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The Sichuan anti-Mongol fortresses are 83 mountain cities built by the soldiers and civilians of 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 ...
during the Mongol conquest of China in Sichuan to resist the invasion of the
Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
. Taking full advantage of the geographical advantages of the Sichuan Basin, these fortresses formed a comprehensive three-dimensional defense system, which succeeded in resisting the Mongol attacks for up to 53 years, greatly extending the life of Southern Song. They also made Sichuan the last to be conquered by the Mongolians in 1288. Due to the defense of the fortresses, it was difficult to settle the Sichuan region. The Mongol Army had to abort its original strategy of "taking Shu (Sichuan) and destroying Song" and moved to the area of Jingzhou and Xiangyang starting from 1271, defeating the Song Dynasty via the Han River. Möngke Khan became the only Mongol
khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...
to perish on the battlefield when he died during an assault on Diaoyucheng in 1259. He may have been a victim of dysentery or of injuries sustained when attacking the fortress. At present, there are still 48 fortresses kept to this date from the Song Dynasty in Sichuan and
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
. Among them, five of them (including Diaoyucheng and Baidicheng) were recognized as Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level. Another 14 of the fortresses were selected as
major historical and cultural sites protected by Sichuan Province Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
and
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
. But overall, except for a select few such as Diaoyucheng, most of them have not been effectively protected or developed.


History

The Sino-Mongol wars in Sichuan began in 1227, known as the 1227 incident or the Dinghai incident. The Mongolian army attacked Western Xia while sending troops into Sichuan, and captured five prefectures belonging to
Lizhou Circuit Lizhou Circuit or Lizhou Province was one of the major circuits during the Song dynasty. It was split from Xichuan Circuit in 1001. In 1144 it was split into Lizhou East Circuit and Lizhou West Circuit. The 2 smaller circuits rejoined in 1168 ...
near Sichuan. In 1236, Kashin, the second son of Ögedei Khan, led the Mongolian army to the south of Sichuan, breaking through the Song defense line at Kaizhou, Lizhou Circuit, and entered the Sichuan Basin. Three circuits in Sichuan were almost completely occupied except Kuizhou Circuit, and the Song only kept a few states such as
Luzhou Luzhou (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Nu2zou1; Luzhou dialect: ), formerly transliterated as Lu-chou or Luchow, is a prefecture-level city located in the southeast of Sichuan Province, China. The city, named Jiangyang until the Southern and Northern Dyna ...
, Guo prefecture, and Hezhou. After this, the Mongolian army continued to invade Sichuan. In 1241, it took
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
again, nearing Kuizhou, and the Sichuan defense line was nearly destroyed. In 1241, Yu Jie moved the military and political center of Sichuan from Chengdu to Chongqing, which was easier to defend. After understanding that defending on flat land failed to stop the Mongol army, Yu began to build a mountain defense system and relocated the state government offices in the Sichuan province into the Daba Mountains. Most of the fortresses were located near cliffs of the mountains. The top of the mountains were wide and flat, there was enough arable land and water, so they were self-sufficient and could be defended for a long time. At the same time, the mountain cities were often connected by rivers and roads at the junction of valleys or rivers. The defense of the Southern Song Dynasty used
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, Jiading and Kuimen as the centers of the defense of Sichuan, which resisted the invasion of Mongolia for 53 years. Even after the Battle of Yamen in 1279, which ended 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 ...
, two of the fortresses (Santaicheng and Lingxiaocheng) had not fallen. The former lasted for an extra year until 1280, and the latter lasted until 1288, making it the last place under Song control.


List


References

{{Sichuan topics Song dynasty architecture