Victory Castle

Deshengbao was first built in 1548, the 27th year of Jiajing, and 1604, the 32nd year of Wanli, Ming Dynasty. It's one of the four fortresses outside the Great Wall

Victory Castle

Deshengbao is an important pass of Datong town on the great wall of Ming Dynasty. It is 45 kilometers north of Datong City, Shanxi Province. Since ancient times, it is the main channel connecting northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, and its geographical location is very important. Today, the main national trunk road from Datong, Shanxi to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia passes through this entrance. Deshengkou was initially built in Ming Dynasty, and deshengbao was built in the south of Guankou.

Human history

Deshengbao is located in Datong City, Shanxi Province, in Baoziwan Township, Xinrong District, 40 kilometers away from the urban area.

The fort was first built of earth. It was made of bricks in the second year of Wanli (1574). It was "Three Li and four Fen, three Zhang and eight Chi high" around the city. In the 28th year of Jiajing reign (1549), the general of hongcibao moved to the fort. Today, most of the bricks in the castle were removed, and the bricks were preserved. Gongnan gate was closed. There is a plaque on the outside of the gate, engraved in regular script with the words "Bao Bao" and the sign "Wanli Bingwu qiudan Li". There is also a plaque inside the gate, which is engraved with the characters "Desheng" in regular script. There is a stone tablet embedded in the East and west walls of the door opening. The west wall tablet is seriously weathered, and the characters are indistinguishable. The writing of the east wall tablet is clear and complete. It is a memorial tablet of deshengbao, which was expanded and repaired in August of 1607.

Defense system of the Great Wall

Desheng fort is not an isolated military facility, but a tight defense system composed of Desheng fort, Zhenqiang fort, four castles, the Great Wall to the north and Desheng pass. Deshengkou pass is located in the north of deshengbao, on the Great Wall, and to the north is Mashi. Zhenqiangbao is located in zhenqiangbao village, 2 miles northeast of deshengbao, within the Great Wall, and in the east of Yinmahe, it was built in the 24th year of Jiajing. Four castles, also known as market fort, located in the north of Desheng fort, also in the Great Wall, is one of the horse markets in history. Deshengkou great wall connects Juqiang fort to the west, passes Yinma to the East, then goes to the south, and then to zhenchuankou to the East. On the West Bank of Yinma River in the southeast of Desheng fort, there is Yangma city (earthen enclosure with walls) beside the first enemy platform of the Great Wall. Teacher Li Shaowen, the author of the great wall of pictures and texts Shanxi volume, poetically named it "Xunhe fort". However, this building is actually just a pier yard, or dock wall, and its level cannot be used as a castle.

Gatehouse style

The East and west sides of the gate tower are thick yellowish brown walls, especially the east wall is angular and neat. There are traces of mending in the brickwork of the gate building, and the brick carvings on the door openings are exquisite. The plaque on the lintel is engraved with the word "Bao Bao" and the plaque inside the door is engraved with the word "Desheng".

After climbing the gate tower, you can see that the four sides of the castle wall are complete and regular. The fields outside the wall are vast, and the houses inside the wall are in pieces. A main street extends northward from the south gate, passing through a brick hooped square platform. There is a door opening under the platform, and a jade emperor pavilion was built on the platform. According to Xinrong District literature and history materials (Volume 6), there are four original lofts in Desheng castle, namely Nancheng Pavilion, Japanese Bodhisattva Pavilion, Yuhuang Pavilion and Shenwu Pavilion. The South Gate of deshengbao was opened during the expansion and repair in Wanli period. There was an urn outside the gate, and the urn opened to the East. Out of the urn was the moon city, which opened to the south, and the South Pavilion was built on the gate tower of the moon city. Today, the four lofts, urn and moon city are gone.

According to Li Zhongfu's Datong county annals, "the fort is two Li high and three Ren thick, and the gate tower is two. It was built in the 18th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty." According to Xinrong District literature and history materials (Volume 6), it was called "Suilu fort" when it was built in 1538, and it was further expanded in July 1604, and the name of the fort was changed to Desheng fort. The exterior walls of deshengbao were all built with stone under and brick on. There are 18 enemy platforms on the wall of the fort, each of which is equipped with a heavy copper gun, which is called "two generals"; on the wall of the urn, a heavy copper gun, which is called "great general"; on the female wall of the fort, each of which is equipped with a heavy iron gun, which is 200 Jin. A turret is built at the four corners of the wall, and a bell tower is built in the middle of the east wall.

Literary allusions

One kilometer to the north of deshengbao is Deshengkou, which is an important gateway connecting the inside and outside of deshengbao.

Desheng fort is an important military border fort of the Ming Great Wall, and also an important node of the integration of Mongolian and Han nationalities. Not only the military culture and frontier fortress culture are profound, but also the culture of ethnic integration is particularly rich. According to Li Dajun and Li Dahong's "Shanxi Merchants in Datong", in 1571, the Ming Dynasty held a grand ceremony in deshengbao, where the Mongolian leader Andahan was granted the title of King Shunyi, and then the third lady was granted the title of wife Zhongshun, opening up Datong, Xuanfu and other places to "establish mutual market". In the fifth year of Wanli (1577), another 10 mutual markets were set up in xinpingbao, zhumabao and other places along the Great Wall. The horse market was highly prosperous for decades, which promoted the rise of Jin Merchants in the Ming Dynasty.

Just as the poet Li Dushi said: "the king of heaven has the road, the border city is quiet, and the prime minister plans to open the horse market first.". The opening up of Mashi was a turning point from war to peace between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian Tatar tribe, which resulted in the fusion of Mongolian and Han cultures.

Address: deshengbao village, Xinrong District, Datong City

Longitude: 113.242943

Latitude: 40.390792

Traffic information: at the intersection of Xinhua Street and Weidu Avenue, take the bus (Datong deshengbao), one and a half hours, the ticket price is 12 yuan, one hour's drive

Ticket information: no ticket

Opening hours: all day

Chinese PinYin : De Sheng Bao