Ahou City Gate (Chaoyang Gate) Introduction
Ahou, the old name of Pingtung City, was established in 1836 (the 16th year of the Daoguang era during the Qing Dynasty) due to local gentry's concerns about the potential threat of indigenous banditry to the safety of residents. They privately raised funds to construct Ahou City, which was not under official jurisdiction. For this reason, there is no record of Ahou City in the Fengshan County annals, except for a brief mention on the gate's inscription. Ahou City originally had four complete gates in the east, south, west, and north, but due to negligence and road repairs during the Japanese colonial period, most of the city walls were dismantled, leaving only the East Gate, known as Chaoyang Gate, which is located beside Zhongshan Park and has been designated as a national third-level historic site. The height of Chaoyang Gate is approximately 3.6 meters, with the upper half of the city platform constructed using regular bricks, giving it a protruding style; the lower half of the archway is a symmetrical brick arch, with both sides crafted from cobblestones. The main gate's inscription is made of granite, featuring the characters "Chaoyang Gate." The city platform has 17 crenelations made of red bricks, believed to have been added in the 65th year of the Republic of China. The archway of the Ahou City Gate is divided into three sections: the front and back sections are made from long bricks forming an arch, with a rectangular space left in the middle. The wall surface of the city gate is constructed from basalt granite, and the corners are treated with clean water bricks, while the center part features an archway made of red bricks, with the arch divided into three different sizes. The side walls also have mortise holes for inserting door bolts. Although the Ahou City Gate now stands as a solitary gate, far from its former splendor, the visible architectural structure, with its mottled red bricks and overgrowth on the wall base, contrasts starkly with the modern park landscape nearby, showcasing a strong sense of antiquity.
