Pingchang Chang'an Ancient Road

Pingchang Chang'an Ancient Road

Pingchang Chang'an Ancient Road is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

The Micang Ancient Road is a historic route that traverses the Micang Mountains, connecting Hanzhong in Shaanxi Province with northern Sichuan. There were mainly four routes, each following the valleys of the Tongjiang, Lengshui, Xishen, Baiyan, and Dong rivers to reach Sichuan. All these routes required crossing the Micang Mountains at the border between Sichuan and Shaanxi, hence the collective name "Micang Ancient Road."

The 1979 edition of the Cihai states: “The Micang Road is located in present-day Nanzheng County, Shaanxi, at the Sichuan-Shaanxi border, and connects to the Daba Mountains to the east. Traveling through these mountains was the main route from Nanzheng into Shu (Sichuan), characterized by rugged terrain, and was historically referred to as the Micang Road. In ancient times, when launching military campaigns from Shaanxi into Sichuan, most forces used this route.”

The first route of the Micang Ancient Road: historically referred to as the Hanzhong Ancient Road (also known as the Chang'an Ancient Road), is the collective term for the “Micang Ancient Road” within the current jurisdiction of Pingchang. It is the first and easternmost section of the Micang Ancient Road. The so-called Hanzhong Ancient Road refers to the ancient route from Hanzhong in Shaanxi to Sichuan. This road ran from Hanzhong through Tongjiang, passed Pingchang (historically called Jiangkou), and reached Suiding (present-day Dazhou City) via both land and water routes, then continued on to Chongqing. Traces of the surviving road are still clearly visible, and numerous inscriptions testify to the great achievements of ancient people in carving through mountains, breaking rocks, building roads, and constructing bridges. Approximately 1.5 kilometers north of Tian Tang Village, Xixing Township, Pingchang, there is a stone inscription reading “Chang'an Ancient Road,” measuring 1.18 meters in height, 0.7 meters in width, and with strokes 0.9 meters wide, carved in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign during the Ming Dynasty (1615) by Yuan Xue’an of Xian’an. Additionally, located in Jiangkou Town, there are inscriptions from the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1883) by Liao Lun, including the phrase “Opening Mountains to Make Way for People” and the “Stone Gorge Ode”: “Heaven reveals wonders, with overlapping ridges and peaks, cradling twin loops, opening a single thread of road, with ancient trees and hanging rocks, tall bamboos and hazy mist, birds roosting at night and fireflies glowing at dusk, waters converging into the Min River, clouds linking to the Qin trails, Jiange and Kuimen gates standing east and west, with the jade-like Mount Le’er and copper-like Mount Liang dividing the splendor, ascending step by step to reach the heights, as if standing in the heavens.” These all serve as evidence.

Protected Area: The bluestone-paved roads and stairways along the Yujia–Xixing–Tuya–Folou section, extending 5 meters outward from the edges of the roads and stairways; the cliff inscriptions at Youfanggou in Tian Tang Village, Xixing, extending 15 meters outward from the rock face.

Construction Control Zone: A buffer zone extending 50 meters beyond the protected area.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units