There are five gates in Tiananmen Square, and there is a winding river in the south, called Waijinshui River. The five bridges juxtaposed on the river are facing the five gates.
The bridge in the middle is the widest, which is specially used by the emperor. It is called "Imperial Bridge", and the railings are carved with moire columns, showing the majesty and inviolability of imperial power.
The "Wang Gong Bridge" adjacent to both sides of the "Royal Road and Bridge" only allows the royal princes to walk. If it weren't for the children of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty, you wouldn't have been able to walk this bridge without being a maharaja.
Go further on both sides, and it is called "Grade Bridge", which is for officials above level 3.
More than 50 meters to the left and right of the Grade Bridge, there are two bridges facing the ancestral hall and Zhongshan Park. These two bridges have the lowest grade and are called "Gong Sheng Bridge". Generally, officials below level 4 walk.
These five bridges, together with the two at the entrance of the ancestral temple and Zhongshan Park, are the embodiment of the concept of hierarchy in terms of architectural form and scale.
Extended data:
Tiananmen Square consists of a tower and a platform. Urban platform height13m. Below is the white marble pedestal, and above it is the brick platform painted with vermilion pigment. There are towers on the rostrum, 9 wide and 5 deep, which make up the number of the ninth five-year plan, reflecting the majesty of the emperor. There are 36 wooden diamond doors in the main hall of the tower, and there are 60 red painted giant columns in the hall, which is very magnificent.
In front of Tiananmen Square in Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was a closed place, surrounded by city walls, showing a "T" shape. The left and right sides of the word "T" are Chang 'an Left Gate and Chang 'an Right Gate respectively. There is a "three doors" outside the two doors, which are connected with the fence and enclose the front of Tiananmen Square. The left and right gates of Chang 'an are important passages from the inner city to the imperial city.
The word "T" stands upright in Tiananmen Square, where the national flag platform and the Monument to the People's Heroes are located. At the southern end is the Zhonghua Gate, which is the south main entrance of the imperial city. Also known as the "national gate". It was called "Daming Gate" in Ming Dynasty and "Daqingmen" in Qing Dynasty. After the Republic of China, it was changed to "Zhonghua Gate". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, ordinary people were not allowed to enter the imperial city at will, so people were often not seen here.
After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), due to traffic problems and the expansion of Tiananmen Square, the left and right gates of Chang 'an City and Zhonghua Gate were demolished one after another. Now, the place where the two doors are located has become a wide and straight Chang 'an Avenue. On the site of Zhonghua Gate, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall has been built, forming an open square.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-Tiananmen square