Qianmen in simplified Chinese:前门; traditional Chinese:前門, literally means "Front Gate".The term originated from the Manchu era. The name Tob šuni duka, meaning "gate of the zenith Sun", a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guarded the southern entry into the Inner City. Although much of Beijing's city walls were demolished, Qianmen remains an important geographical marker of the city. The city's central north-south axis passes through Zhengyangmen's main gate. It was formerly named Lizhengmen (simplified Chinese:丽正门; traditional Chinese:麗正門; pinyin: Lìzhèngmén), meaning "beautiful portal".
History
Zhengyangmen was first built in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty and once consisted of the gatehouse proper and an archery tower, which were connected by side walls and together with side gates, formed a large barbican. The gate guarded the direct entry into the imperial city. The city's first railway station, known as the Qianmen Station, was built just outside the gate. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the gate sustained considerable damage when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the city. The gate complex was extensively reconstructed in 1914. The Barbican side gates were torn down in 1915.
After the Communist victory of 1949, the Zhengyangmen gatehouse was occupied by a garrison of the People's Liberation Army. The military vacated the gatehouse in 1980, which has now become a tourist attraction. At 42 metres high, the Zhengyangmen gatehouse was, and remains, the tallest of all gates among Beijing's histroic structures. Zhengyangmen gatehouse survivedbeing demolished in the late 1960s during the construction of the Beijing’s Metro system. While others such as the Deshengmen in the north and Dongbianmen in the southeast only have their archery towers standing. Xibianmen retains only part of its barbican. Yongdingmen's gatehouse was rebuilt in 2007.
Today, Qianmen Avenue (Dajie) cuts between the Zhengyangmen gatehouse and the archery tower to the south. Line 2's Qianmen Station is also located between the two structures inside the space once surrounded by the barbican.Qianmen remains one of the enduring symbols of old Beijing. Qianmen is also home to Beijing's narrowest hutong, the Qianshi hutong.
