Donghuamen (Donghua Gate) , located in Beijing Dongcheng District No. 4, Jingshan Front Street Beijing Palace Museum Inside, is the east gate of Beijing Palace, built in the 18th year of Ming Yongle (1420) ^[1] .

Donghua Gate plane rectangular, red Chengtai, white jade Xuemui seat, which provides 3 coupons, coupons hole square inside round. The tower is built on the city platform, with yellow glazed tiles and hipped roof. The base is surrounded by white jade railings. The tower is 5 wide, 3 deep, surrounded by a corridor, and the beam is painted with a large dot of gold spin painting. The "Donghuamen" plaque under the east eaves was originally written in Manchu, Mongolian and Han, and later reduced to Manchu and Han. Xinhai Revolution Only bronze Chinese characters remained ^[1] .

On March 4, 1961, the Imperial Palace in Beijing, including the Donghua Gate, was declared by The State Council of the People's Republic of China as One of the first key cultural relics under national protection ^[2] .

Chinese name: Donghuamen
Foreign name: Donghua Gate
Geographical position: Beijing Palace Museum, 4 Jingshanqian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

age: Ming Yongle
Opening hours: From April 1 to October 31, each year 8:30-17:00 (Closing time: 16:10) From November 1 to March 31, each year 8:30-15:40 (Closing time: 16:30) (Closed on Mondays all year round)

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Historical evolution

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Ming Yongle 18 years (1420), Donghua Gate was built ^[1] .

In 2001, the stone of Donghuamen Gate tower base and fence plate were cleaned ^[4] .

In 2011, the renovation of Donghua Gate began ^[6] . On July 2 of the same year, the Palace Museum implemented a one-way tour route from south to north: the Meridian Gate (South Gate) was only used as the entrance to visit, and tourists all entered the Palace Museum through the meridian gate; Shenwu Gate (North Gate) is only used as an exit for visitors, and visitors can leave the Forbidden City by Shenwu Gate or Donghua Gate (East Gate) after the visit ^[3] .

In October 2015, Donghuamen Gate Tower was put into use as an ancient exhibition hall ^[5] .

On March 16, 2020, the Donghua Gate was cracked open by a car that forced its way into the Palace Museum, causing a doornail and metal door pin to fall off ^[7] .

Architectural pattern

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Donghuamen (14 photos)

The whole gate of Donghua Gate sits west facing east, and is composed of two parts: Chengtai and Chenglou. Rectangular plane, red platform, white jade, which provides 3 ticket doors, ticket hole square inside round. The tower is built on the city platform, with yellow glazed tiles and hipped roof. The base is surrounded by white jade railings. The tower is 5 wide, 3 deep, surrounded by a corridor, and the beam is painted with a large dot of gold spin painting. The gallery and the inner eaves are painted with a square heart and ink, and the wellhead ceiling is painted with red lotus and water grass ^[5] . The "Donghuamen" plaque under the east eaves was originally written in Manchu, Mongolian and Han, and later reduced to Manchu and Han. Xinhai Revolution Only bronze Chinese characters remained ^[1] .

Architectural feature

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EDITOR

Donghuamen

Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate Although symmetrical, they do not lie at the midpoint of the east and west walls; they are nearly seven times closer to the north wall than to the south wall Meridian gate To the side. This is completely determined by the overall layout of the Palace Museum in Beijing. The Forbidden City in Beijing is divided into two parts: the front court and the back bed. The three main halls are the main parts of the front court. They not only occupy a wide area and are deep, but also surrounded by verandae, which is a closed and independent architectural space. Only in Gate of Supreme Harmony There is a southern open square between the meridian gate, which can be circulated in the east and west directions, and is an important transitional space, which plays a hub role in dredging the traffic in the east and west. The Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate are exactly the same as the Wenhua Gate on the two wings of the former dynasty, Wuyingmen On the same latitude, also respectively and Concordance gate , Xihe Gate Look at each other. The purpose of these two gates to facilitate the use of the previous dynasty is clear. Therefore, it is quite appropriate to set them on the side near the meridian gate ^[8] .

History and culture

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Legends and anecdotes

Donghua Gate folk known as "ghost gate", all the gates of the Beijing Palace Museum are nine horizontal nine vertical 81 door nails, only Donghua Gate less line, is 72 door nails. There is a saying that if someone dies in the Forbidden City, the coffin of the dead person is carried out by the Donghua Gate; There is also a saying that the Donghua Gate is for ministers to enter and exit, because they are low in rank, so the doornail regulation is lower ^[6] .

Academic research

Ming Dynasty Chengzu Zhu Di Beijing was designated as the capital, but its palace city system was modeled on Nanjing. For example, the three main halls in the former dynasty and the two sleeping palaces in the latter dynasty not only had the same system, but also the same name, and some other important buildings also had the same name as Nanjing. However, the names of the east, west and north gates of the palace city did not copy the names of the three gates of the Palace city of Nanjing, namely Donghua, Xihua and Xuanwu, but adopted the names of the three gates of the Imperial city of Nanjing, namely Donghua, Xihua and Xuanwu. The name of the east, west and north three gates of the imperial city took the name of the three gates of the palace city of Nanjing, namely, East 'an, Xi 'an and North 'an three gates ^[8] .

Value of cultural relics

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EDITOR

The layout of the palace buildings in Beijing determined the location of Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate, and the location of Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate further affected some buildings in the imperial city. The imperial city has a total of four gates on its eastern side East Gate It is designed in the opposite position of Donghua Gate. The determination of the location of Donganmen depends entirely on the Donghua Gate of the Imperial Palace in Beijing, which links the two cities organically and is the result of the overall planning and careful design of the imperial city architecture and the imperial Palace architecture ^[8] .

Protective measure

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EDITOR

On March 4, 1961, the Imperial Palace in Beijing, including the Donghuamen Gate, was announced by The State Council of the People's Republic of China as the first batch of national key cultural relics under protection ^[2] .