Ancient tunnel of song and Liao border

Xiongxian county was called Xiongzhou in ancient times. It was a frontier fortress in the Northern Song Dynasty and a place for military strategists to fight for. Waqiao pass, one of the "three passes" in history, was located here. More than 2000 years of history has bred a profound war culture. Xiongxian county has left many war relics, among which the ancient tunnels at the border of song and Liao dynasties are the most typical.

Frontier tunnel site

synonym

The ancient tunnels in song and Liao dynasties generally refer to the ruins of the tunnels

Bianguan tunnel site is located in Yongqing County, Langfang City, Hebei Province. Yongqing county is located in the north of Sanguan (yukou pass, Yijin pass and waqiao pass) in the Song Dynasty. It is one of the ancient battlefields in song and Liao dynasties

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The frontier tunnel site covers an area of about 1600 square kilometers

. In 1988, experts surveyed and judged that the frontier tunnel site was an ancient underground war path to defend the Liao state in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was a permanent defense fortification and had the same war function as the ground Great Wall. It was called "underground Great Wall"

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On May 25, 2006, the frontier tunnel site was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

In March 2007, it was listed in the Guinness world record

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Historical evolution

In the 1950s, the tunnel site was found

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At the end of 1960s, zangbing cave was found in the tunnel site of the border

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In 1988, Yongqing county organized the excavation of the tunnel site at the border

According to the local historical records and folklore of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, through the trial excavation, it is found that the frontier tunnel site covers an area of 300 square kilometers in Yongqing. It starts from Nanguan, the county seat, and extends to the southeast and southwest.

In December 1989, experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the state cultural relics appraisal committee, etc., inspected and demonstrated that it was the way that the Song Dynasty refused to invade the Liao Dynasty

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Around 1990, the people's Government of Yongqing county set up the "ancient war Road Development Office" to strengthen the study of ancient war road

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Site features

The frontier tunnel site, located in Yongqing County, Hebei Province, is an underground military defense project site built in the early Northern Song Dynasty to defend against the southern invasion of Liao state. It spans five counties (cities) including Xiong County, Bazhou, Wen'an, Yongqing and Gu'an. It is about 65 km long from East to west, 25 km wide from north to south, with a total length of about 65000 meters and a distribution area of about 1600 square kilometers. There are more than 300 square kilometers in Yongqing County alone

It involves 6 townships and 11 village streets, with complex structure, long extension and many types. The cave body is made of blue bricks with unified specifications and quality. The height and width of the cave are different, and the extension is zigzag. The right angle turns and the direction is uncertain. There are not only wide Tibetan soldier cave, but also narrow and small magic soul cave, magic barrier tunnel, flap, eye turning and other military special facilities. There are also air holes in the cave to let out Living facilities such as lampstand, water storage tank, earth Kang, etc., as well as "horse guiding cave" built for transporting soldiers, the "soldiers hiding cave" for long-term concealment and the "enemy killing cave" deep into the front of the enemy array, etc., are arranged in three-dimensional layout, 1-5 meters deep underground; the tunnels are encircled and connected with each other, and the small caves are divided into three layers: deep, medium and shallow

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Cultural relics

The total length of the excavation is 173 meters. The excavation site consists of two parts, namely, the enchanting cave and the Tibetan soldier cave. The design of the enchanting cave is complicated, and the enemy can't distinguish the direction after entering, so they will be trapped inside. The entrance is about 4 meters below the ground, and the entrance is only about half a meter high. The Tibetan soldier cave is mainly used to hide troops and store grain, The cave can hold 100-200 people. The height of the cave is less than 1.3 meters, and the width only allows one person to pass through. Adults have to bend down to get in. Every few meters, shallow arched holes are dug on the wall of the cave. They must turn here, or they can only walk backwards

Candlesticks, water tanks and other items were found, as well as military facilities such as sandwich walls, bunkers and gates

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Research value

The frontier tunnel sites are mostly used for siege, which is a lasting defense fortification. In the hundreds of years of the song and Liao wars, the Liao army has not found this tunnel. As a national secret project, there is no record in the history books. Therefore, the discovery and excavation of the frontier tunnel sites fill the gap in the historical records. It is a major discovery in the Chinese military history, and also provides a reference for the multi-disciplinary research of ancient architecture New topics and materials are provided

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protective measures

On July 15, 1993, the frontier tunnel site was announced by the people's Government of Hebei Province as the third batch of key cultural relics protection units in Hebei Province, named as the Song Liao frontier tunnel site

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On May 25, 2006, the frontier tunnel site was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 2006, the Yongqing county government invested 200000 yuan for the protection of the underpass ruins at the border. Yongqing county will focus on the development of the border tunnel site, and make the overall development and construction plan

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History and culture

Five kilometers to the north of Yongqing county is the ancient battlefield where the Northern Song Dynasty confronted the Liao army more than 1000 years ago. In the summer of 1948, in the flood of Yongqing, the villagers of Wawu Xinzhuang village were surprised to find a huge cave in the northwest corner of the village. It is said that the place where the cave was found was once the residence of Liu Jian in the Yellow River channel. It is said that there are 18 jars of silver ingots buried underground

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It is said that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, in Caijiaying, more than five miles southwest of the county seat, a family found a cave in the field in order to avoid the war. Digging along the cave, they found a tunnel. In the tunnel, they also found a Ming Dynasty porcelain plate. During the Anti Japanese War, the people of Yongqing County dug up the cellars of Tibetans one after another in order to avoid the Japanese raids, and also found the ancient war road

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Tourism information

admission ticket

The entrance fee for the tunnel ruins at the border is 3 yuan per person.

Opening Hours

Opening hours: 8:00-18:00.

transport line

There are many buses to Yongqing at Langfang long distance passenger station, one at 10:35, one at 11:50, one at 15:30, one at 15:40, one at 16:30 and one at 17:00.

Address: 159 Jiangtai Road, Xiong County, Baoding, Hebei

Longitude: 116.09834

Latitude: 38.99992

Ticket information: 15 RMB

Opening hours: 8:00-17:00

Chinese PinYin : Song Liao Bian Guan Gu Di Dao