Lianyungang Ming-Qing Yan Dun (Beacon Towers)

Lianyungang Ming-Qing Yan Dun (Beacon Towers)

Beacon towers, also known as signal platforms or commonly referred to as fire beacons, were elevated structures built to guard against enemy invasions. In times of threat, smoke signals were sent during the day and fires lit at night. These towers were interconnected to relay military intelligence and served as crucial ancient military warning and defense facilities. The Chinese idiom “wolf smoke rises everywhere” describes the scene of beacon fires lighting up the sky. The story of King You of Zhou from the Western Zhou Dynasty lighting the beacons to amuse his concubine Bao Si is also about these towers.

Yuzhen Mountain, also known as Buddha’s Seat Cliff or Little Coffin Mountain. It earned its name due to its exposed white rocks that glisten like jade in the sunlight and resemble the shape of a pillow. Yuzhen Mountain faces the sea to the north and looks across to Zhusha Island, with an elevation of 168.5 meters.

According to cultural heritage volunteer Zhang Yicheng, the valley on the eastern side of Yuzhen Mountain is locally called “Yan Dun Gully.” The beacon tower at the mountain’s summit, together with Xishi Island (now Xishu), Beigushan, Liandao, Yandun Mountain, and Haizhou Camp, formed a complete coastal defense early-warning system.

The Nanbugshan Yan Dun (Beacon Tower) ruins are located at the mountaintop on the southern side of Xugou, standing 188 meters above sea level. The site features a strategically important position with a commanding view over the entire Yingyou Strait. To the east, it overlooks Yajishan, Miaoling, Sunjiashan, and the East-West Liandao Islands, while to the west and southwest, it connects with Xinnanshan and Beigushan, serving as a key observation post for monitoring the maritime conditions around Lianyungang. The ruins are enclosed by a stone wall approximately 130 meters in circumference, with a roughly square high platform made of large stone blocks situated in the center.

According to the Ming Huidian (Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty): “In the eleventh year of the Yongle reign (1413), it was ordered: to build beacon towers, five zhang or more in height, surrounded by walls one zhang and five chi high.”

Qi Jiguang also provided detailed records about beacon towers in his book Ji Xiao Xin Shu (New Book of Effective Discipline): “The fire beacon ‘has three grass frames... each frame must be one zhang and two chi high, square on all sides, each side one zhang’” “Each beacon tower, regardless of day or night, assigns three men, equipped with three fire-starters, one bowl-mouth cannon, and three hand cannons, to patrol and stand guard along the outermost seashore. Upon spotting enemy intrusion, during the day, they wave flags and fire cannons as signals; at night, they light fire signals and fire cannons as signals, and the beacon tower immediately responds.”

The Ming-Qing Yan Dun (Beacon Towers) in Lianyungang share similarities in architectural style, scale, and terrain, and largely match the designs of beacon towers recorded in historical texts such as the Ming Huidian, Ji Xiao Xin Shu, and Zheng Kaiyang Za Zhu (Miscellaneous Writings of Zheng Kaiyang).

In March 2019, the Lianyungang Ming-Qing Yan Dun (Beacon Towers) were included in the eighth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units