Bajiao Ancient Town

Bajiao Ancient Town

Bajiao Town is a Ming Dynasty fortress town. Its city walls now form a square enclosure that is largely intact, with the southern gate still standing. According to the *Shenchi Prefecture Annals*, in the second year of the Hongzhi reign (1484) during the Ming Dynasty, military official Wang Xuan built Bajiao Fort. In the fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1525), the Bajiao Granary was constructed and expanded in the sixth year. By the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign (1587), the brick-walled fortress was completed, with a perimeter of four li and a height of 3 zhang 5 chi, featuring three gates to the east, west, and south. At the time, Bajiao Fort was located along the defensive line connecting Shenchi Pass and Piantou Pass. To the southeast, it linked with Shenchi Fort to defend Shenchi; to the west, it connected with Xiyukou to support Piantou; and to the northeast, it led to Limin Fort in coordination with Shuozhou. Thus, Bajiao, along with Limin and Shenchi forts, formed a triangular defensive formation, all serving as critical border fortresses. As a result, during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Bajiao Fort was designated as a garrison post, overseeing four forts with a total of 377 stationed troops. By the early Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Bajiao Camp, with officials such as the garrison commander and company commander stationed to manage military and civil affairs, maintaining a standing force of 240 troops. In the early years of the Yongzheng reign, when Shenchi Fort was established as a county, Bajiao came under Shenchi’s jurisdiction, and the Bajiao garrison commander was renamed to Dusi Qianshu. During the Qianlong reign, it was changed again to company commander (a military officer). By the Guangxu reign, Bajiao’s military affairs were overseen by Shenchi Camp. These historical records indicate that Bajiao Fort served as a military fortress town for over 500 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Although there are no octagonal pavilions or other eight-sided buildings within Bajiao Fort, the reason it is called “Bajiao” (literally “Eight Corners”) stems from a legendary tale: The original site of Bajiao Fort was at the earthen fort ruins northeast of the current town, which had a flat and square layout. Legend has it that when the earthen walls were nearly completed and workers were about to start laying bricks, one night they suddenly noticed a multicolored halo drifting from the north and landing on the wooden stake marking the construction site. Within the halo, the vague silhouette of a multicolored fox appeared. Moments later, the halo and the fox both drifted away. The next day, the construction markers had vanished. Officials and workers followed the direction the halo had taken and found the wooden stake had been driven into the ground about one li south of the town. When they pulled out the stake, a spring gushed forth. Officials immediately ordered the workers to dig a well, and they discovered a vigorous, sweet-water spring. Looking around, they saw the terrain was high in the north and low in the south—easy to defend but hard to attack—so they decided to build a new town at the spot indicated by the stake. After the fortress was completed, it was named Bajiao Fort, a homophone for “pulling out the stake.” This folk legend suggests that Bajiao Fort was indeed relocated from the earthen fort ruins north of the current town, or that those fortress wall ruins were part of a military castle built before the Ming Dynasty. This would make the history of Bajiao Fort even more ancient.

The poem “Staying Overnight at Bajiao” by Gao Shushi, a poet and scholar of the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing reign who passed the imperial examination, provides historical evidence that Bajiao Fort was once an important border stronghold during the Ming era:

The golden walls rise stern and high,

As winter chills the Jade Gate Pass.

Fellow travelers oft ask me why

The frontier town makes progress pass.

Homesick, I count the day and night,

While guests and hosts see stars grow pale.

Birds in the woods won’t roost outright,

Nor rest on branches without fail.

This poem vividly depicts the alert state of the soldiers defending Bajiao Fort in the early Ming Dynasty, as well as their longing for home day and night. By the time of the Yongle reign, battles at Bajiao Fort had become less frequent, and the stationed troops no longer had to be on constant high alert—“nor rest on branches without fail”—but it remained an important border stronghold, often visited by senior officials. The poem “Patrolling the Border” by Xu Ming, who served as an assistant surveillance commissioner during the Xuande reign, is sufficient proof that Bajiao Fort was still a border fortress town, albeit one without warfare, where soldiers and civilians enjoyed relative peace.