The Ancient Ming City of Fuchuan

The Ancient Ming City of Fuchuan

The Ancient Ming City of Fuchuan

The Ancient Ming City of Fuchuan is one of the better-preserved ancient county town ruins in Guangxi. Built in the 29th year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1396), the city features a symmetrical “cross” layout. Its streets are paved with cobblestones embedded with coin patterns symbolizing wealth and prosperity, as well as sun patterns representing happiness and brightness. The city had gates in the four cardinal directions...

The Ming City is located at the foot of Xiping Mountain on the western ridges of the Dupang Mountains in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, near Gaolao Ridge along the upper reaches of the Fu River. According to historical county records, the city was built in the 29th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1396), initially with earthen walls, which were later replaced with brick walls during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1620). The city wall is 2,113 meters in circumference, 6 meters high, and 2.7 meters wide, featuring 909 crenels. It spans 500 meters from east to west and 600 meters from north to south, covering a total area of 0.3 square kilometers, and is surrounded by a protective moat. To the south of the city lies a seven-story ancient pagoda, beneath which is the Ciyun Temple. Together with the Panlong Mountain to the north and Ma’an Mountain to the east, they form a natural defensive barrier. It served as a military stronghold that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and remains one of the rare, well-preserved ancient county town sites in Guangxi. It has been renovated eight times over the centuries. The original Ming City had four gates: the Shengping Gate in the east, the Taiding Gate in the west, the Xiangri Gate in the south, and the Ying’en Gate in the north. Each gate was 6.5 meters high and 51 meters in circumference, originally built from bricks but rebuilt with large square bluestones in the eighth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1743). Each stone typically measures 1.8 meters in length, 0.58 meters in height, and 1.02 meters in thickness. Each gate is constructed from approximately 831 to 896 such large bluestone blocks. Though similar in design, all gates feature a central passageway—5.1 meters high, 4 meters wide, and 14.7 meters deep. The main doors in the passageways consist of two thick iron-wooden panels adorned with copper nails, iron plates, and large door rings. Above the doors, hidden passages within the gate towers connect to tunnels 15 meters long that extend outside the city gates, allowing for both ascent and descent, and readiness for both offense and defense. Today, only the east and south gates remain, both recently restored. The east gate features a round arch and a gate tower constructed with a “wooden frame structure,” supported by eight wooden pillars each 6 meters tall and 30 centimeters in diameter, without using a single iron nail. The tower is finished with blue bricks, blue tiles, red pillars, and flying eaves. Below the gate tower is a “carp stone” marker engraved with a carp design. The south gate is built with larger interlocking stones, and its outer door panels are reinforced with an iron sheet layer. On the inner arch near the gate, there is an “arrow slit” measuring 4 meters long and 3 meters wide. The south gate is marked by a “straw sandal stone,” which is a black stone shaped like a shoe sole embedded in a bluestone slab.

Inside the city, there are four main streets: Zhensheng, Renyi, Zhenwu, and Yangshou, intersecting to form 12 sections in a “well” pattern layout. The streets are about 3 meters wide, paved entirely with cobblestones forming money patterns. The rough yet classic designs give the streets their local nickname, “Flower Streets.” Each street has a “Zijing Tower,” also known as a “Lantern Tower,” managed in rotation by a locally elected “lantern chief.” The social, economic, and cultural peak of “Ming-era Fuchuan City” occurred during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The city featured crisscrossing alleys and wells, densely packed markets, and clustered residences. It originally housed government offices, academies, temples, shrines, monasteries, shops, inns, and venues for entertainment and performances. Moreover, it boasted a full range of ancient buildings reflecting Ming and Qing political culture and religious traditions, the most representative being the Temple to Literature and Martial Arts, the City God Temple, the Wenchang Pavilion, the Bao’en Temple, the Ciyun Temple, the Festival and Filial Piety Shrine, the Loyalty Shrine, the Almshouse, ceremonial archways and god towers, the Jiaoyu Office, the Magistrate’s Office of Maoling, and the Instructor’s Office. The so-called “Flower Streets,” with their well-patterned layouts, cobblestone paving, and exquisitely designed patterns blending curves and angles, are considered a unique highlight among the ancient city pathways in Guangxi.

From the 10th to the 15th day of the first lunar month each year, during the Lantern Festival, every family that has given birth to a son—regardless of wealth—must present an elaborately crafted, colorfully decorated lantern inscribed with the baby’s name and various images to the “Zijing Tower.” In recent years, as attitudes toward childbirth have evolved, even families with baby girls send lotus lanterns to the towers. During this period, dragon and lion dance troupes parade around each lantern tower every evening after nightfall. Dragon and lion dances fill the streets, firecrackers resound loudly, and crowds gather to admire the lanterns amid laughter and joy, creating an exceptionally lively atmosphere.