Bazhai Ruins

　　The Bazhai Ruins are situated in the regions of four townships in Xincheng County—Gupeng, Beigeng, Suiyi, and Hongdu—as well as in Shimen Village in Shanglin County, with a total area of about 800 square kilometers. The Bazhai Peasant Uprising, which shocked the ruling powers of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, used Bazhai as its base of operations and waged battles across vast areas of Guangxi, including Binzhou, Sien, Qingyuan, Hengzhou, Yongzhou, Taiping, Liuzhou, and Guilin. The struggle lasted for over 400 years. Bazhai is located in a rocky mountainous region south of the Duyang Mountain Range and east of the Daming Mountains, characterized by rugged peaks, steep cliffs, isolated transportation, and treacherous terrain. The name “Bazhai” (“Eight Stockades”) originated in the Yuan Dynasty. According to *Xuehai Tongzhi* (“General Records of the Sea of Learning”), “In the autumn of the first year of the Yanyou era (1314) during the reign of Emperor Renzong, Yao rebels from Bazhai raided Hengzhou.” The sixth-generation Tusi (hereditary native chieftain) of Xincheng County during the Ming Dynasty, Mo Zhenwei, recorded in *Records of the Suppression of Bazhai* that “the eight stockades are called Siji, Zhou’an, Gupeng, Gubo, Gumao, Du’zhe, Luomo, and Bodeng…” During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Bazhai served as a major stronghold for peasant uprisings.