Ruins of the Ancient Dujian City

Ruins of the Ancient Dujian City

The ruins of the ancient Dujian City is a cultural tourism attraction.

The ruins of the ancient Dujian City are located in Shangjiang Village within the Duliujing Scenic Area, situated on a hillside surrounded by the Duliujing River and Paichang River. It is the oldest historical city in Guizhou. As early as the third year of the Zhenguan era during the Tang Dynasty, the Yingzhou Prefecture was established here. In the third year of the Tianbao era (744 AD), it was downgraded to a frontier autonomous prefecture; in the eighth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was reorganized as the Dujian Subprefecture, and in the ninth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, an earthen city wall was built. The following year, Chang Fangbo, the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guizhou, inspected the terrain and, citing “the Miao people had just submitted, the earthen walls were prone to collapse and difficult to use for intimidation,” requested and received approval to rebuild the walls with stone. Construction began in the eleventh year of the Yongzheng reign and was completed in the twelfth year. The city wall was elliptical in layout, with a perimeter of 1,915 meters, varying in height from 7 meters depending on the terrain, and a thickness of 2.5 meters. There were four city gates—east, south, west, and north—each topped with the Wenchang Pavilion. Eight artillery platforms were installed, along with eight large earth cannons, ten small earth cannons. Within the city were constructed the Office of the Tongpan (deputy provincial judge), the Wenchang Pavilion, the Guan Yu Temple, the Wanshou Palace, the Yan Emperor Palace, the Confucius Temple, the Guanyin Temple, the Hunan Guild Hall, the Jiangxi Guild Hall, the Jiezhaoguan (Reception Office), the Jiezongguan (Ancestral Reception Office), and the Naval Camp, among others. This city wall is one of the remnants of the “Six Xinjiang Subprefectures” established during the early Qing Dynasty’s implementation of the policy to replace hereditary native chieftainships with direct governance (Gaitu Guiliu) in Guizhou.