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Chinese Name: 山海关
English Name: Shanhaiguan; Yuguan; Shanhai pass
Location: Hebei
Type: Ancient culture and art
Rating Level: AAAAA (5A)
Website: http://www.shgjq.com/
Brief Introduction
Shanhaiguan, also known as Yuguan榆关 and Linlu pass 临闾关, is located 15 kilometers northeast of Qinhuangdao City 秦皇岛, Hebei Province. It is one of the Northeast passes of the Ming Great Wall. Before 1990, it was considered the starting point of the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall. It is known as one of the “three wonders” of the great wall of China.
In the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), the city was built to build a pass and set up a guard. Because it was close to the mountain and the sea, it was named Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan city has a circumference of about 4 kilometers. It is connected to the great wall and takes the city as the gate. The city is 14 meters high and 7 meters thick. There are four main gates and a variety of defense buildings. It includes “the first pass in the world” 天下第一关 arrow tower, Jingbian tower 靖边楼, Linlu tower 临闾楼, Wengcheng 瓮城, and 1350 meters of plain Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty.
On March 4, 1961, the Great Wall Shanhaiguan was announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
In December 1987, the Great Wall was listed as a world cultural heritage site.
What are worth visiting and seeing？
Architectures
The city of Shanhaiguan, with a circumference of about 4 kilometers, is a small city. The whole city is connected to the great wall and takes the city as the pass. There are four main gates in the city, and there are many kinds of ancient defense buildings. It is a relatively complete defense system, known as “the first pass in the world”.
Shanhaiguan city was built in the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1381). It is the center of the Shanhaiguan Great Wall. It is an irregular trapezoid, and the northwest and southwest corners are arc-shaped. There is no corner. The wall of Guancheng is 4727 meters long, 14 meters high and 7 meters thick. The east wall is the main line of the Great Wall. There are four gates in the East, West, North, and south of Guancheng.
The east gate is the “East Gate of Zhencheng” 镇东门, that is, the “first gate in the world”, the west gate is the “Yingen gate” 迎恩门, the South gate is the “Wangyang gate” 望洋门, and the north gate is the “Weiyuan gate” 威远门. The gate towers are built on the four gates.
The first gate tower in the world is actually in the form of an arrow tower. According to the actual measurement, the city platform is 12 meters high, the tower is 13 meters high, the width from east to west is 10.1 meters, and the length from north to south is 19.7 meters. The building is divided into two floors. The first floor is 5.7 meters high and the second floor is 8 meters high.
The existing Dongluo city 东罗城 is located outside the east gate of Guancheng and is connected to the east wall on the east side. The existing wall was built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1584).
Dongluo city was built in order to ensure that the main city of Shanhaiguan was not attacked and to form a defensive layout that echoed each other and locked the pass under the historical background that the northern defense situation was seriously damaged in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the entire northern defense line moved south, and the Shanhaiguan Great Wall changed from an important inner town in the early Ming Dynasty to an outer one to resist the enemy.
With the development of the political and military situation of the Qing Dynasty, the ruling strategy was changed from the military defense of the Ming Dynasty to the policy of political courtship and appeasement. The construction of the Great Wall was replaced by religious and ideological rule, resulting in the gradual weakening of the defense function of the Great Wall. Dongluo City gradually became a prosperous commercial town, playing a role as a traffic artery, and information and commodity distribution center between North China and Northeast China. The maintenance of the wall was basically stopped.
Value of Shanhaiguan
The plaque of “the first pass in the world” is 5 meters high and 1.5 meters long. Each character is more than one meter long. It is said that it was inscribed in the regular script by Xiao Xian, a Jinshi in the 8th year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty and a native of Shanhaiguan. The writing style is vigorous and powerful. It is integrated with the style of the city tower. It can be called a masterpiece of ancient and modern times.
The ancient city of Shanhaiguan is an important military city defense system on the great wall of the Ming Dynasty. The East Building of Dongmen town is majestic. Because it is located at a strategic pass and in a dangerous situation, it is also the first pass on the Great Wall in the East, so it is called “the first pass in the world”. It is a landmark building in the ancient city of Shanhaiguan.
