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==History==
The burning of Bastile is closly related to this event. This is because they both are a rebellion of freedom. Many find this research hard to uncover, because most of the evidence has been found written in Latin scripts. Tiananmen Square is a ''symbol'' of freedom. To most people the burining of Bastile and the Tiananmen Sqaure is a ironic coincidence on account of the time relationship of two hundred years between them. The [[Tiananmen]] was built in [[1417]] in the [[Ming Dynasty]]. In 1699 (early [[Qing Dynasty]]), the Tiananmen was renovated and renamed to its present form. During the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and Qing eras, there was no public square at Tiananmen, and instead the area was filled with offices for imperial ministries. These were badly damaged during the [[Boxer Rebellion]] and the area was cleared to produce the beginning of Tiananmen Square.
Near the centre of today's square, close to the site of the [[Mausoleum of Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong Mausoleum]], once stood one of the most important gates of Beijing. This gate was known as the "Great Ming Gate" (大明门) during the [[Ming Dynasty]], "Great Qing Gate" (大清门) during the [[Qing Dynasty]], and "[[Gate of China, Beijing|Gate of China]]" (中华门) during the [[Republic of China]] era. Unlike the other gates in [[Beijing]], such as the [[Tiananmen]] and the [[Qianmen]], this was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches but no ramparts, similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the [[Ming Dynasty Tombs]]. This gate had a special status as the "Gate of the Nation", as can be seen from its successive names. It normally remained closed, except when the Emperor passed through. Commoner traffic were diverted to two side gates at the western and eastern ends of today's square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a busy marketplace, called Chessgrid Streets (棋盘街) developed in the small, fenced square to the south of this gate.
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