The Vanishing Defense: The Decline of Ancient City Walls
In ancient times, city walls served primarily as military fortifications. During the era of melee weapons, there were limited means of breaching these walls. As long as there was water and provisions inside, besiegers could only gaze upon the walls in frustration for months on end. However, with the advent of modern warfare, equipped with airplanes and cannons, the nature of warfare underwent a fundamental transformation. The military defense function of city walls gradually weakened and faded away. Moreover, these walls indeed restricted urban expansion and hindered the development of road transportation. Consequently, starting from the late Qing Dynasty, city walls across the nation began to be dismantled. The process commenced in 1900 with the demolition of the city walls of Tianjin, followed by Hankou in 1907, Shanghai in 1912, Hangzhou in 1913, Guangzhou in 1918, Quanzhou in 1923, and Chongqing in 1929. This trend persisted until the pre-reform and opening-up era, leaving behind only a handful of dilapidated city walls throughout the country, including the Xi'an city wall. A significant number of ancient cities had already been demolished before the advent of the People's Republic of China, thus the blame cannot be solely placed on New China's shoulders.