Tian’an men Square Introduction History
3 min readTian’anmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing，named after the Tian’anmen（Gate of Heavenly Peace）located to the North of the square and separating it from the Forbidden City.
Tian’anmen Square is the third largest city square in the world（440，000m2）.It has great cultural significance as it is the site of several important events in Chinese history.
History
The Tian’anmen，Gate to the Forbidden City，was built in 1415 during the Ming Dynasty.Towards the demise of the Ming Dynasty，heavy fighting between Li Zicheng and the early Qing emperor damaged（or perhaps destroyed）the gate.The Tian’anmen Square was wbwwd sGpos i1g designed and built in 1651 and has since then enlarged several times its original size.
Near the center of today’s square，stood the“Great Ming Gate”，the southern gate to the Imperial City.It was renamed“Great Qing Gate”during the Qing Dynasty and“Gate of China”during the Republic of China era.Unlike the other gates in Beijing，such as the Tian’anmen and the Qianmen，this was a purely ceremonial gateway，with three arches but no ramparts，similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the Ming Dynasty Tombs.This gate had a special status as the“Gate of the Nation”that can be seen from its successive names.It normally remained closed，except when the Emperor passed through.Commoner traffic was diverted to two side gates at the western and eastern ends of today’s square，respectively.Because of S this diversion in traffic，a busy marketplace，called Chessgrid Streets，developed in the south of this gate.
British and French troops who invaded Beijing in 1860 pitched camp near the gate and briefly considered burning down the gate and the entire Forbidden City.They decided ultimately to spare the palace and to burn instead the emperor’s Old Summer Palace.
The Qing emperor eventually agreed to let the foreign powers barrack troops-and later establish diplomatic missions-in the area，resulting in the Legation Quarter to the east of the modern square.
During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900，the fights badly damaged the office complexes and several ministries were burnt down.In the conflict’s denouement，the area became a space for foreign troops to assemble their armies and horses.
In the early 1950s，the Gate of China was demolished for the enlargement of the square.In November 1958 a major expansion of Tian’anmen Square started，which was completed after only 11 months in August 1959.This followed the vision of Mao Zedong to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world and intended to hold over 500，000 people.In that process a large number of residential buildings and other structures had been demolished.On its southern edge，the Monument to the People’s Heroes was erected.
Concomitantly，as part of the Ten Great Buildings constructed between 1958-59 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China，the Great Hall of the People and the Revolutionary History Museum（now National Museum of China）were built on the western and eastern sides of the square.
The year after Mao’s death in 1976 the Mausoleum was built near the site of the former Gate of China on the main north-southaxis of the square.In connection with this project，the square was further increased in size to become fully rectangular and being able to accommodate 600，000 people.
The surrounding of the square was altered in the 1990s with the construction of National Grand Theatre and the expansion of the National Museum in its vicinity.
