Fortifications of Xi'an
Brick-faced Ming rampart nearly fourteen kilometers around, its bricks stamped with the workshops that made them.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Fortifications of Xi'an traces the nearly fourteen-kilometer Ming rampart back to 1370, when the dynasty's first emperor, the orphan-turned-ruler Zhu Yuanzhang, ordered it raised as packed earth on his adviser's warning to build high walls and store deep granaries. It follows the wall two centuries forward to 1568, when an official named Zhang Zhi had it faced in fired brick supplied by kilns across the region under contract. You'll hear why so many of those bricks were stamped while still soft with the name of the workshop that made them, and what that stamp was meant to guarantee. Look closely at the brickwork near the gate for one of those surviving maker's marks.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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