Shangqiu Guide Ancient City

Shangqiu Guide Ancient City

Shangqiu Guide Ancient City is a cultural tourism attraction.

Introduction:

It is now one of China’s nationally recognized historical and cultural cities. Built in the sixth year of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (1511), it features fortress-style architecture with an outer round and inner square layout, resembling a traditional Chinese coin. The brick walls stretch 7.25 li in circumference, and the city gates are arched. The terrain inside the city is turtle-back shaped, giving the entire city a bird's-eye view like a chessboard. Most of the buildings within have horse-head gates and five-gate symmetrical courtyard complexes. Following the theory of mutual generation and restraint among the Five Elements, to prevent the clash between metal and wood, the east and west gates were deliberately offset. The east gate is slightly south, and the west gate slightly north, creating a one-street separation and resulting in two corner junctions that intersect separately with the north-south axis. From the Ming Jiajing era onward to the early Qing Dynasty, the city produced two Grand Secretaries (equivalent to prime ministers), five Ministers, as well as more than ten Vice Ministers, provincial governors, censors, military commanders, and renowned scholars. The wide moat, with its rippling blue waters, encircles the entire city. Beneath the water lie the ancient sites of Suiyang City from the Han and Tang dynasties, Nanjing City from the Song Dynasty, and the former site of Guide Prefecture from the Yuan Dynasty. Thanks to the relatively well-preserved walls and gates, Guide Ancient City has become one of the rare well-maintained ancient cities in China.

Shangqiu, Henan