tubular tiles, adorned with Qing-style spiral floral paintings.

This gate is named Yannen Gate, but in 1947 the plaque “Yangsheng Gate” was embedded. The northern gate tower was also first built in the eighth year of the Zhengde era (1513), with a depth of three bays, a width of five bays, corridors on all sides, a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, and is covered with gray and tubular tiles, adorned with Qing-style spiral floral paintings. The barbicans of both the southern and northern gates were also built in the eighth year of the Zhengde era (1513), taking a semicircular shape, and are among the main defensive structures of ancient cities.

In 2006, the Gate Tower of Qufu Ming Dynasty Old City was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Shandong Province

· Third Batch of Municipal Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jining City