Qilu Fort

Qilu Fort

Qilu Fort is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Qilu Fort

Qilu Fort, commonly known as Shipo Fort, is located on Qilu Street in Jinping District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province. Qilu is an ancient name for Shantou. It is currently one of China’s best-preserved independent artillery forts with the largest single structure area. In 1989, it was designated as part of the third batch of provincial-level key cultural relics protection units.

Constructed in the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1874), at that time, Fang Yao, the Commander-in-Chief of Chaozhou, petitioned the Qing government based on the rationale of “unrest among neighbors and the need for strict coastal defense in Chaozhou,” and was granted permission to self-fund the construction of a concrete artillery fort at Qilu in Shantou (a strategic point of Shantou Port). The project was completed in the 5th year of the Guangxu reign (1879). The fort features distinctive architectural elements: it is a circular castle with a band-shaped wall. The walls and the fort’s surface runway were built by ramming a mixture of lime and glutinous rice paste. The underground passages and cross-shaped arched cavities on the lower level of the fort, as well as the entire structure, were constructed using non-weathered granite blocks of specified sizes. The surface runway is as solid as flat ground, with all battlements and gun emplacements paved with granite slabs. The joints are tight, and the construction is sturdy, which is why it is commonly called Shipo Fort (Stone Fort).

The fort is surrounded by a 23-meter-wide moat with a depth of over 3 meters. The inner diameter of the fort is 85 meters, the outer diameter is 116 meters, the outer wall height is 6 meters, the inner wall is 5.15 meters high, the gun corridor is 4.1 meters wide, and the perimeter exceeds 300 meters. The total area, including the moat, is 19,607 square meters, with the fort itself covering 10,568 square meters.

On both sides of the main gate of the fort are the East and West Courtyards. Along the eastern edge of the courtyard, there is a 3-meter-wide, 27-step streamlined granite staircase. Cannons could be pushed up to the gun emplacements along these steps. The circular surface of the fort is equipped with 75 ventilation and communication towers, 11 small stone staircases leading to the courtyard, one spiral granite staircase from the command post to the gun corridor, 19 entrances from the gun corridor to the main gate of the courtyard, 12 smaller doors, and multiple windows. The arched, circular gun corridor is bright and airy, with excellent natural lighting. There is also a drinking water well in the northeast corner of the fort.

After the Xinhai Revolution, on September 24, 1927, troops of the Nanchang Uprising (known as the "August 1st" Uprising) marched into Shantou and stationed soldiers at Shipo Fort. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it was taken over by the Municipal Public Security Bureau. In 1957, due to wartime preparedness needs, it was handed over to the navy stationed in Shantou. On October 18, 1991, comprehensive renovations were carried out on Shipo Fort, and it was opened to the public as Shantou Shipo Fort Park.

For over 100 years since its construction, no cracks or collapses have been found in the entire structure, making it a representative work of coastal defense facilities in eastern Guangdong during the late Qing Dynasty.

In June 1989, it was designated as a cultural relics protection unit by the People’s Government of Guangdong Province. In May 2013, Qilu Fort was announced as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units