Yongtai ancient city

Yongtai ancient city was built in the 36th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1608). Because its city looks like a golden turtle, it is called Yongtai turtle city.

The ancient city of Yongtai takes the oval shape as the body of the turtle, the four urn Fort as the shoulder and foot, and the small town outline at the South Gate as the head of the turtle. North wall external wall root big beacon, even six small pier for turtle tail. There is a large pool 30 steps outside the south gate, which is called Taiji pool. Yongtai City Wall is 1727 meters long, 12 meters high, 4 meters wide at the top and 9 meters wide at the bottom. It is basically preserved. Yongtai City was built as a military fortress, surrounded by a moat about 6 meters wide, which is now dry.

Yongtai ancient city

Yongtai ancient city, located in Sitan Township, Jingtai County, Gansu Province, was built in 1608, the 36th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. It has a history of more than 400 years. It was built by the Ming government to defend against the invasion of ethnic minorities in the north. After completion, it will become a military fortress, and the general of Lanzhou will be stationed in this castle. At that time, there were more than 2000 soldiers and 500 horsemen stationed in the city, with gunpowder yard, forage yard, mill, horse farm and other affiliated institutions.

A brief introduction to the city wall

There are 12 fortresses and 4 towers on the city wall. Under the city wall, there are urn and moat. The north and south sides of the city point to Lanzhou and the great wall respectively. There are beacon towers stretching for tens of miles. Such a complete design can be regarded as a model of Chinese ancient military fortress textbook style.

history

Yongtai City started construction in March 1607, the 35th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty;

It was completed in June 1608, the 36th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty.

build

There are 12 fortresses and 4 towers on the city wall. Under the city wall, there are urn and moat. The north and south sides of the city point to Lanzhou and the great wall respectively. There are beacon towers stretching for tens of miles. Such a complete design can be regarded as a model of Chinese ancient military fortress textbook style.

structure

The ancient city is also called "Yongtai turtle city" because it looks like a golden turtle. The perimeter of the ancient city is 1.7 kilometers, 12 meters high, 12 fort, 4 tower, the shape is a big circle, surrounded by moat. There are four urn cities on all sides of the ancient city, which are similar to the shoulders and feet of turtles. They are well preserved, but the buildings on the urn cities no longer exist.

Yongtai City Wall is rammed with loess, 1717 meters in circumference, 12 meters in height, 6 meters in thickness, covering an area of 318 mu. The whole city is oval in shape. The gate opens to the south. The outer gate is called Yongning gate, and the inner gate is called Yongtai gate. The gate is slightly to the West and looks like a turtle's head. There are urn cities built on all sides, which look like tortoise claws. In the north of the city, there are five beacon towers which are gradually disappearing, like turtle tails. There is a moat around the city, which is about 6 meters wide and 1 to 2.5 meters deep. The whole city is shaped like a turtle, so it is called "turtle city".

There are military institutions in the city, a street of Chayuan, a horse road built inside the city wall, a siege wall around, shooting crenels on the city wall, and lookouts on four urn cities. There are taijiyuanchi (Jihai, Laochi) in the south of the city, and General Li Wen's residence in the south. One mile south of the city, there is a martial arts hall and teaching ground, covering an area of 300 mu. There is also a 6-li long "Longsha" (Hill) in the south of the teaching ground, on which there is a fort. There was a storage place for Quartermaster forage 7 Li northwest of the city, and the gelding horse ditch 15 Li southeast of the city was a horse herding site at that time. At present, there are still traces of these military facilities. In addition to the part of the city walls demolished by residents for the convenience of passage and building houses, most of the city walls and gates are still intact. There are also two Qing Dynasty dwellings and a primary school built in the period of the Republic of China in the city.

significance

In the 1950s, there were more than 30 surnames and more than 1300 people in the village. At that time, the grassland and trees outside the city were quite lush, not like the desert and Gobi now.

City of memory

In the 26th year of Wanli (1598) of the Ming Dynasty, General Li Wen led the army to attack the Tatar tribe leaders, such as bintu and achtu. After a decades long war in Longsha, Li Wen defeated the Tatar tribe leaders and recovered Songshan and Xiaosongshan, but the war also destroyed the original fortress here.

After that, Li Wenshang, who was promoted to governor of the three sides, called for the construction of Yongtai City in yongtaichuan. At that time, Yongtai, with spring in all seasons, became the gateway to Qinghai, Hetao, Xinjiang and Tibet for the first time, and began to have multiple meanings of political, military, diplomatic and commercial development.

