Qingxi Ancient Town

　　Qingxi Ancient Town is situated 59 kilometers west of Qiaozhuang, the county seat of Qingchuan. The *Records of Huayang Kingdom* note that in the seventh year of Jianxing (229 AD), Guangwu County was newly established within the jurisdiction of Gangdi Commandery under the former Yinping Road, with the settlement located at Qingxi. Zhuge Liang’s military advisor Liao Hua was appointed to oversee the region, establishing garrison farms there. This dates back over 1,700 years. It served as an important pass along the ancient Yinping Road in China. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has been a battleground between royal forces and regional powers, making it a strategic military stronghold through the ages. Due to its critical location, successive dynasties stationed troops here and constructed fortifications. In the fourth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1371), Commander Zhu Lu replaced the earthen walls with brick structures. In the tenth year of the Shunzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1653), Bai Danzhong, specially appointed as the Lieutenant General of the Long’an Camp, rebuilt the town walls, completing the project in three years. The city walls spanned nine hundred zhang in circumference, with stone slabs and large bricks mortared together using glutinous rice-lime adhesive on the exterior, filled with rammed earth and stone inside. The walls stood two zhang and one chi high, with a base width of one zhang and four chi, and were accompanied by a one-zhang-deep moat. The outer gates featured drawbridges, while the eastern, western, and northern gates each had semi-circular outer walls known as “wengcheng” (barbicans). The inner and outer gateways were entirely arched with stone slabs. The inner gate did not align directly with the outer gate but opened sideways, topped with an arrow tower. Above the inner gate stood a double-eaved watchtower reaching four zhang and five chi high, used for military surveillance and displaying the grandeur of the frontier. The town’s shape resembled a boot, hence earning the nickname “Boot City.” The town was divided into four major streets—east, west, south, and north—as well as Lower East Street, Lower South Street, all paved with flagstones. At the crossroads where the four streets met stood a tall wooden drum tower, covering an area of one zhang and eight chi, with towers aligned horizontally and vertically, reaching four zhang and five chi in height. The structure had three floors, featuring flying eaves, glazed tubular tiles, ornate carvings, and hanging plaques. The west plaque read “Ancient Yinping Road,” the north “Northern Lock and Key,” the east “Purple Star Shines Bright,” and the south “Nanshan Gathered Splendor.” Each of the four major streets had its own memorial archway inscribed with plaques: East Street “Purple Star Shines Bright,” West Street “Throat of Western Shu,” North Street “Arctic Radiance Linked,” and South Street “Land of Outstanding People.”

　　Qingxi Ancient Town boasts a long history and profound cultural heritage, with numerous historical and cultural relics. The eight scenic spots described in the poem by late Qing scholar Yuan Rupei—“Gazing west to the spirit of the Golden Ox, basking east in the radiance of White Horse Saddle; high bridge temple where golden willows sway, springs gush forth from jade-like floral abundance; fish leap from the abyss at cave’s mouth, tigers perch atop stones at the pass; Tihu Lake unaware of dawn, snow-clear peaks shrouded in chill”—depict Qingxi’s famed scenes. These specifically refer to eight landscapes: Shiniu Temple, Ma’anshan Mountain, Gaqiao Temple, Yuhua Spring, Yudong Bian, Guanhu Stone, Tihu Pond, and Jiulong Bao.

　　Qingxi Ancient Town is steeped in history, rich in cultural legacy, and home to many historic and cultural sites. The “Eight Scenic Spots of Qingxi,” as described in a late Qing scholar Yuan Rupei’s poem—“Gazing west to the aura of the Golden Ox, east bathed in the light of White Horse Saddle; high bridge temple with bent golden willows, springs gushing from jade flowers in abundance; fish leaping from the cave’s abyss, tiger rocks perched at the pass; Tihu Lake unaware of dawn, snow-cleared peaks shrouded in chill”—include the eight landscapes: Shiniu Temple, Ma’anshan Mountain, Gaqiao Temple, Yuhua Spring, Yudong BIAN, Guanhu Stone, Tihu Pond, and Jiulong Bao.