History of the Tian'anmen gate Tower

Originally, it was a three-storey timberwork in the form of paifang of the imperial building named Gate of Accepting Heavenly Mandate (Chengtian Gate).Marble Cloud PillarIn 1457, it was damaged by lightning and was completely burnt down. Eight years later, Tian'anmen was rebuilt as a five-bay-wide and three-bay-deep gatehouse. In year 1644, the seventeenth year of the reign of Chongzhen (1627-1644), Gate of Accepting Heavenly Mandate suffered another blow in the war. It was burnt down by rebels led by Li Zicheng who attacked Beijing. In year 1661, the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the gate was given its present name when a massive remodeling lasting for six years completed. The Chinese name of the gate, Tiananmen, is made up of three Chinese characters "heaven", "peace" and "gate", hence the translated version "The Gate of Heavenly Peace". To be more accurate, this name is derived from the much longer phrase "receiving the mandate from heaven and stabilizing the dynasty". Later Tiananmen underwent two reconstruction works in year 1688 and in year 1952 separately. After standing there for more than 500 years, the gate had badly deteriorated and it was then rebuilt again in 1970. The external appearance of the gatehouse remained the same as it was in year 1651, although it is 83 centimeters higher from the original height 33.87m to 34.7m