Ruins of the Regional Commandant's Office

Ruins of the Regional Commandant's Office

The ruins of the Regional Commandant's Office are a cultural tourism attraction.

The ruins of the Regional Commandant's Office are located in Cancheng Village, Xintian Town. In the early years of the Longqing era of the Ming Dynasty, Wudun Mountain—situated at the junction of Haifeng, Lufeng, Huiyang, and Zijin—was long occupied by notorious bandits led by Ma Zuchang, who committed all kinds of evil deeds. The local populace detested them and repeatedly petitioned the imperial court. In the sixth year of Longqing (1572), the court appointed Regional Commandant Hou Jigao and Sima Zongwu to establish the Huizhou Maritime and Land Bandit Suppression Office here, stationing troops to guard against mountain bandits. The "Lufeng County Annals" record: "Zhao Kehuai, the regional intendant overseeing eastern Guangdong, proposed that both Huiyang and Haifeng were key jurisdictions. Now that the bandits had fortunately been suppressed, it was urgent to reinforce defenses. Xintian, as a shield for Haifeng, should be fortified." Thus, construction of the Regional Commandant’s Office fortress began in the third year of the Wanli era (1575). The city walls were built on a stone foundation, with blue bricks used for the ramparts. The walls stood six meters high, 1.5 meters wide, and stretched over 2,000 meters in circumference, covering an area of approximately 10,000 square meters. Seventy-two barracks were built inside the fortress, while military facilities such as a training ground and shooting range were located outside. The office was abolished in the late Ming period and the site was later repurposed for civilian residences. In the seventh year of the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty (1729), a garrison was re-established here. It was abolished again in the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735). The current ruins preserve parts of the damaged walls and Ming-era blue bricks.