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Pingyao Historic City and Qiao Family Courtyard Zhang

熙 ) (1703), the emperor traveled through Wenchang Pavilion (文昌阁) on top of the
Pingyao to the west, a tower was built on each southeast corner, along with many ritual
of the four sides of the city wall to make the buildings erected on the city wall for
city look more spectacular [Figure 3]. The ceremonies, such as the old temples and
city wall is square in plan, with a shrines to commemorate Emperor Zhenwu
circumference of 6.163 km and a height of 10 (真 武 ), Guan Sheng (关 圣 ), and God of
m. The top of the wall is built with a 2 m high Wealth (财神) in the barbicans in the middle
crenellation wall (or “horse-retaining wall” of the east wall [4, 6] .
挡马墙), with a top width of 3‒5 m. In the Historic Chinese city walls were initially
more than 500 years of the Ming and Qing made of soil with moats dug around them.
dynasties, Pingyao city wall underwent 26 The moats filled with water are called “chi”
times of repair and addition. With the (池, meaning “pond”), those without water
economic development of society, the city are called “huang” (隍, meaning “god”), and
wall has been continuously innovated by “chenghuang” (城 隍 , meaning “city god”)
adding barbicans, platforms, watchtowers, a was the patron sage of a city. To strengthen
suspension bridge, moats, and so on, forming
its current scale and grandeur with a strong defense and consolidate power, Emperor Zhu
presence today [1, 4, 6] . Yuanzhang ( 朱 元 璋 , 1328‒1398) built
Chenghuang/City God Temples (城隍庙) and
County Government Offices (县 衙 蜀 ) all
over China with the same specifications, and
[7]
promoted them to high status .
When Pingyao city wall was rebuilt in
early Ming dynasty, the moat had a depth and
width of 3 m. In the 3rd year of Longqing (隆
庆) (1569), the moat was expanded to a depth
and width of 10 m, so that it could provide a
better protection for the city, and thus it was
often called the “Protective River” (护城河).
Pingyao city wall had six gates, one each in

the north and south, and two each in the east
Figure 3. One of the city-gate towers, Pingyao Historic and west. There were six barbicans by the city
City. Source: Photo by the author, 2017 gates, with parapets on top of the wall. A
protective wall (known as “daughter wall” 女
There are 77 brick drainage channels on
the inner wall, and 3,000 heads around the 儿墙) was built along the inner wall, with
outer wall. Originally built with 40 water outlets underneath, and rainwater was
watchtowers in the early Ming dynasty, it drained to the horse road in the city through
increased to 94 in the 3rd year of Longqing the cistern by the inner wall. The outer wall
(隆庆) (1569), and later was renovated with had attached piers protruding outwards every
60‒100 m, and watchtowers were built on the
72 watchtowers in the first year of Xianfeng platforms. Turrets were built on the piers of
(咸丰) (1851). The number 72 implies that the four corners of the city wall. From above,
Confucius had “3,000 disciples and 72 sages,” Pingyao Old City looked like a tortoise
reflecting Confucian ideology had subtly crawling southward. The south gate was like
infiltrated into the realm of military the tortoise head, the north gate was like its
architecture and urban defense system in tail, and the east and west gates resembled the
China. There is also a corner tower built at four feet of a tortoise. Therefore, Pingyao was
each corner of the city wall, a pedestal on the nicknamed “Tortoise City.” A tortoise was an
east wall, and Kuixing Tower (魁星楼) and auspicious symbol of longevity whose idea

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