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| (Entrance gate of Jiayuguan) |
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| (Watch tower over the defense wall of Jiayuguan) |
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| (Inside the defense walls) |
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| (Modern railway cutting through the old Great Wall) |
2011年1月8日 星期六
Jiayuguan, Gansu : a fortress in the west end of the Great Wall
China built the Great Wall to prevent the raids of nomadic tribes. Such defense works carried on over two centuries. Jiayuguan in a major fortress in the west end of the Great Wall. It holds a strategic location in the Gansu corridor. With Gobi desert in the west and Qilian mountains in the north, Jiayuguan controls the narrow pass to the China mainland.
The present Jiayuguan was built in the Ming Dynasty with over six hundred years history. It is one of the best preserved fortresses along the Great Wall. Its massive defense walls and garrison buildings are impressive.
There is no battle fought in Jiayuguan since it was built. The Great Wall could not save the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. Its external enemy did not break through the Great Wall. It was a Ming general, Wu Sangui, who opened up the gate for the invading Manchu armies.
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張貼留言 (Atom)
The moral of the story is no matter how strong you are, you have a 'weak' point, or a weak link that can topple the defense system, the building, even the person. That 'weakness' can be a physical weakness, a moral weakness ... sometimes that 'weakness' is a 'goodness', to help topple a dictatorial empire, collapse a strong fortress ... I don't know the background of the story, perhaps the focus is too much on the strength of the wall and neglected that there can be a change of heart of a person, or buyout that person, or give him something of his greatest desire, in exchange to open the gate, flip a switch, or do something ... I think Helen of Troy is still best story on using deception to enter a strong city and brought it down. Great sharing of info and photos. Thanks Joe.
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