Hailongtun () is a ruined fortress on the Longyan Mountain, in Hailongtun Village, Gaoping Town,

Zunyi Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...

City,

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

Province, China. It was the stronghold of the

Chiefdom of Bozhou The Chiefdom of Bozhou (), ruled by the Yang clan, was an autonomous ''Tusi'' chiefdom established by Yang Duan () during the Tang dynasty. After he conquered the Bozhou Prefecture (centred on modern Zunyi) from the Nanzhao Kingdom, Yang Duan was ...

until its destruction by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

after the

Bozhou rebellion The Bozhou rebellion () was a Miao uprising that occurred in Guizhou and spread to Sichuan and Huguang between 1589 and 1600 during the Ming dynasty. Events In 1589, the Bozhou Tusi region (Zunyi, Guizhou) erupted into inter-tribal warfare ...

. Hailongtun is an example of a well-preserved medieval castle in China. It is one of the three Tusi sites designated by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

on July 3, 2015.Laosicheng becomes the First World Cultural Heritage in Hunan
rednet.cn (04-Jul-15)
/ref> Hailongtun was established in 1257 during the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. It served as the stronghold of the Chiefdom of Bozhou, ruled by the Yang family, from the Southern Song to the Ming dynasty. In the 28th year of the Wanli reign (1600), the Ming defeated the

, with the last tusi Yang Yinglong committing suicide and the castle was burned down. The castle occupies a total area of , with 6 eastern and 3 western passes and walls nearly long. It is surrounded by cliffs on all four sides with only one entrance from the mountain road. The pass on the mountain side was known as the Feihu Pass. The one to the east was called Feilong Pass. At the foot of the right hill is a copper column pass, whereas at the base of the left hill is the iron column pass. The castle's architecture reflects its strategic importance. The city gates were flanked by archer’s towers. Although there is nothing to support the tale, it is said that once a large stone wall, wide enough to allow horses to gallop on it, connected all of the passes. A deep moat surrounded the city.

References

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External links

Excavation to the Hailongtun Castle in Zunyi, Guizhou Province
(Chinese Archaeology, 2013) Castles in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Guizhou 1257 establishments 1600 disestablishments