After more than 2,300 years, is the Great Wall of Zhao mentioned in Zhai Bozan's "Visit to Ancient Inner Mongolia" still standing?

Jingo has decayed, the iron horse has passed away, and only the autumn wind is still blowing in the southern foothills of the Yin Mountains.

Above the wilderness, there is an earth ridge. At first glance, low, low, low, and unremarkable. Looking more closely, you can't look to the east, you can't look to the west, and this endless length in the wasteland is always reminiscent of the leisurely years.

In the summer of 1961, the historian Mr. Zhai Bozan came to Inner Mongolia to visit Ancient China and wrote a paragraph in the strokes of an essayist:

In this fertile field, there have been confrontations between the Qin and Han Dynasties and the Xiongnu, there have been confrontations between northern Wei and Rouran, there have been confrontations between the Tang And Turks, and there have been confrontations between the Jin Dynasty and Genghis Khan...

The agrarian peoples who are good at building fortresses are reluctant to accompany the nomads to fight movement warfare and guerrilla warfare, and most of them will build a long wall to isolate the two sides. Hu people riding Hu horses, want to peek into the Central Plains, will first be blocked by the Great Wall, to open a gap, it is very time-consuming and laborious. Moreover, the wolf smoke of the Great Wall will soon be ignited, summoning the garrison troops of the surrounding fortresses, and immediately launching the defensive warfare that the farming people are good at.

In fact, the Great Wall is not only a military barrier, but also an economic blockade line.

Nomadic people are often lowly productive and materially scarce, and they crave cloth, satin, rich agricultural products, exquisite luxury goods, and even snatching a bag of grain or an iron pot from the Central Plains, which is enough to please them. With the Great Wall, they could not plunder at will, so they ran to the Border Gate and demanded that a barter trade be launched.

When the two sides lived in peace, the kings of the Central Plains opened the border gate and practiced "mutual market" trade. When the two sides faced each other, the king of the Central Plains closed the border gate, posed with swords, guns and bows, and implemented an economic blockade. The long walls of the city, and the soldiers patrolling the border, became the nightmare of the civilian merchants who smuggled across the border.

Remains of the Great Wall of Northern Zhao of the Warring States (near the west wall village of Baotou City)

The Great Wall should stand tall. However, this ridge in the southern foothills of the Yin Mountains is so low, how many years have they experienced wind and rain erosion?

The erudite Mr. Zhai Bozan has unveiled the mystery:

Mr. Zhai Bozan wrote an article entitled "Visiting Ancient Times in Inner Mongolia" to the People's Daily (December 13, 1961). As a result, a wave of research on northern civilization and Great Wall culture was set off.

In the article, Mr. Zhai Bozan praised the Zhao Great Wall during this Warring States period as "the oldest Great Wall".

Today, the oldest site of the Great Wall is officially known as the "Warring States ZhaoBei Great Wall".

However, this section of the Great Wall built by King Wuling of Zhao was not yet the oldest.

As early as 333 BC, his father Marquis Su of Zhao "encircled Wei Huang and Bu Ke." Build the Great Wall. (History of the Zhao Family)

That is to say: "Zhao Suhou besieged Huangcheng in the State of Wei and did not conquer it. Subsequently, the Great Wall was built. ”

This section of the Great Wall is called the "Great Wall of Zhao Nan", also known as the "Great Wall of Zhao Suhou".

The Great Wall of Zhaonan, distributed in the southern part of Hebei Province, is located in Xiangxian County, Ci County, Linzhang, Cheng'an and Feixiang, along the north bank of the Zhanghe River, connected by the Zhanghe River and the Fuhe River embankment, and expanded, so the academic community also called it "Zhangfu Great Wall". Unfortunately, this section of the Great Wall has long been buried several meters deep underground, and the surface of the land has disappeared.

In contrast, the Warring States ZhaoBei Great Wall is much more obvious, and there are still several sections up to several meters high.

In "Inner Mongolia Visiting Ancient Times", Mr. Zhai Bozan also wrote: "When we visited Baotou this time, we once landed on Daqingshan Mountain in the northwest of Baotou City and visited a section of the Great Wall here. This section of the Great Wall is about five meters high, and the level of earthen and rammed construction is still very clear. Looking at things, you can't see the ultimate. ”

(To be continued)

Author: Xu Maihan Daochang