By Simatai Great Wall
Dong Yaohui
Zijing Pass Great Wall by Fangkuai Liu / TuchongSimatai Great Wall
The mountain where Zijingguan is located is called Zijingshan (Bauhinia Mountain). In ancient times, the mountain was covered with bushes, especially Bauhinia trees. In the warmth of spring, when the Bauhinia flowers bloom, the mountain is filled with an elegant fragrance. This is how the mountain got its name.
Pass of Strategic Importance
Zijingguan is located 45 kilometers northwest of Yixian County, Hebei Province – about 170 kilometers away from Beijing. It is built against Wanren Mountain in the east and Rhinoceros Mountain in the west. The wide riverbed of Juma River lies to the north of the Great Wall, making the terrain here extremely dangerous.
Zijingguan – one of the most important passes along the Great Wall – deters invaders with a tortuous mountain trail on its south side. On its north side, the nearby Futu pass functions as a gateway, with two farther towns, Xuanhua and Datong, acting as a fence in the distance. The pass lies securely in between these formidable barriers.
Inner Great Wall
The Ming Dynasty's Great Wall is divided at Huairou, a district in the east of Beijing, into two sections. One first goes north, passing through Xuanfu to Zhangjiakou, then to Datong, and continuing on towards the west. This is the outer Great Wall. The inner Great Wall goes southwest from Badaling to Zijingguan and Daomaguan.
Zijing Pass by Lan Hui / TuchongSimatai Great Wall
On the inner Great Wall, there are three inner passes and three outer passes. Juyongguan, Zijingguan, and Daomaguan are the three inner passes, forming a defense system. The three outer passes are Ningwuguan, Yanmenguan, and Pianguan. The inner and outer sections of the Great Wall meet at the old camp southeast of Pianguan.
The landscape around Zijingguan is very beautiful but treacherous. The fortress is surrounded by mountains on the east and the west sides and the ancient Juma River in the north, which secures the passage from Yixian County to Beijing through the Taihang Mountains.
To this day, Zijingguan is still a transport hub connecting North China with Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. The fortress was already established by the time of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan and other dynasties, the rulers repaired and added buildings to it many times. It reached its current size in the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli Emperor’s reign.
Zijingguan is one of the oldest of the numerous majestic passes along the Great Wall. The earliest records regarding Zijingguan can be found in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, referring to it as one of the nine most famous fortresses at that time. Zijingguan had different names during different periods of time. It was called “Shangguguan” during the Warring States Period, “Wuruanguan” during the Eastern Han Dynasty, “Zizhuangguan” during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and “Jinpoguan” during the Song and Jin Dynasties. It was not officially called “Zijingguan” until the Yuan Dynasty.
Zijing Pass Great Wall by Fangkuai Liu / TuchongSimatai Great Wall
Tempered by wars and withstanding weathering for more than 2,000 years, Zijingguan is considered a very valuable cultural relic in various fields, such as archeology, historical and cultural research, and tourism.
From the Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the Zijingguan fortress was built with earth and stone. It was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368) that long stone blocks were used for its foundations and black bricks for its facade. After the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beiping, Zijingguan assumed greater geopolitical importance.
During the reigns of several Ming emperors such as Zhengtong, Jingtai, Hongzhi, Jiajing, Wanli and Chongzhen, Zijingguan was rebuilt and expanded. Forts and passes were added nearby and a winding mountain road was carved, forming a very complete defense system around Zijingguan.
Zijingguan Fortress
The Zijingguan fortress is divided by a central wall into eastern and western zones, with government offices in the east and soldiers' camps in the west. The fortress is surrounded by walls on the east, west and south sides.
The city wall of Zijingguan has a total length of 18,160 meters.The fortress has 9 gates on land, 4 gates upon the river, and 19 fighting platforms. It looks particularly brilliant when the glow of sunset reflects off the defensive walls. There are many cultural relics and historic sites near Zijingguan, including ancient military wells and milling plates, which are still well preserved. The ancient plank roads are also still clearly discernible here.
Zijing Pass Great Wall by Fangkuai Liu / TuchongSimatai Great Wall
In 1449, during the Ming dynasty, the Mongolian Oirat ruler Esen Taishi led 100,000 troops and captured Emperor Yingzong of Ming during the "Tumu Crisis". They then forged an order in the emperor's name, tricked the Zijingguan garrison into opening the gate, and made their way very quickly to Xizhimen and Deshengmen in Beijing. The officials and the people were shocked, and there was great panic in the city. Most courtiers suggested abandoning the city and fleeing to the south. The Empress heeded the advice of Yu Qian, a senior official, and came up with an effective military operation to defend Beijing. Yu was appointed Minister of War.
Esen Taishi found Beijing tightly guarded and difficult to conquer. Fearing that the rescuing army from around the country would cut off his route or retreat, he instead led troops back to the north of the Great Wall from Zijingguan.
Zijing Pass Great Wall by Fangkuai Liu / TuchongSimatai Great Wall
Later in 1549, Anda, or Altan Khan of the Tumed Mongols, led 100,000 fighters to Zijingguan and broke through the pass. They besieged Beijing, plundering and setting fire to the suburbs. In the late Ming Dynasty, when Li Zicheng led the rebel army to attack Beijing, he also sent a team to conquer Zijingguan first.
Zijingguan is an integral part of the system defending the Central Plains and a snapshot for us to understand the value of the Great Wall as a whole system. When constructing the Great Wall, the first step was to determine where it should be built from a strategic point of view. At present, no historical records of the site selection process have been discovered, but these two points would certainly have been considered: strategically, the sites should conform to the defense layout set by the imperial court for the whole region, and tactically, the sites should work towards the preservation of the defense and the destruction of the enemy.