The ancient city of Yongtai, adjacent to Laohushan in the south, yongtaichuan in the northeast and Dashahe in the west, was once the gateway to the east of Hexi Corridor, but in recent decades, it has been on the verge of extinction.

In 1953, the state began to carry out large-scale construction, and then broke the four old and established four new. In 1958, the whole country began to make steel. More than 100 big trees in Yongtai City were cut down, and the temples and high-rise buildings of Ming and Qing Dynasties in the city were demolished

Starting from Jingtai County, about 45 minutes later, you can see the Yongtai City wall. Along the way is the vast yongtaichuan. Although it was the end of March, there was no life on the withered and yellow land. After a strong wind, the dust from the Loess filled the fields.

"Tiger City, Yongtai City and Hongshui county came first, and Jingtai city came later." Jingtai is an important frontier defense area in history. There are many relics such as the ancient Great Wall and ancient city pool.

The ancient city is actually a natural village.

Some mounds can be seen along the way. It is said that there are 72 mounds every tens of meters, leading to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province. Yan Zhixiang said that this is an information tower (known locally as beacon tower) used for prevention in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. If it is found that there is an enemy invasion, it will be ignited from the first beacon tower in Yongtai City and transmitted in turn, and the signal will soon be transmitted to Lanzhou.

"In the southeast of Yongtai City, there is a flat land with an area of 500 mu. This is the training ground of that year. In the middle of the playground, there is a two meter high platform (which has been demolished). On the platform, there are three parade platforms facing south, red painted pillars, carved beams and painted buildings. " All these ancient buildings were later demolished. Today, about 400 meters away from the front of the training ground, we can see the archery target wall 17 meters wide and 8 meters high. On the wall, we can see the scars left by the cluster of arrows.

Nowadays, due to successive years of drought, the residents living in the city have moved away in order to make a living. In the early days of liberation, the number of 1000 families has declined to 87. In the past, the prosperity of "wine shop, business shop, flag and front are clear; tea pavilion, restaurant, four seasons fragrance" no longer exists

Current situation

In the 1950s, there were more than 30 surnames and more than 1300 people in the village. At that time, the grassland and trees outside the city were quite lush, not like the desert and Gobi now.

Ecological deterioration

In recent decades, the ecological environment around the ancient city of Yongtai has deteriorated seriously, with the shortage of water resources, land desertification and salinization, and the sharp decline of forest coverage. The worsening environment forces the residents in the city to move to the outside world.

"After years of drought, the young people in the village moved to live where there was water, leaving behind the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled." Li Chongren, a cultural protection officer of the ancient city, said. Li Chongren, 63, is the principal of Yongtai primary school. After retiring a few years ago, he served as a cultural security officer and a tourist propagandist.

Li Chongren is an old resident of the ancient city of Yongtai. When he was young, there were many ancient and famous trees in Yongtai. There was a moat outside the city wall. The pine mountain behind the city was still a big forest. At that time, people were still cutting firewood on the mountain. Almost in the last 20 years, the trees on the mountain have been cut down. Later, due to years of drought, the trees did not grow again.

In Li Chongren's memory, the biggest change in the ancient city is the climate. "In recent years, from September to May of the next year, there are almost constant gales, and the sandstorms have become more serious in recent years." When Li Chongren was a child, the wind and sand in Yongtai City had never been so big. "Secondly, there was less rain. When I was a child, the rain in the ancient city was good, and the crops planted in the village could grow an arm long. In recent years, there has been little rain, and the crops are only one foot high. "

A sharp drop in population

This ancient city of Ming Dynasty is now a national cultural protection unit. In recent decades, due to the serious ecological deterioration, serious shortage of water resources, land desertification and salinization, and the sharp decline of forest coverage, the residents in the city have to move to the outside world. In the 1950s, there were more than 1300 people with more than 30 surnames in the village. About eight years ago, the government channeled the Yellow River water to a place 10 kilometers away from the ancient city, and encouraged the people of the ancient city to move to the settlement beside the canal. In a few years, many people moved away one after another, and by September 2013, the number was sharply reduced to more than 100.

Address: Jingtai County, Baiyin City, Gansu Province

Longitude: 103.8472154418

Latitude: 37.133400060149

Tour time: half a day

Traffic information: Yongtai village, Sitan Township, 27km southwest of Jingtai County, Baiyin City

Ticket information: Free

Opening hours: all day

Chinese PinYin : Yong Tai Gu Cheng