The Southern Great Wall

　　　　The Southern Great Wall starts from Tingziguan at the border with Tongren in the south and extends north to Xiqueying in Jishou, spanning a total length of 382 li (approximately 191 kilometers). It is known as the “Ten-Thousand-Li Wall of the Miao Territory” and is one of the grand ancient architectural projects in Chinese history. A significant portion of the wall runs through the territory of the ancient Fenghuang City, roughly passing by Xinfenghuangling, Alaying, Gushuangying, Deshengying, Zhenxiying, and Zhenwuying. The wall is about 3 meters high, 2 meters wide at the base, and 1 meter wide at the top. It winds around mountains and crosses rivers, with most of it built along steep ridges. Along the way, more than 800 guard posts, artillery platforms, blockhouses, and fortified gates were constructed for troop housing and defense purposes. At the time, there were typically 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers stationed along the wall, with the number occasionally increasing to around 7,000. During the Ming Dynasty, the Miao people living along the Hunan-Guizhou border were categorized as “raw Miao” and “cooked Miao.” The raw Miao were ethnic minorities who did not submit to the central government’s authority. Unable to bear the heavy taxes and ethnic oppression imposed by the authorities, they frequently rebelled. To pacify the border region and suppress uprisings, the Ming court allocated 40,000 taels of silver to construct the Great Wall between the territories of the raw and cooked Miao. Later rulers of the Qing Dynasty also carried out partial additions and repairs to the Miao Frontier Great Wall. Perhaps because the military strength of the southern ethnic minorities was not as formidable as that of their northern counterparts, the Southern Great Wall was not built as magnificently or on as grand a scale as the Northern Great Wall. The stones used were only one-tenth to one-sixth the size of those used in the Northern Great Wall.

　　　　Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, stones from the Southern Great Wall have been continuously removed by local residents for building houses and constructing terraces. Today, only fragmented sections of the wall and some well-preserved fortresses remain. There is no controversy that the Southern Great Wall is an integral part of China’s Great Wall, and this site should be included in the World Cultural Heritage list just like the Northern Great Wall.

The Southern Great Wall