The tower building of Yi Jiangmen

Yijiangmen watchtower was built at 1930. Haida Mo Li Xun, a famous Australian female photographer, took a lot of precious photos in Nanjing in 1930s, including old photos when the watchtower of Yijiangmen was built. It's a pity that only seven years later, this tower with the architectural style of the Republic of China disappeared completely in the Japanese artillery fire.

1937, when the Japanese attacked Nanjing, the tower of Yijiangmen was completely destroyed. Volume 10 of Historical Materials of Nanjing Massacre quotes the words recalled by Yosuke Taneda, a Japanese temple, in the Photography Class Running under Gunfire as evidence: "The beautiful watchtower (Yijiangmen) was also destroyed in the air raid or shelling, and even the shape can't be seen clearly!" The so-called "beautiful watchtower" here refers to Yimeng Mountain Tower.

1945 Shortly after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the reconstruction project of Yimeng Tower began and was fully completed on 1946.

The repair of Yimeng Gate in the Republic of China is recorded in historical records. 1930 In September, Zhao Zhiyou, director of Nanjing Municipal Engineering Bureau, submitted a report on the renovation of Yijiangmen to the municipal government: the initial budget was that Yuncheng needed 200,000 bricks. City brick freight 1 minute per block, * * * needs 2000 yuan. The project was contracted by Chunyuan Jinji Construction Factory, and the expansion scheme was designed. On the right is the gendarmerie inspection office and on the left is the police inspection office. There is a fast lane in the middle of the three holes of the city gate, with slow lanes on both sides and sidewalks. The contract duration of the project is 50 sunny days. Failing to pay back within the time limit, 30 yuan will be fined on a daily basis. All projects will be completed in 90 sunny days. If it fails to pay back within the time limit, it shall be fined by 5 yuan on a daily basis. The warranty period of Chengmen is 330 years. The budget is 24,294.15 yuan, and the actual package price is 23,000 yuan.

In the process of expansion and reconstruction, the design scheme has been changed several times and additional funds have been added, which also shows the great difficulty of the project. 1930 1 191October 19, the municipal engineering bureau reported to the municipal government that it decided to increase the depth of the city gate and thicken the footings "in order to be solid and spectacular", and the depth of the enlarged doorway was increased from 6. 1 m to. The budgeted material cost increased from 23,000 yuan to 58,062.72 yuan. 14 installment payment. The required city brick is planned to be taken from Zhongshan Gate, and the demolition cost is estimated to be 1.36 million yuan. The completion date of signing the contract for the second project is 193 1 April 1 day.

On June 2nd 193 1, the Municipal Engineering Bureau submitted a document to the municipal government: As the foundation is not solid, it is planned to change the second floor into reinforced concrete, with an additional budget of 2 19 14.72 yuan. On June 20 of the same year, the Municipal Works Bureau reported to the mayor: "The brick removal rate of Zhongshan Gate City is small, and the inside of the city wall is muddy, so the quality is not suitable for use in Yijiangmen. Therefore, the bureau also contracted a contractor to demolish city bricks in Xiaodongmen, which saved about 10000 yuan. " On September 30th of the same year, the Municipal Engineering Bureau sent a letter to the mayor: "Jun Yu added a tower on the city gate to make it spectacular. The planned budget needs 36,625.33 yuan, and the contract is signed at 35,800 yuan after actual negotiation. " According to the contract, the project should be completed before June 5, 193 1, and the payment should be made in installments on 13.

After a year of intense construction,1931kloc-0/01October 26th, the Secretary for Works petitioned the mayor to send personnel for acceptance. One paragraph in the petition is worth noting: "Both projects have been completed one after another. Except for the sporadic works of the tower temporarily stopped for military reasons, two completion reports and final accounts of all gates and squares will be completed and delivered together after the tower is completed. "

Therefore, the "military" cause of the tower has not been completely completed. What does "military" mean? From1932165438+122 October, the Nanjing Special Executive Committee of the Kuomintang sent a letter to the municipal government, requesting the completion of the report of the Yimeng Tower: "The project was contracted by the former director Ma. When it was completed, it was a national disaster, that is, there were military and police stationed, so that the indoor floor and wall painting were not completed. "

1937 12 When the Japanese army captured Nanjing, it blew up the gatehouse of Yijiangmen.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the watchtower of Yijiangmen was rebuilt in March 1946 and 14. Nanjing Municipal Engineering Bureau has formulated the detailed construction rules, the main contents of which are as follows:

(1) Project scope: (1) Rebuild a tower. Except for the original steel reinforced concrete beams and columns, the rest are reconstructed according to the design drawings. (b) The guard rooms on both sides should be repaired from bottom to top, and doors, windows, floors, stairs and walls should be newly built.

(2) The demand is 48 million yuan. 1On September 28th, 946, the reconstruction of Yijiangmen Tower was completed. To this end, the Works Bureau invited the municipal government to carry out acceptance inspection on 20 October, 65438. Two days before the acceptance, the Works Bureau painted the second half of the words "Consolidate Peace" in front of Yimengmen battlements, and added a couplet. 1946165438+1On October 20th, Yi Shen, then the mayor of Nanjing, ordered that the key of Yijiangmen be kept by the capital police station. According to the data cloud, there are 22 keys.

So far, it took 65,438+06 years from the decision to expand the gatehouse to the final completion.

According to the data, the watchtower of Yijiangmen has maintained its original appearance, with nine watchtowers with double eaves and upturned corners, covering an area of 23 10 square meters, which is full of national style. After the tower was completed, the word "Arc de Triomphe" turned yellow on the plaque at the gate, but the name of "Yijiangmen" was restored after 1947.

1946, Nanjing Provisional Senate decided to rename the Yi Jiangmen as the Arc de Triomphe, and erected a monument to commemorate it, and asked famous calligraphers to write the words "Arc de Triomphe".