Xingwuying Ancient City

　　    Xingwuying Ancient City is located 48 kilometers northwest of Yanchi County and currently belongs to Erbukeng Village in Gaosawo Township. It sits on the lowlands where two sections of the Great Wall from the Ming Dynasty intersect. According to Volume Three of the Jiajing Ningxia Chronicles, “An old city once stood here, though its dynasty and original name remain unknown. Only the ruins of one wall remain, commonly referred to as 'Half City.'” In the ninth year of the Zhengtong era (1444 AD), Regional Inspector Jin Lian initially built this city on the foundations of the old site and stationed a commandant to guard it. Research indicates that the ancient city is roughly rectangular, with the east wall measuring 610 meters, the west wall 580 meters, the south wall 470 meters, and the north wall 480 meters. The walls feature waist towers — five on the east, four on the west, four on the south, and five on the north. Approximately 100 meters outside the south barbican gate lies an ancient well, commonly known as Dragon-Trodden Well. Legend has it that a mounted knight once passed through on his way to Lingzhou just as the sun was about to set. He asked a herdsman, “Can I reach Lingzhou before nightfall?” The herdsman replied, “Lingzhou is still over a hundred li away. Unless you’re a deity on a divine steed, you won’t make it.” At that moment, the horse, thirsty and unable to drink, gave a long neigh and pawed at the ground with its hoof, causing a spring to burst forth. Clear water gushed out on its own. By the time the herdsman looked up, the knight had vanished. Later, a Guan Yu Temple was built atop the barbican gate, with a statue of Lord Guan erected inside, and the well was named Dragon-Trodden Well. In years with heavier rainfall, the well water would overflow on its own. Local residents would come to observe the well early on the first day of the New Year. It is said that whichever direction the well water overflows toward, that direction will enjoy a bountiful harvest.

　　    Xingwuying was an important fortress along the Great Wall and was known as the “strategic stronghold of both Lingzhou and Xia, and the vital guardian of Pingliang and Qingyang.” Stretching 400 li from Ningxia to the Yulin border, where no high mountains or deep valleys offered natural defenses, defense relied instead on Huamachi and Xingwuying. Xingwuying is a valuable cultural heritage site and is associated with Tieshuzhuan Ancient City. Tieshuzhuan Ancient City is situated 36 kilometers southwest of Yanchi County, currently in Baojichun Village, Fengjigou Township. It lies 8 kilometers east of Habahu Forest Farm, 6 kilometers west of Wangchongzhuang, 5 kilometers north of Qianjitan, and 500 meters west of Tieshuzhuan Village, with the Qingshan-Fengjigou Highway passing nearby. The ancient city is rectangular, stretching 385 meters from north to south and 360 meters from east to west. The east wall of the ancient city has a gate with a barbican; the barbican measures 28 meters from north to south and 18 meters from east to west. It was built from rammed earth, with a base width of 10 meters, remaining height of 4–8 meters, and a top width of 13 meters. The rammed layers are approximately 20 centimeters thick. Originally, there were bricks and stones, but these were removed long ago. Parts of the ancient city are now overgrown, while others have been turned into farmland. The surface is scattered with numerous fragments of Ming Dynasty porcelain, bricks, and other building materials. The site is designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit.

　　    In the 15th year of the Jiajing era (1536 AD), Liu Tianhe, Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and concurrently Left Vice Minister of War (later promoted to Minister of War), was ordered to manage military affairs in the Three Borders region. Together with Regional Inspector Zhang Wenkui, he “jointly planned the restoration of Tieshuzhuan City. The city was surrounded by roughly four li, stood over four zhang tall, and had similarly thick walls. The city was built to protect the spring, and the moat was built to protect the city, all constructed to last permanently. A command officer was appointed to oversee it, with a garrison of over 1,500 soldiers and 86 horses, supplemented by recruited local militias.” After the city was completed, it put an end to 170 years of conflict between the Tatar tribes and the people of Huamachi over water and pasture. Today, it is confirmed that the spring inside the city can no longer be found, likely buried by sand. There is a spring to the east of the city, believed to have been created by later generations. The former spectacle of “water gushing like a pillar, the spring water cool and sweet, quenching tens of thousands of cavalry daily without drying up” no longer exists, but the spring still irrigates hundreds of acres of fertile farmland, and local residents also depend on it for drinking water. The renowned Peking University geography professor Hou Renzhi once made a special trip to Tieshuzhuan for research.