One of the oldest gates in Nanjing: the Wumiao Gate.
Ancient gate of Wumiao Temple
Walk east along the Jiefang Gate of Xuanwu Lake, about one or two hundred meters, you can see the Wumiao Gate. Legend has it that during the Battle of Jingnan, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunjiao escaped from here.
The Wumiao Gate can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period, when Sun Hao, the last emperor of Eastern Wu, dug a channel called the "Chengbei Canal" in order to divert the water of Xuanwu Lake into the city, which was the predecessor of the Wumiao Gate.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang built the Nanjing Ming City Wall and used the Qinhuai River and Xuanwu Lake and other water systems as moats, in order to control the water level of the river in the city, a new gate was built on the original site, called tongxin dam, or tongxingou dam, and later because this gate was close to wumiao, it was renamed "Wumiao gate".
This gate turns Xuanwu Lake into a huge reservoir, when the city is short of water, the water of Xuanwu Lake is put into the city through this gate; when flooding is encountered, this gate blocks the water of Xuanwu Lake and saves the city from floods. In addition, it is precisely because of the Wumiao Gate that the water of Xuanwu Lake eventually flows into the Qinhuai River through this gate, connecting the north and south water systems of Nanjing City.
The engineering design of the Wumiao Gate was world-class at that time, and at that time, the sluice gate generally used a vertical gate to cut off the water flow up and down to block the water inlet. Wumiao Gate innovatively uses the upper and lower plate bite method: when the upper and lower plates fall, the lower face hole is sealed, because the water pressure cannot be opened and closed, forming a closed space; when the gate is opened and released, the water surface of Xuanwu Lake is higher than the water level in the culvert, thereby compressing the water flow into the copper pipe culvert, and then adjusting the water level. Such an advanced design also makes the copper gate not deformed by the frontal impact of the water, and is more durable, so the shape has not changed when it is excavated.
The water of Xuanwu Lake continues to flow into Shuiguan. The entire water barrier consists of two semi-circular gates, and the lake water passes through the first gate, passes through the filter, and the garbage and aquatic weeds are intercepted. Then, the lake water rushes down into the next gate, through the culvert, and flows under the city wall.
During the "Battle of Jingnan", Li Jinglong, who was dismissed from his post at home, led the family to rebel and opened the city gate to meet Zhu Di. Zhu Yunjiao opened the secret iron box left by his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang when he was in danger, which contained three dumu, which were written "Ying Wen", "Ying Neng", and "Ying Xian", as well as robes, monk hats, monk shoes, razors, and ten silver dollar treasure ingots. The first "Ying Wen" du mu wrote: "Ying Wen came out of the ghost gate, and the rest of the people waited for them to go from the Water Pass Yugou and meet in the optimistic West Room of the Gods at dusk." Zhu Yunjiao, Wu Wang's professor Yang Yingneng, and the inspector Yushi Ye Xixian immediately shaved their hair and became monks, escaping from the water gate behind the palace through the Wu Temple Gate.
There is such a passage in the "Examination of the History of Ming": "The gutter in the palace leads directly to the outside of tucheng, two feet tall, eight feet wide, with one person and one horse, ready to sneak out in the face of disaster, which can be described as thoughtful." ”
Zhu Yunjiao
There are also historical records that after Emperor Jianwen left the palace, he became a monk and inscribed a poem: "Read the words of the Emperor Lang and lazily knock, laugh at the Yellow House to send the group scoop." In the south, there are thousands of layers of ridges, and in the north, you can see the Heavenly Gate for thousands of miles. Duan Duan has long forgotten to fly the phoenix, and the robes have been newly changed into dragon robes, and the hundred officials know where to go on this day. Only the flock of birds is in the morning and evening. ”
The Biography of Yao Guangxiao of the Ming Dynasty records that "in the beginning, when the emperor entered Nanjing, Emperor Yan Jianwen went away as a monk, and Pu Qia knew the situation, or hid in Pu Qia. Emperor Nai forbade Puqia for his affairs. And the order to Hu Qian and others in the matter to find Emperor Jianwen, for a long time can not be obtained. Pu Qia sat for more than ten years. It was not until Yao Guangxiao was critically ill that he asked Zhu Di to release Puqia that Puqia was released. Yao Guangxiao was Zhu Di's most trusted adviser, able to defeat Zhu Yunjiao, Yao Guangxiao was the first gong, never asked Zhu Di for anything, the only request before his death was to release Pu Qia, who had nothing to do with him, and Master Pu Qia was the chief monk of the Jianwen Emperor, this matter itself was intriguing, on the same day, Pu Qia regained his freedom, he knelt in front of Yao Guangxiao's window and cried: "The rest of my life, the master gave it." "Later, Master Puqia died in Nanjing's Dabao'en Temple, and his life expectancy was eighty-one years old.
In addition, the Wumiao Gate adopts a zigzag-shaped waterway, which reduces the impact of the water flow, and also installs a wringing knife at the gate, which can move with the flow of water and cut debris to prevent thieves from diving into the city. At present, the Wumiao Gate is still in use, and it is the longest-used sluice gate in Nanjing.
Next to the ancient gate, there is an iron Buddha sitting on the throne, named "Iron Buddha Town Water". According to the "Chronicle of The NingFu of Jiangsu", in the Qing Dynasty, such an iron Buddha was placed at the mouth of the Wumiao Gate, standing facing the lake to suppress the water monster.
Iron Monk
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a water monster hiding in Xuanwu Lake who always stirred up trouble in the early morning and harmed the people, and the people burned incense at Jiming Temple one after another, praying to Guanyin Bodhisattva to eliminate harm for the people. The bodhisattva subdued the monster and locked it at the bottom of the lake, and agreed with him to release it at five more and three points, so in ancient times Jinling City only hit five and did not knock three points. In order to prevent the water monster from breaking free of the chain, a naked iron monk was cast and placed at the gate, yongzhen water monster. It is said that this iron monk existed during the Six Dynasties and was still there during the Qing Dynasty. The current iron monk is modernly made.