We used 1 department, 3 hospitals, 5 provinces, 37 prefectures, 162 counties, * * * 280,000 migrant workers, about 350 million city bricks, and finally completed the pattern of four walls.
Now commonly known as "Nanjing City Wall" generally refers to the inner city wall. The inner city wall faces Zhongshan in the east, with stones in the west, Qinhuai in the south and Houhu in the north, with a circumference of 35.267 kilometers and a well-preserved Ming city wall of 25 kilometers. It is the longest existing ancient city wall in the world, a rare well-preserved ancient city wall in China and the largest existing ancient building in Nanjing.
general layout
The construction of the Ming City Wall in Nanjing is described as "making the best use of people, making the best use of land, and creating a perfect place", which embodies the idea of "harmony between man and nature" and "imperial power is endowed by heaven". The inner city department is planned by Ziwei Academy, Taiwei Academy and Tianshi Academy, which represent the imperial court. The inner and outer city walls correspond to the celestial equator and the ecliptic for 28 nights, which is not a simple layout of the former dynasty and the market.
According to folklore, the Nanjing City Wall is a "treasure gourd" shape, and some experts think it is a "non-square, non-round, irregular, multi-angle and unequal-sided zongzi shape" and a "palace fan shape". The latest view is that the Nanjing city wall is formed by gathering the stars of the Big Dipper in the sky.
Because there is an abandoned city wall of more than 200 meters at the western end of Jiefangmen, which is a redundant city, it is mistakenly called Taicheng. Therefore, Chinese academic circles generally believe that the overall layout of the inner city has been changed, that is to say, the northern part of the inner city was expanded due to military or geographical reasons during the construction of the city wall. It is a change made by bringing the mountains in the north of Nanjing, especially the lion mountain, the commanding height of the Yangtze River defense, into the inner city.
Some scholars do not agree with the theory of "expanding the inner city to the north". Yang Guoqing speculated that the wall of the northern city with Jinchuan River as the moat moved eastward, and Xuanwu Lake was used as the moat, thus forming a redundant city. He/she speculates that if Jinchuan River is used as a moat, the overall shape of the inner city is still the aggregation of Nandou Star and Big Dipper.
Extended data:
Cultural relic value
Nanjing Ming City Wall embodies the wisdom of ancient working people in many aspects, such as the wall structure, the innovation of urn, the utilization of moat water, the design and construction of sluice gates and bridges. This is a monument built by China in ancient times.
As a masterpiece of China's ancient military defense facilities and wall construction technology, its historical value, ornamental value, archaeological value, architectural design, scale, function and other aspects are incomparable at home and abroad, and it is another great structure of China after the Great Wall.
Nanjing Ming City Wall is the largest brick city in the history of China City Wall and the longest, largest and most authentic brick city wall in the world. Its fortification technology has reached the peak in the history of China, and it is a model of fortification technology in East Asia. Nanjing Ming City Wall, known as "the best in the world", has outstanding military defense function, and it was also the object of imitation of more than 1,000 city walls in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Nanjing Ming City Wall is an important historical and cultural heritage of Nanjing and an important part of Nanjing's famous historical and cultural city. Since its completion, it has had a far-reaching impact on the spatial layout and urban development of Nanjing, and played a key role in shaping the urban characteristics and forming the urban pattern of Nanjing.
The layout of Nanjing Imperial City and Miyagi City, on the basis of inheriting China's traditional palace architecture technology, used architectural language to embody and strengthen the imperial power thought, and formed the palace que system in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which had a great influence on the palace architecture in Ming Dynasty (Fengyang) and Beijing City.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Nanjing Ming City Wall