The Old Brick City of Jiangcun

　　   The Old Brick City of Jiangcun is located in Hongguang Village, Guanxu Town, Deqing County, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. It was designated as a cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Deqing County in 2001. Built during the Ming Dynasty, the brick city stands 3.76 meters high, 0.35 meters thick, and has a perimeter of 539 meters, covering a total area of 15,375 square meters within the walls. The brick city faces south and north, taking the shape of a rectangle, with the ratio of the east-west wall length to the north-south wall length being 1:2. Currently, only 180 meters of the southern section of the wall remains, with remnants varying in height from 1.2 to 3.7 meters. The brick city originally had four gates, with one gate on the southern wall called the “Renhe Gate.” It was demolished in the 1960s, but in front of the gate remains the stone pedestal of a turtle-shaped stele. Originally, an “Imperial Grant” stele stood atop it, inscribed with: “Erected on an auspicious day in October of the year Renchen (1472) during the Chenghua era. By decree of the imperial envoy and Governor of Liangguang Military Affairs concurrently serving as Provincial Governor and Censorate Right Censor Han Yong, who was authorized to handle emergency measures: the virtuous commoner Jiang Jiju contributed 300 dan of grain for famine relief. This stone is erected to commend his exceptional deed. By Huang Yu, Prefect of Zhaoqing Prefecture, and Zhou Jian, Prefect of Deqing Prefecture.” The Old Brick City of Jiangcun is the only relatively well-preserved Ming Dynasty brick city in Deqing, holding significant historical value for the study of ancient village defense facilities from the Ming era.