Part of illustrations of picture book Ancient Chongqing

Part of illustrations of picture book Ancient Chongqing

Tongyuan Gate and its city wall

Dongshui Gate today

Renhe Gate discovered in early 2012

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “Jiangzhou City in three thousand years, and Chongqing City in eight hundred years.” This is the “genealogy” of the city that Chongqing people are proud of; it is also the underlining connotation. But do you know the history of the construction of Chongqing? How much do you know about these city gates? And what are the stories behind them?

The reporter recently learned from Yuzhong Chongqing Cultural Relics Management Office that an Ancient Chongqing, a serial picture book about the “Mother City of Chongqing” that took nearly a year to compile by the office, is out now. It has two sets: City Construction and the Seventeen Gates, which features various illustrations and texts, displaying history of the Mother City of Chongqing to the readers.

“The Ancient Chongqing is the Book 1 of the picture book series, the pictures in which are original and the historical facts are indeed factual. “Related person in charge of the Office told that.

City Construction has four parts, namely the four reconstructions of the city in history by Zhang Yi, Li Yan, Peng Daya and Dai Ding. The person in charge said that the ancient city is Yuzhong Peninsula today, building along the mountain and river in a long stream of time.

“City Construction and the Seventeen Gates are inter-connected.” Person in charge of the Yuzhong Chongqing Cultural Relics Management Office told the reporter. The seventeen gates were built by Dai Ding in the fourth construction of the city, which are also the most popular gates enjoyed by citizens. Before Peng Daya, there were already four gates, and by the end of Song Dynasty there had been 5 gates, namely the Gate of Qiansi, Taiping, Zhenxi and Hongya.

The Seventeen Gates mainly introduced the commencement and stories throughout history about the seventeen gates such as the Gates of Chaotian, Dongshui and Tongyuan. Three to five picture books are employed to tell the origin and stories behind the city gates. For example, Chaotian Gate is the only passageway consisted of three doors out of the seventeen gates. Because it was a place to “receive the respectable”, there were Chaotian Station, Shengzhi (Imperial Decree) Street and Jiesheng (Receiving Imperial Decree) Street. (Translated by Yang Lifu, Fathom Language Limited)