英文介绍平遥古城PPT.ppt

* 山西·平遥古城 The Ancient City of Pingyao Pingyao City Wall The wall is ten meters high, 6163 meters around, and three to five meters wide at the top. While the west, north and east walls are straight, the southern one curves, forming a rough square. The northern and southern walls have one gate each, the eastern and western walls, two each. Each gate has a barbican entrance with an inner and an outer door and had a tower above it, three of which have been rebuilt. Each gate used to have a drawbridge to cross the moat, which today is outside three sides of the city and is more than 3.3 meters deep and 3.3 meters wide. North Gate City wall North Gate Fake cannons Pingyao City Wall The tortoise is a symbol of eternity. Seventy-two watch towers were built every fifty to one hundred meters along the top. Two-meter high walls were built along the outside of the wall’s top, with 3,000 crenelations with openings for shooting. These represent the 72 disciples and more than 3,000 students of Confucius. Each corner formerly had a grand tower, but only the Great Scholar Tower in the southeast remains, along with one roll-call platform. A temple used to occupy the large platform on the eastern wall. City wall City wall inside 古城的造型: 龟的形状 南门为首 北门为尾 平遥古城又称 “龟城” “瓮城” Draft Banks Of Shanxi Merchants During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, merchants organized commercial groups that engaged in business nationwide, with Shanxi Province having some of the most important ones and Pingyao as the center. The Xiyucheng dye store on Xi Da Jie dealt in remittance and in 1824 became the first draft bank in China, dealing in bank drafts rather than in silver or gold money. Known as Rishengchang (Sunrise Prosper ity) , it was the cornerstone of modern Chinese banking. Rishengchang Courtyard Clerks at work During the hundred years that draft banking lasted in China, Pingyao became the hub as other local merchants opened similar banks. Branch bank