Jishui Ancient City Wall

Jishui Ancient City Wall

The Jishui Ancient City Wall is situated at the confluence of the Gan River's eastern bank and the En River in Jishui County, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province, about 17 kilometers from downtown Ji'an. Construction began during the Qianfu era of the Tang Dynasty. Over the centuries, it has been built, destroyed, and rebuilt multiple times amid changing fortunes. The surviving section is approximately 850 meters long, 5.5 meters high, and 4.6 meters wide, mostly consisting of brick walls renovated during the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty, which still stand firmly by the Gan River to this day. Bathed in the slanting rays of the setting sun, it displays a rugged vitality and a profound sense of beauty, reflecting the diligence, bravery, and exceptional talent of the ancient Chinese laboring people.

The Jishui Ancient City Wall has undergone a transformation from an earthen wall → brick wall → stone wall → flood control embankment. In the fifth year of the Qianfu era of the Tang Dynasty (878 AD), County Magistrate Xie Shilong led the people of Jishui to construct the city wall to ensure the safety of the residents. This earthen wall, built with mixed soil, was six feet high and four li in circumference, with four gates: east, south, west, and north. This is the origin of the current division of the Jishui city area into four sections based on the gates.

After Xie Shilong built the wall, because the southwest gates were close to the confluence of the En River and the Gan River, they were breached by floods several times during the Ming Dynasty and subsequently repaired multiple times. During the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, influenced by the strategy proposed by his advisor Zhu Sheng — "build high walls, store abundant grain, and delay claiming the title of emperor" — placed great emphasis on city wall construction. For 300 years during the Ming Dynasty, building and maintaining city walls became a prevailing practice. Under this trend, the Jishui Ancient City Wall was also renovated in the early Zhengde era (1506) under the advocacy of County Magistrate Zhu Yinxing.

The new city wall was entirely constructed using specially made bricks, each weighing ten kilograms, mixed with lime and tung oil. It stood 5.5 meters high and stretched 4 kilometers, more than doubling the size of the original earthen wall. The wall also featured a parapet, with battlements spaced every two meters. Each battlement had a crenelated opening used for warfare, called a "sword hole." The city had five arched gates in total: the Civilization Gate in the east, the Wenfeng Gate in the west, the Wensha Gate in the south, and the Wenjiang Gate in the north. The northeast corner and the Small East Gate were named the Wenchang Gate. Between the Civilization Gate and the Wenjiang Gate, there was also a moat over a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) wide and deep to block enemy attacks. The entire project took several years to complete, involved enormous costs, and was the largest construction project in Jishui’s history at the time. Later, it was repeatedly damaged by heavy rain and flooding, prompting the county government to fund repairs multiple times.

In the second year of the Tianqi era (1622), after local resident Zou Yuanbiao petitioned the imperial court, County Magistrate He Yingkui added double gates to the four main gates — east, west, south, and north — known as "moon gates" (the west and south moon gates still partially remain today). Each moon gate was topped with a watchtower. These wooden towers were about five meters high and could accommodate thirty to forty people sitting inside. The roofs were of an ornamental dome design, covered with glazed tiles, featuring four upturned eaves, red pillars, painted railings, and carved window frames, giving them a simple and elegant appearance. Each gate bore a horizontal plaque: the south gate read "Grace Flows Modestly," the east gate "Yang Virtue Nourishes Life," the west gate "Golden Wall Pillar," and the north gate "Pillar of the North Star." Only the Small East Gate lacked a moon gate and thus had no plaque. The funding for constructing the moon gates came from a mix of public and official sources.

As history progressed into the Qing Dynasty, due to frequent damage to the city walls along the southwestern part of the city caused by the En River, many sections of the Jishui Ancient City Wall were replaced with stone embankments. In the 36th year of the Qianlong era (1771), County Magistrate Zhu Tingji planted wooden stakes beneath the protective embankment and stacked three layers of hard-packed earth, stretching a hundred zhang in length. In the 59th year (1794), over ten zhang of the riverbank in the southeast corner of the southern city collapsed, and County Magistrate Peng Shu used his own salary to purchase stones for repairs.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units