The face representing the Ming and Qing emperors was shamelessly lost by Cixi.

The main entrance, commonly known as Qianmen, was built in the 17th year of Yongle, located in the south of the inner city of Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its original name is Li Zhenmen. Driven by the dragon and phoenix, when Ming Yingzong expanded Beijing, it paid special attention to adding turret, urn gate and east-west gate, forming an overall pattern of four gates, three bridges and five archways, much higher than the other eight gates in the inner city. It is also from this time that the beautiful front door, which has been called for more than 30 years, was renamed Zhengyangmen.

The majestic tour of Zhengyangmen in Longnan

As a special gate for the emperor, the main entrance can be said to be the face of the Ming and Qing emperors. According to the ancestral system, the emperor came here to worship the agricultural altar every spring and the Temple of Heaven in winter. This is not only a city gate, but also an extension of the royal authority.

However, it was this royal "face" that was lost by Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty. 1900, due to the advanced age of Cixi, Duanjun Wang Zaiyi and others rashly declared war on Britain, France, Germany and other powers 1 1. As a result, Eight-Nation Alliance was dragged in, which triggered the "Gengzi Revolution".

Zhengyangmen Tower burnt down in the Gengzi Revolution.

When foreigners came, Cixi immediately recognized her cowardice, and with the highly shameless traitorous spirit of "measuring China's material resources and making the country happy", she signed the Treaty of Humiliating Ugliness. Although they lost money, lost their sovereignty and sanctioned a number of anti-foreign ministers, foreign powers were still not satisfied. In addition to classifying Dongjiaominxiang, the capital of the United States, as a lawless "country within a country", the United States has to take over the "access right" of Zhengyangmen. This is because the boundary of the embassy district is in the area of Zhengyangmen Tower and the east wall, so they demand to control Zhengyangmen, which is the commanding height here.

1902, in order to welcome Cixi back to Beijing, a temporary archway was built at Zhengyangmen, which was equivalent to hitting Cixi and Guangxu in the face! However, Cixi, who has been frightened by foreigners, has lost face. She even agreed that the US military should set up sentries on towers and walls, so that she could check China people entering and leaving Zhengyangmen. People in old Beijing are very angry, but they have to be searched by foreigners when they walk through the gate of their own capital. What a pity! But Cixi insisted on this point, so the United States kept the access control of Zhengyangmen until the end of World War I. 。

1905 The reconstructed Zhengyangmen unfortunately fell into the hands of Americans. After World War I, people's resentment accumulated for many years broke out again. Aware of this, the Beiyang government actively negotiated with countries such as Britain and the United States. After argumentation, on June 5438+09 19 1 0/0/0/3 1, the United States finally agreed to quit Zhengyangmen, and on June 5438+09191,the access control was returned to China.

At the end of Qing Dynasty, China was humiliated by Cixi.