The Ancient City Wall of Nanan

　　Dayu has had a walled city since the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, known as General Yu’s City. It was a military camp where General Yu Sheng stationed troops to guard the Yuguan Ridge, featuring rammed earth walls. The original site was located southwest of the current county town and no longer exists. In the second year of the Chunhua era of the Northern Song Dynasty (991 AD), after the Nanan Army was established by dividing Qianzhou, the construction of Nanan City began. Initially, the walls were “low and flimsy,” and it took multiple expansions before taking on a basic form. The city had four gates—east, south, west, and north—with the Zhang River flowing around it. In the third year of the Yuan Yanyou era (1316 AD), a sudden flood from upstream burst through the western gate and exited from the eastern gate, splitting the city into two. During the Zhi Zheng period of the Yuan Dynasty, Xue Li, the Tongzhi (deputy administrator) of Nanan Road, restored the damaged city walls. The project took three years to complete. The rebuilt city faced the Zhang River to the south, with slightly higher terrain in the west, and was long and slightly pointed in shape, resembling a fish—hence it was called Fish City (now the Old Town). It measured approximately 1,000 meters from east to west and 800 meters from north to south, covering an area of 800,000 square meters. The city wall was 3,500 meters in circumference, with four gates—east, south, west, and north. The wall stood one zhang and three chi (approximately 4.3 meters) high and one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) wide, including a five-chi (approximately 1.7 meters) parapet, with the highest sections reaching up to two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

　　The Water City derived its name from its location along the northern riverbank and was constructed in the fortieth year of the Ming Jiajing era (1561 AD) by Prefect Wu Bingshu and County Magistrate Wen Tiyi. It stretched approximately 4,000 meters from east to west and 1,100 meters from north to south, covering an area of 950,000 square meters. The walls were one zhang and five chi (approximately 5 meters) high and seven chi (approximately 2.3 meters) wide, with a perimeter of over 4,020 meters. It had four main gates—the Dongshan Gate, Taishan Gate, Meishan Gate, and Jin’ao Gate—as well as seven additional gates along the river, including the Wenchang Gate and Wendao Gate, all equipped with stairway docks. The Ancient City Wall of Nanan has collapsed dozens of times over the centuries but has also been repaired and reinforced just as many times. It has withstood the force of raging torrents and the impact of cannon fire. The currently preserved sections of the wall were reinforced in the 1930s using bricks salvaged from the demolition of the Xiaoxi and Ertang ancient walls by Yu Hanmou’s Cantonese army. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, most of the city walls and gates were demolished due to urban development. Only a section of the Water City remains, stretching approximately 600 meters from the Liberation Bridgehead to the northwest corner of Dayu Middle School, about 300 meters of which is relatively intact. The surviving wall stands 4.5 meters high, with a 1.6-meter-high parapet. The core of the wall is made of rammed earth, faced on both sides with blue bricks and lime mortar. Existing sections of the wall feature inscribed bricks from the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi, Tongzhi, Xianfeng, and Guangxu eras, marking renovation dates. Bricks recovered during demolition also bear inscriptions such as “Made by the Nanan Road Governor’s Office,” “Supplied by Nankang County of Nanan Army,” and “Built in the thirteenth year of the Yuan Zhi Zheng era.”