FEATURES
South Heaven Gate 南天門 at Gubeikou Pass | China Heritage Quarterly
South Heaven Gate at Gubeikou Pass
The Great Wall, Beijing
北京古北口南天門
Sang Ye with Geremie R. Barmé
This pass through the Great Wall was the way the emperors (from the time of the Kangxi Emperor in the 1660s to the reign of Xianfeng in 1860) took to leave China Proper and visit the Summer Resort at Jehol and the imperial hunting grounds further north. The imperial party would generally stop here to rest and take refreshments.[Fig.1]
The Chinese army suffered a heavy defeat here during the conflict with the invading Japanese imperial forces in 1933 and the original buildings at the Gubeikou Pass of the Great Wall were destroyed. When the Japanese established a puppet government in north China the buildings were restored in 1936.
In 1966, the Red Guards of the Gubeikou Middle School destroyed the buildings once more.[Fig.2]
|
