Xuanfu Garrison
The Xuanfu Garrison ( Chinese 宣 府 鎮 / 宣 府 镇 , Pinyin Xuānfǔ zhèn ) was one of the nine Ming garrisons that guarded the Great Wall of China during the Ming Dynasty . The Nine Garrisons or Jiubian ( 九 边 , jiubian - "Nine Frontiers") were a military system for guarding the Great Wall that was established under Emperor Hongzhi .
overview
The garrison was located near what is now Xuanhua County in Hebei Province and was classified as one of the most important garrisons. The section of wall she was guarding had a length of 510 kilometers and began at Juyongguan in the east and extended to the Xihun He River northeast of Datong in the west. Due to the strategically important location in the north-west of the capital, the walls in this section were extremely solid, in some sections nine walls had been built in a row, each of them occupied by strong troops. A total of about 151,000 soldiers were stationed in Xuanfu.
history
The garrison was built in the Tang Dynasty and was initially just a small town. In the early Ming Dynasty , Zhu Yuanzhang sent his sons to occupy strategic fortresses, and Zu Hui (Zhuhui), the 19th son, was sent to Xuanfu as Prince Gu. He had the city expanded from 1394. In 1430 a military authority ( Wanquandusi ) was established in Xuanfu, which was directly subordinate to the office of the royal military governor. 15 Wei (a military unit) with a total of more than 100,000 soldiers were subordinate to the Wanquandusi, the garrison was responsible for the 710 km long wall in its administrative area (Xuanfuzhen).
The garrison town
The Zhuhui Residence was in the area of today's Huangchengqiao Bridge in Xuanhua. After the expansion by Zhuhui, it had an area of 12 km² and was the same size as Xi'an at that time. Seven city gates were built on the basis of the original city wall:
- in the south the gates of Changping , Zuande and Cheng'an
- to the north the gates of Guangling and Gaoyuan
- the Anding Gate in the east and the Taixin Gate in the west
In 1440, the earth walls were reinforced with bricks and trenches and more than 20 defense platforms. In addition, four gate towers and four turrets were built in 1442. The current city wall of Xuanhua traces the extent of the Ming walls.
Military history
More than 50 major battles were fought in the vicinity of the garrison in the Ming Dynasty alone. During the Tumu crisis , Esen Taiji's attempt to force entry to the city under threat of violence against his hostage, the captured Ming emperor Yingzong , was unsuccessful . Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the garrison saw an attack by rebel forces under Li Zicheng after taking the Taiyuan and Datong garrisons . On March 14, 1636, Xuanfu was surrounded by them and taken the next day. The locals greeted the conquerors, who soon took Juyongguan and then Beijing .
In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion after the eight States took Beijing , fighting also broke out over Xuanfu.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Xuanhua Town