Jin Dynasty Frontier Trench

Jin Dynasty Frontier Trench

Tongliao City's Huolinhe Mining Area is located along the main ridge of the southern section of the Greater Khingan Mountains. The surrounding area, spanning hundreds of miles, features undulating mountains with deep valleys and high ridges. Only the Huolinhe Mining Area has flat terrain, lush water and grass, clear springs, and a cool climate. It served as an ideal summer pasture and military garrison for ancient northern nomadic peoples.

When you visit Huolinhe for tourism or to escape the heat, walking across the fresh and breezy grasslands, you will come across a "mud dragon"—a long earthen structure—that winds down from the northeastern mountain ranges through the Huolinhe Valley, cuts across the mining area, and stretches southwest into the territory of Xilin Gol League. This is the historically famous "Jin Frontier Trench," commonly known as the "Genghis Khan’s Border Wall." Because the trench was reinforced with long earthen embankments, watchtowers called "horse faces" were built atop them, and border fortresses were constructed at regular intervals along the inner side of the trench, along with strategic passes at major transportation junctions, it is also commonly referred to as the "Frontier Trench and Fortress System."

In 1125 AD, the Jurchen people overthrew the Liao Dynasty and defeated the Song Dynasty, establishing the Jin regime in Bai Chengzi (Jin Shangjing), present-day Acheng District, Heilongjiang Province. This regime stood as one of the three major powers alongside the Southern Song and Western Xia. Soon after its establishment, the northern nomadic peoples, led by the Mongols, began to harass and attack the Jin regime. To consolidate their rule and defend against invasions by other tribes, the Jin started constructing the frontier trench before the first year of the Tianjuan era (1138 AD). The entire project continued intermittently until the third year of the Cheng’an era (1198 AD). Over these sixty-plus years, several Jin rulers treated the construction of the frontier trench as a top priority. The massive project involved enormous costs and mobilized an unprecedented amount of manpower throughout history.