Jianruiying Martial Arts Platform

　　   The Jianruiying Martial Arts Platform is situated at the eastern foot of Fragrant Hills in Haidian District, Beijing. Commonly referred to as the Tuancheng Martial Arts Platform, it is an ancient military garrison structure from the Qing Dynasty. Its exterior resembles a castle and it was first built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. In order to strengthen control over ethnic minority regions in the southwest, the Qing court implemented the policy of "gaitu guiliu" (replacing hereditary native chieftains with centrally appointed officials). Local forces resisted using stone watchtowers, and the Qing army suffered prolonged setbacks in their assaults. As a result, this martial arts platform was established to train troops in the assault and capture of such watchtowers—the Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp—eventually leading to the pacification of the Greater and Lesser Jinshan regions. To celebrate the victory, the Shisheng Temple was built here (now in ruins).

　　   The Jianrui Camp, also known as the Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp, the Flying Tiger Jianrui Cloud Ladder Camp, or the Fragrant Mountain Jianrui Camp, was a special forces-like unit within the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty’s imperial guard. Established during the Qianlong era, the Jianrui Camp played a significant role in various military campaigns, including the battles of the Greater and Lesser Jinshan, the Greater and Lesser Hotan, the suppression of the Lin Shuangwen and Zhuang Datian uprisings in Taiwan, and the Battle of Kulun. The camp was disbanded in 1911 following the fall of the Qing government and the abolition of the Eight Banners system. The camp was stationed at the foot of Fragrant Hills in the northwest of Beijing, with a regular force of about 2,000 soldiers divided into left and right wings according to their banner affiliations. The soldiers were primarily Manchu, and the camp also included a special unit called the Miaozhi Camp, composed of Tibetan soldiers who had surrendered during the battles of the Greater and Lesser Jinshan, along with their descendants.

　　   The Martial Arts Platform was built in the 14th year of the Qianlong reign (1749) and is the only remaining military architectural complex in Beijing that integrates city walls, halls, pavilions, and a drill ground. The Tuancheng (circular castle) has a diameter of 50 meters from east to west and 40 meters from north to south, with walls 11 meters high and 5 meters wide, and a perimeter of just 190 meters, making it the smallest city in the world. There is one gate tower on the north and one on the south. The walls are made of blue bricks, with arched gateways, and the north and south stone gate lintels are inscribed with the emperor’s calligraphy: “Mighty Rampart of Glory” and “Fortress of Resolve,” respectively.

　　   A moat and stone bridge surround the outer perimeter, and there are two towers on the city wall. Inside the northern tower stands a horizontal stele engraved with Emperor Qianlong’s “Postscript to the Shisheng Temple,” commemorating the Jianrui Camp’s achievements in subduing the Dzungar. To the south of the city are three halls covered with yellow glazed tile and topped with a hip-and-gable roof. The Martial Arts Platform itself has five bays and a front terrace, where Emperor Qianlong and other emperors personally inspected troops more than twenty times. A fire broke out here in 1934. The large drill ground, which once spanned 300 acres, is now an orchard. Southwest of the Martial Arts Platform is the Shisheng Temple Stele Pavilion, built in the 14th year of Qianlong’s reign. It houses a stele inscribed in four scripts—Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan—with the emperor’s “Imperial Inscription for the Shisheng Temple.” The square stele, over ten feet tall, has inscriptions on all four sides recounting the suppression of the Jinshan region and the history of the Shisheng Temple. The temple no longer exists, leaving only the stele pavilion. The existing historical structures, from north to south, are the Tuancheng, the Martial Arts Platform, the West City Gate Tower, the Shisheng Temple Stele Pavilion, and the Songtang Pavilion.

　　   In May 2006, the Jianruiying Martial Arts Platform, as an ancient Qing Dynasty building, was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth group of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites.