Zongshan Castle (Zongshan anti British site)

Zongshan is not high, only more than 100 meters. However, with the flat terrain around Gyangze, Zongshan stands out from the rest of the country, which is of great military significance. With the altitude of more than 4000 meters, it is not easy to climb Mount Zongshan. Therefore, it was very early to build castles on Zongshan and set up the government of Gyangze Zongshan as the gateway of Lhasa. In Tibetan, Zong means castle and fortress, which is also the name of the county-level administrative unit of the former Tibetan local government. Zongshan building was built in the early 14th century, mainly including zongben (county magistrate) office, scripture hall, Buddha Hall and various warehouses, all built from the hillside to the top of the mountain. The building is tall and grand, commanding and magnificent. Later, in order to resist the invaders, the soldiers and civilians built a 5-8-meter-high and 4-meter-wide wall on the hillside with large stone blocks, and built many Fort along the wall and the front cliff, which dealt a heavy blow to the British army. But in the continuous fighting, it was almost destroyed by the invaders. Now there are only the remains of the fort, the broken wall of cantan with bullet holes and a living room of Daiben (commander of the Tibetan army) in the East. The local government of Tibet has maintained and protected it. Because of the movie "Red River Valley", many people know about Zongshan castle, but few people have a detailed understanding of this history. According to the data, Zongshan's resistance to the British took place in 1904, the 30th year of Guangxu. In the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), an armed British mission of nearly 10000 people led by Rong Hepeng entered Tibet from India and via Sikkim from Yadong. They attacked all the way and arrived in Gyangze on April 11, 1904. The 13th Dalai Lama ordered the Tibetan army and people to resist, and men aged 16 to 60 in Gyangze were urgently recruited to fight against Britain. The purpose of the British army was to capture Lhasa and sign an unequal treaty. Therefore, Gyangze was the only way to go, and Zongshan became the only place to fight. With inferior weapons, the Tibetan army fought fiercely with the besieged British troops in Zongshan castle and suffered heavy losses. On July 7, Zongshan castle was lost. The last Tibetan troops guarding Zongshan Castle refused to be captured and jumped off the cliff. Today, on the square in front of Zongshan, a monument to the heroes of Zongshan in Gyantse stands to commemorate the heroes who fought against Britain a century ago.

Address: on the top of the back of Baiju temple, Jiangzi County, Shigatse

Longitude: 89.60157185793

Latitude: 28.914290627912

Chinese PinYin : Zong Shan Gu Bao Zong Shan Kang Ying Yi Zhi