Chishan Mountain Fortress

Chishan Mountain Fortress

Chishan Mountain Fortress is a cultural heritage site protected by Liaoning Province.

Chishan Mountain Fortress is located about 45 kilometers southeast of Gaizhou City, at the southern foot of Chishan Mountain in Guizigou Village, Wanfu Town, Gaizhou City. The fortress largely retains the characteristics of the Goguryeo period.

Chishan Mountain Fortress is a Goguryeo-era mountain fortress site, built along the undulating ridges and utilizing the natural terrain for defense. The northern side is protected by the five peaks of Chishan, while the eastern, southern, and western sides are reinforced with tall stone walls, forming an irregular rectangle. The entire fortress spans sixteen mountain peaks that connect in a winding fashion, showcasing grand engineering. Leveraging the terrain and natural defenses, it served as a strategically vital stronghold—easy to advance from in attack and impregnable in defense. The fortress is narrower in the east and wider in the west, with the interior sloping from higher in the east to lower in the west, forming a basin where springs flow year-round.

The total perimeter of the fortress is 2,389 meters. The eastern wall is built under the first peak of Chishan Mountain, 400 meters east of Longtan Temple within the fortress, on a ridge that connects the northern and southern mountains and blocks the valley leading from Guizigou to Shangtun. Fifty meters south of the starting point is the eastern gate; the northern gate is situated on a mountain pass, 5 meters wide (only ruins remain). Twenty-four meters south of the northern gate is a battlement, 9 meters long, 6 meters wide, with a remaining height of 4.3 meters. The eastern wall covers five main peaks, stretching 551 meters, with each peak utilized for natural defense (no stone walls). The western wall begins at a cliff on the north, is 758 meters long, and 55 meters south of its starting point lies the western gate, 6 meters wide, also covering five main peaks, relying on the terrain for defense without stone walls. The southern wall is 1,080 meters long, covering six main peaks across the east and west. Seventy meters south of the fifth peak from the west, there is the ruin of the southern gate, 7.8 meters wide, with one battlement. The stone edges of both the eastern and western walls are finished with an arc-shaped pattern, tapering from south to north.

According to the "Gai Ping County Annals": “Chishan Mountain is 140 li south of Bajiazi Village, eight li southeast of the county town. The mountain has five peaks, towering halfway to the sky, mostly rocky in the upper part and earthen in the lower, with the summit bearing the ruins of a Goguryeo mountain fortress... In front of the mountain stands Longtan Temple, named after the pond in front of it. Inside the mountain there is a triumphal stele, believed to commemorate Emperor Taizong of Tang’s victorious campaign against Goguryeo.” The "Gai County Local Annals" record: “In the 44th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, the temple buildings were renovated.” The inscription on the Longtan Temple Triumphal Stele states: “In the 19th year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong, angered by the tyranny of Gao Suwen over his people and his obstruction of Silla’s tribute, personally led a campaign against Goguryeo. He halted his imperial procession on this mountain... and named the temple 'Triumphal' upon his victorious return...”

According to local accounts, the mountain was originally called Longtan Mountain, where Jiang Xingben garrisoned troops with Goguryeo soldiers. To resist the Tang army, Jiang Xingben was ordered to build fortifications here and station troops, with Longtan Temple serving as the command center. In the 19th year of the Zhenguan era, Emperor Li Shimin of Tang led forces eastward in campaign, defeating Jiang. Emperor Li Shimin rode throughout the fortress, admiring the scenery. To commemorate the victory, he ordered a stone monument erected, naming it the Triumphal Stele. Later, he decreed the construction of a Triumphal Temple within the fortress, assigning monks from other temples. The temple was required to have a main hall seven bays wide, flanked by seven-bay side halls, with Imperial Censor Chen Des overseeing construction. It was completed two years later. Upon taking the commission, Chen Des immediately commenced large-scale building operations, breaking ground on an auspicious date. However, Chen Des was corrupt and avaricious, withholding workers’ wages, cutting corners, and reducing the planned seven bays to five. He pocketed the leftover funds. After project completion, he was executed, which is why the halls and wings ended up being only five bays wide.

The mountain gate of Longtan Temple and the five-bay western wing within the fortress still remain. The entire temple complex covers an area of 570 square meters. One hundred meters east of the gate lie a stupa cluster and stone tablets. Both the eastern and western gates of the fortress are located toward the north side, about 50 meters from their respective starting points, while the southern gate is not centered on the southern wall. The fortress largely preserves features from the Goguryeo period.

In 1983, it was designated as a county-level cultural heritage site. In 1984, the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government declared Chishan Mountain Fortress a city-level cultural heritage site. In 2014, the People’s Government of Liaoning Province (Liao Zheng Fa [2014] No. 27) listed it as a provincial-level cultural heritage site. The cultural heritage protection zone and construction control area announced by the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government (Ying Zheng Fa [1990] No. 38) designate a 60-meter buffer around the fortress walls, as well as the surviving Qing Dynasty structures Longtan Temple and the stupa group, as Class V construction control zones, preserving vegetation, landforms, roads, and terrain.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism. Contributor: Dong Wenjie

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