Mei Pass

Mei Pass () is a strategic site around north of

Nanxiong Nanxiong (), historically Namyung, Namhung, and Nanhsiung, is a county-level city of northern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi to the north, east and southeast. It is under the administration of Guangdong Gua ...

in Guangdong, China. It is situated in the

Meiling Mountains The Dayu Mountains () form a mountain range separating the ''Zhenshui River'' (浈水, the upper Bei River) of Pearl River System from ''Zhangshui River'' (章水, one of source streams of Gan River) of the Yangtze River System. The Dayu are a ser ...

() and forms the boundary between the provinces of

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

and Guangdong. The site of Mei Pass has been significant since the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

(221BCE206CE) and its name probably dates from this early period. It was part of one of the five transport routes from the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

valley to

Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to: *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas *Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands *The '' Nanhai I ...

in present-day Guangzhou. During the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

(618907), the site was variously called Qin Pass () and Hengpu Pass (). In 716, the Chancellor

Zhang Jiuling Zhang Jiuling () (678 or 673–740), courtesy name Zishou (), nickname Bowu (), formally Count Wenxian of Shixing (), was a prominent minister, noted poet and scholar of the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. ...

constructed a wide road through the pass as part of the trade route along the

Gan River The Gan River (, Gan: Kōm-kong) runs north through the western part of Jiangxi before flowing into Lake Poyang and thus the Yangtze River. The Xiang-Gan uplands separate it from the Xiang River of neighboring eastern Hunan. Two similarly sized ...

. Of the old gallery road, Zhang wrote: Formerly, an abandoned road in the east of the pass, Forbidding in the extreme, a hardship for men. An unswerving course: you clambered aloft On the outskirts of several miles of heavy forest, With flying bridges, clinging to the brink Halfway up a thousand fathoms [] of layered cliffs? During the Song dynasty (9601279), fortifications were constructed on the pass and the characters representing Mei Pass were carved on it. The Tang road was improved with brick paving. The surviving fortifications have the words "Majestic pass of Nanyue" () carved on the northern side and "First pass of Lingnan" () carved on the other side. (Both Nanyue and Lingnan are alternative names for Guangdong.) Until recent decades, Mei Pass was an important thoroughfare for the overland trade south to Guangdong, as well as a militarily significant boundary. In 1928,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

attempted to cross the pass from Jiangxi into Guangdong. In the 1930s, the Communist commander

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

spent three years in the vicinity of Mei Pass fighting a protracted guerilla war against

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

encirclement. Mei Pass has been designated as a Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the provincial authorities and draws small numbers of domestic tourists. Around of the Tang road and most of the Song fortifications are still extant. Most tourists visit in winter, when the plum blossoms are in full bloom. {{Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of China Landforms of Guangdong Landforms of Jiangxi Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangxi