Gubeikou Great Wall
Gubeikou (Ancient Northern) Pass lies at the west end of the Jinshanling Great Wall, on the border between Gubeikou Township in Miyun County and Bakeshi Township in Luanping County. There are two versions of the origin of the name Gubeikou: One is that in ancient times the place was called Hubeikou (Northern Tiger Pass), which gradually developed into Gubeikou; the other is that the name is derived from the inscription “Guguan” (ancient pass) in the stone plaque inlaid above the lintel of the town’s northern gate.
Southeast of Beijing about 128 kilometers (80 miles) is where you’ll find the Gubeikou Great Wall. It lies on ridges which meander their way from the east to the west. The total length is 21,000 meters (13 miles). It is comprised of four sections namely Panlongshan Section, Wohushan Section, Jinshanling Section and Simatai Section; the Simatai Section being the most challenging to climbers. This part of the Great Wall was constructed in 1368 in order to protect and maintain defense again northern tribes that chose to invade it. It was further expanded in 1567 and the result is what we see today.
A vital passageway between China’s heartland and the areas beyond the Great Wall, for centuries Gubeikou was hotly contested by opposing forces. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) first fortified the pass here, and the Song (960-1279), Liao (916-1125), Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties all stationed troops here. During the Jin Dynasty it was called Tiemenguan (Iron Gate Pass). In 1378, the Ming general Xu Da captured Beiping (present-day Beijing), the then capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and sent troops to reinforce the defensive fortifications at Gubeikou, making it one of the first of the 32 passes reinforced in the Ming Dynasty. Centuries ago, Gubeikou was a strategic pass which provided much needed access to Inner Mongolia and northeast China. Wars were common to gain control of this point and continued until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Remnants of past battles could be seen on some of the broken bricks and stones. In addition, if you are lucky you may spot some old relics as well.
Historical records show that the Gubeikou pass town, standing on the northern mountaintops and commanding territory as far as the Dakai Mountains in the south, extended to the Eastern Gate in the east and the Chaohe River in the west. It was 2.5 km in circumference, with three gates – the Northern, Southern, and Eastern gates.
The garrison consisted of a battalion of 1,120 men. There used to be a gate tower flanked by two watchtowers in the east and west, respectively, the gate – named Iron Gate – allowed only one carriage and one soldier to pass through. Outside the pass gate there were protective walls. Much of the wall and many of the watchtowers on the slopes around Gubeikou Pass have collapsed. Only the parts of the wall built of stone on precipitous terrain remain in good shape.
Gubeikou Pass was the site of incessant warfare. For instance, during the Five Dynasties period (907-960), Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty (923-936) captured Gubeikou, and then advanced to take Youzhou (covering the present-day Beijing, northern Hebei and Liao ing); in 1379, Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, of the Ming Dynasty led his troops to Gubeikou, defeated the Yuan troops there and occupied the pass; in August 1550, the Tartar Khan Anda led troops down the Chaohe River, broke through Gubeikou Pass, and then besieged the capital Beijing for three days and nights; and in 1551, Anda attacked Gubeikou three times, ravaging the surrounding countryside. Later, Emperor Muzong reached a trade agreement with Anda, making historic contributions to the economic exchanges between the areas within and outside the Great Wall. In the Qing Dynasty, every year the emperor went through Gubeikou Pass on his way to the Chengde Imperial Summer Resort.
A poem depicts the strategic terrain of Gubeikou Pass: “Two mountains rise steeply, so close to the blue sky/Between the mountains flows a river/Like a fluttering white silk ribbon.” The two mountains mentioned in the poem are Mount Panlong (Coiling Dragon) in the east and Mount Wohu (Crouching Tiger) in the west, and the river is the Chaohe.
Qing Emperor Kangxi also wrote a poem on the pass: “Nature put towering crags and precipitous cliffs here I pass this place ever year when autumn is close/The Ming territory, even the deserts beyond the Great Wall all belong to me/ The pass remains just for the sake of its grandeur and magnificence.” Nowadays, with beautiful scenery, as well as numerous historic sites, Gubeikou Pass, no longer a place of warfare, is an important tourist attraction on the route from Beijing to the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde.
Gubeikou Great Wall Pictures
