Baotou Memorabilia: The Pre-Qin Period

Primitive society

The history of the Baotou area, according to the available information, began with the Neolithic Ashan people and the culture they created - the Ashan culture. The historical remains of its activity area are mainly distributed in the eastern suburbs of Baotou City and on the terrace on the north bank of the Yellow River at the southern foot of the Yin Mountain of Tumut Right Banner.

The era of the first phase of Ashan culture is similar to that of Yangshao culture in the Central Plains, which is about 6,000 years old. The second phase dates back to about 5090 (±80). The third period can be divided into two stages, morning and evening, 4790 (±70) and 4340 (±70) respectively. According to statistics, the Ashan people have multiplied and lived in this area for more than 2,000 years.

Excavated cultural relics show that the Ashan people are a clan tribe that mainly focuses on agriculture and supplemented by fishing and hunting. Their production activities and daily lives are different from the connotation of Yangshao culture, which is mainly in the present-day Guanzhong region, and also from the cultural connotation of the Longshan people, which is mainly in the present-day Shandong region. In particular, the late residential site area of the third phase was built with a stone wall, and the residual height reached 1.7 meters, which was the earliest and largest ground defense facility in the domestic era so far.

Xia Shang Zhou

The tribes and tribes that operated in the present-day Baotou region during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties were complex. There have been tribes and tribes such as Ghost Fang, Fang, Lou Fu and Lin Hu. However, its specific activities in the Baotou area are very inaccurate in the literature.

Warring States period

In the middle of the Warring States period or a little later, the Xiongnu, as a nomadic tribe, entered the historical stage of the Baotou area, and the Touman Danyutai (also known as the Touman City) and the Southern Court of the Xiongnu were in the area of present-day Guyang North or Damao in Baotou. Therefore, the relationship between the Xiongnu shan yuguo and the two Han dynasties became the main content of the historical development and evolution of the present-day Baotou area.

Twenty-sixth year of King Wuling of Zhao (300 BC)

King Wuling of Zhao expanded his territory westward, continuing westward from the capital of Handan via Yan and Dai to Yunzhong (present-day Northern Ancient City of Tuoketo County) and Jiuyuan (present-day Machi Ancient City in Machi Township, a suburb). This is the earliest military administrative force in the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States" in the Central Plains clearly recorded in the history books so far, which entered the present-day Baotou region. Present-day Machi Township not only has the remains of ancient cities and ancient buildings built in the Warring States Period, but also unearthed relics of the Warring States Period such as Bubi Zufan. King Wuling of Zhao made Jiuyuan an important military stronghold in western Zhao and carried out the necessary construction.

Twenty-seventh year of King Wuling of Zhao (299 BC)

In May, King Wuling of Zhao was passed down to Prince He, the King of Zhao Huiwen, and proclaimed himself the main father. Then, dressed in a bearded robe, he led the scholar to go west again through the clouds to Jiuyuan. He wanted to attack Qin directly from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan, and personally disguised himself as an envoy to the Qin capital Xianyang, inspected the terrain along the way, and directly observed the qin king's personality. Aware of this, king Qin Zhao fled to Jiuyuan in a hurry. Continue to build the ancient castle of Kuhara and the ferry.

3rd year of King Huiwen of Zhao (296 BC)

The Lord Father led the teachers back to the east and rewarded the meritorious personnel of his entourage. During this period, in order to relieve the worries of "attacking Qin directly from the south", he presided over the construction of the Great Wall of Zhao from the Weiyin Mountains in Dai (present-day Wei County, Hebei Province) to the west of the Pingyin Mountains to the area of present-day Qisu Haitan in Wulat.

The Great Wall of Zhao continued westward from the present-day Tumut Left Banner along the Daqing Mountain into the territory of present-day Baotou City. After dongxing, it crossed the Laoye Temple Mountain to the Fuyunju in the present-day Shijiao district, and then passed through the future dam, the Great Temple, and the Meili To summon the west; entered the present-day Urat Qianqi. The remains of the Zhao Great Wall in present-day Baotou City cover a distance of about 230 kilometers.

The Great Wall of Zhao in Baotou City, except for a section on the Laoye Temple Hill, which is built of stone blocks, is all built from local soil. In the section between the present-day Baoshi Highway, the cut surface of the construction highway is excavated, and the rammed layer (6 to 12 cm) is gradually thickened from the bottom to the top, and it is still clearly visible.

Along the Great Wall, at intervals of distance, beacons and barriers were built. The beacon of the present-day Shuijiangou Gate, the remains of the barrier city on the bank of the Kundulun River, the back dam, and the Meili Gengzhao are clear. In particular, there are still relics of the city walls around the houba barrier, and some of them are more than 2 meters high.

King Qian of Zhao in the eighth year (228 BC)

The Qin army attacked Zhao. King Zhao moved to Qin. The Zhao masters supported Li Jia as the acting king and continued to control the territory west of the zidai.

Zhao Dynasty Wang Jia 6th year (222 BC)

Qin marched to attack Wang Jia and destroy Zhao. Qin made Zhao Di a county. Zhao Jiuyuan Qin was set up as Jiuyuan County, and the county ruled Jiuyuan County. The former site is the ancient city of Machi in Machi Township, a suburb of Baotou City.

Source: Baotou City Chronicle, Vol. 1, 2007. Huang Xiang (Yin Shan Worm) finished in December 2021