South Gate of Weichuan

Weichuan Town lies fifty li southwest of Weishi County. In the Jin Dynasty, it was known as Songlou Town. A county was established here in the second year of the Xingding reign (1218 AD), and the territory was incorporated into Weishi County in 1965 after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Weichuan boasts a long history with well-preserved ancient traditions and historic relics. Its South City Gate is one of the town’s most famous scenic spots.

The city wall of Weichuan was first built in the first year of the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty (1450 AD). Standing 2.6 zhang high, the wall stretched for nine li and forty paces around the perimeter, with five city gates opened along it. In the tenth year of the Zhengde reign (1515 AD), County Magistrate Zhang Gong renovated the wall and erected gate towers above each of the five gates. The city underwent twelve rounds of reconstruction and expansion between the Ming and Qing dynasties. The parapets, battlements and carriage passages were all laid with bricks, neat, solid and imposing. Hence the local saying: "The eight boroughs of Weichuan are as impenetrable as an iron fortress."

Before the founding of New China, the city suffered repeated wars and fires. The city walls collapsed and most gates fell into ruin, leaving only the Grand South Gate standing intact. The gate is 7 metres wide from east to west, 13.5 metres deep and 10 metres high. Both inner and outer walls are built with large bricks resting on a bluestone foundation. The top is formed into a semicircular archway. The architecture is primitive, sturdy and magnificent. The survival of this gate is largely attributed to a strange ancient cypress growing right on top of the arch.

This cypress grows out from the centre of the gate’s roof, leaning northward with luxuriant foliage and a fantastic shape. Its trunk measures 1.1 metres around. Its roots stretch down through the brick cracks on both sides of the gateway deep into the ground. The tree sprouted naturally, most likely from a cypress seed dropped by a bird, and has lived for more than 500 years. Owing to its weird and precarious form, travellers throughout the ages always stopped their carriages and paused to gaze upward in admiration. This gave rise to the local anecdote of "the Hundred (Cypress) Gates of Weichuan".

Opposite the South Gate, an ancient elm once grew on the North Gate, forming a delightful pair with the cypress from afar. Thus there is another popular saying: "From the South Gate to the North Gate stretches more than one Hundred (Cypress) Li with an Elm". Since 1982, the South Gate of Weichuan has been repeatedly chosen as an outdoor shooting location for films and TV dramas.

In 1992, the town government renovated the gate under the guidance of county cultural relics authorities. The renowned painter and calligrapher Wang Chengxi inscribed the three characters "Zhenwei Gate", which were embedded above the front archway, greatly enhancing the gate’s cultural charm.

The South Gate of Weichuan was designated a Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the People’s Government of Weishi County in 1985, and listed as a Provincial-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the People’s Government of Henan Province in 2006.