Que (tower)

The que () is a freestanding, ceremonial gate tower in traditional Chinese architecture. First developed in the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC), ''que'' towers were used to form ceremonial gateways to tombs, palaces and temples throughout pre-modern China down to the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The use of ''que'' gateways reached its peak during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), and today they can often be seen as a component of an architectural ensemble (a spirit way, ''shendao'') at the graves of high officials during China's Han Dynasty. There are also some ''que'' found in front of temples. Richly decorated, they are among the most valuable surviving relics of the sculpture and architecture of that period.

''Que'' in the Han dynasty

It is thought that the ''que'' familiar to us are stone reproductions of the free-standing wooden and/or earthen towers which were placed in pairs in front of the entrances to the palaces, temples, and government buildings of the period (already known during the Qin Dynasty). Such free-standing towers, serving as markers of the symbolic boundary of a palace's or temple's premises, had developed from gate towers that were an integral part of a building or a city wall. None of such ''que'' in front of buildings have survived, but images of buildings with such towers in front of them can be seen on extant brick reliefs in Han Dynasty tombs, such as the one in Yinan County, Shandong).

At the spirit roads, the ''que'' also appeared in pairs, one on each side of the road. During the time of their popularity, the ''que'' were usually the largest and most expensive component of the spirit way; such a tower could cost 4 times as much as a stone lion, or 10 times as much as a memorial stele.

The symbolic meaning of a tomb ''que'' may have been based on that of the ''que'' in front of a palace and building. Here, it would symbolize the passage of the soul into the world of the spirits. A tall vertical structure, ''que'' would at the same time symbolize a link with heaven.

The use of ''que'' on spirit ways declined after the fall of the Eastern Han. Some ''que'' from the 3rd and 4th century have been found in Sichuan, but, as Ann Paludan notes, only in the province's more remote and presumably culturally conservative parts. Generally, after the Eastern Han era, the role of ''que'' on the spirit way was assumed by ''huabiao'' pillars.

Around 30 ''que'' have survived to the present day. Most of them are in Sichuan; a few in Henan and Shandong. According to Ann Paludan, this distribution may be explained by two reasons. First, there may have been more stone ''que'' produced in these regions in the first place, due to the ready availability of stone and the tradition of stone-working craft; meanwhile elsewhere wooden ''que'' were built, which have not survived. Second, Sichuan has more remote, hard to access areas, which is exactly where many of the Han Dynasty ''que'' have managed to survive. The locations around the imperial capitals, where the Eastern Han imperial mausolea were located, saw more intensive level of destruction over the almost 2000 years that have elapsed since that era, and the ''que'' constructed there did not have a chance to survive.

Many of the Sichuan ''que'' were first made known to the international scholarship by Victor Segalen, who described them during his 1914 expedition."Chine. La grande statuaire", and "Les origines de la statuaire en Chine"
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''Que'' after the Han dynasty

The use of ''que'' in tomb architecture and other contexts declined after the Han Dynasty but did not disappear. For example, imperial tombs of the Tang dynasty usually featured ''que'', and remnants can still be seen today. The Qianling Mausoleum, the best preserved example, features three sets of que towers arranged sequentially along the spirit way. They also remained in use in front of temples and bridges. In gateways to the imperial palaces, they remained in use down to the end of the imperial era. Ultimately, they were combined with a more conventional gateway to form a single U-shaped structure, where a conventional gate would be connected, via two "arms" extending outwards, to two ''que'' towers.

The final two examples of such combined ''que'' gates were found as the Meridian Gates, the southern and main entrances to the imperial palaces of Nanjing and Beijing built during the Ming dynasty. The ''que''s in Nanjing were demolished in 1924 to make way for the construction of the Ming palace airfield. The gate in Beijing survives intact. Despite being a single structure, the ''que'' is identified distinctly from the gate. Two ''que'' pavilions with pyramidal roofs mark out the ''que'' from the rest of the gate house. Outside of China, the Meridian Gate in Huế, in Vietnam, has a similar design.

File:Prince Yide's tomb, towers.jpg, A mural in Prince Yide's tomb (8th century), depicting a ''que'' tower along the walls of Chang'an.
File:乾陵.JPG, A view down the spirit way of the Qianling mausoleum of the Tang Dynasty. Remains of the third set of ''que'' towers are visible in the mid-distance. The stone platforms would originally have been topped with pavilion-like structures.
File:9th-US-Infantry-Regt-Sacred-Gate.jpeg, A historic photograph of the Meridian Gate in Beijing, the sole surviving example of an imperial ''que'' gate in China, showing the two protruding ''que'' wings in combination with the conventional gate in the centre.
File:La porte du midi (Cité impériale, Hué).jpg, The Meridian Gate in Huế, Vietnam

Examples

* Tomb of Fan Min in Lushan County, Sichuan. This is also where the oldest known tortoise-borne stele is located.
* Mausoleum of the Shen family, Qu County, Sichuan
* Tomb of Gao Yi, Ya'an, Sichuan
* Liye Tower, Zitong County, Sichuan

References

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Mausoleums in China
Chinese architectural history
Types of gates
Han dynasty architecture