Zhang bi Fortress, travel back in time to the Sui Dynasty 173

The village of Zhangbi in Longfeng Town, Jiexiu City, Shanxi Province, appears to be an ordinary village, but in fact, it has a great deal to offer. "In this remote village of 0.1 square kilometres in Jinzhong, there are a number of ancient temples and fortresses on the ground, which were built before the Ming Dynasty, and underground, where 10,000 soldiers can be stationed, with three levels of attack and defence. What is even more surprising is that in such a unique village with a concentration of ancient fortresses and hidden passages, no record of the passages can be found in the history books. During the occupation of Jiexiu, the Japanese army was stationed here and found a cave entrance on the temple platform by chance.
Zhangbi Village in Jiexiu, Shanxi, was built in the 13th year of the Daiye Period (617 AD) at the end of the Sui Dynasty, 1395 years ago. The 10,000-metre tunnel under Zhangbi Village was initially identified as a relic from the time when Yuchi Gong helped Liu Wuzhou fight against Li Shimin in the second year of the Tang Dynasty (619 AD), when he was "building a castle in the open and digging a tunnel in the dark".
Zhangbi Fortress is still a semi-developed site, the whole village is a scenic spot and not many tourists visit it on weekdays. The tour of Zhangbi is divided into two parts, above ground and below ground, mainly to see the temples and castles, more concentrated on the north and south gate walls of the temple complex, of course, because the entire Zhangbi village is a scenic spot, inside is a typical northern village scene, so for a southern tourist like me, in addition to the temples, castles, towers, the entire village is my interest, squatting in front of the villagers eating noodles are my accosting The villagers squatting in front of their homes eating noodles were the ones I hit on. The underground was mainly to see the 1500m of ancient military tunnels open to the public, which took about half an hour to walk through.

"The ancient temples are different from the gods and Buddhas, and the bright fortress is a strange dark tunnel". Zhangbi ancient fortress in Jiexiu, Shanxi is a legendary village full of history and written in mystery.

The bumpy stone road, the old fortress gate, the silent ancient village, coming to Zhangbi village in the late afternoon, we felt as if we had travelled back to the late Sui and early Tang dynasties.

In the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, when the warlords were fighting for supremacy, Jiexiu, where Zhangbi village is located, was a place where soldiers had to fight, and Zhangbi Fort was an ancient village built for war but never baptized by it.

The 300-metre-long 'Dragon Ridge Street', paved with dark red stones, is the main road in the village, which is high in the south and low in the north, with the south gate being the entrance for visitors.

There is a Guandi temple outside the south gate, said to be a shield from the 'evil spirits' of the Mian Mountains, but in fact the whole fortress was built to reflect the ancient Chinese idea of the unity of heaven and man and to follow feng shui.

The South Fortress Gate is the entrance for visitors, and there is a ticket office at the entrance of the Guandi Temple. There is not much to see outside the South Fortress Gate, mainly the courtyard where the Guandi Temple is located.

The Khan's Temple, built on the city wall, is the high point of Zhangbi village, and it is this rare Khan's Temple in the Central Plains that played a very important role in deducing the formation of Zhangbi Fort.

According to records, Liu Wuzhou, who fought with Li Shimin, Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, was the only Han Chinese in the region to be made a khan by the Turks and "bequeathed with a wolf's head", and this temple dedicated to Liu Wuzhou is unique in the country. This is how history works, and while Li Shimin is unknown to all, how many people know Liu Wu Zhou?

The ancient military tunnels at Zhangbi were three levels long, with a total length of over 10,000 metres, and could hold up to 10,000 troops.

As the Zhangbi military tunnels have never been baptized by war, they have been hidden underground for over 1300 years.

The tunnels are still strong and cleverly built, and there are even horse troughs in the upper levels of the tunnels.

The tunnel is divided into three levels, this is a three-dimensional tee, so you can see the upper, middle and lower levels of the tunnel.

There are even holes in the tunnel between the two levels, which I believe allowed me to spy from the upper level on enemies entering the lower level of the tunnel, and to use a sharp weapon to stab enemies on the lower level.

The deep, dark, military tunnels run in all directions.

There are many large and small kilns in the tunnels, including ambush kilns, soldier kilns and general kilns.

The most 'luxurious' room is the general's kiln, with a mound of earth, a communication hole in the mound and even a small window in front, but of course, there is a cliff outside the window, so no one can find the tunnel through it.

In addition to attacking and defending, of course, there was also an escape route.

There were also drainage openings to protect against both enemy advances and water attacks.

It is said that the military tunnels in Zhangbi Fortress are tens of thousands of metres long, but now only 1500 metres of them have been opened in the southwest corner of the village, so we can see many unexplored tunnels with "Danger ahead" written on them.

As we continue to walk around the ancient village of Zhangbi, the fortified walls and fortresses are everywhere, seemingly telling visitors that this was a military stronghold a thousand years ago.

The Yongtai Building in the village is a relic of the Tang dynasty and the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a lamp post on top of the building, a signal for "Zhangbi to light the lamp and Jiexiu to see the light".

The old castle, the stone paths, the history of Zhangbi Fort is written all over the place.

Although it was a Sunday when we were there, there were not many tourists, more just villagers coming and going. In the village there is an "acacia tree holding a willow", said to be from the Song Dynasty.

There are many of these dark red disc stones in the ruined village, probably abandoned millstones.

As far as I can see, the only places selling 'tourist goods' are a few grannies in the south of the village and this old man in the north, and their stalls and goods are basically the same.

For thousands of years, the villagers have walked along this stone path, a village that has retained a rare simplicity in comparison to the ever-changing society.

As I wandered around, the silent village lanes were rarely seen, and Zhangbi Fort was mostly this old courtyard, with a few small modern houses.

The three words on the lintel of the dwelling, "Keeping the ancient style", explain why Zhangbi Fort is so well preserved.

On the grey-yellow loess slopes, the flowers in full bloom look particularly bright.

There is another temple complex on the northern wall of the village, and under the temple complex, surrounded by the wall, there are several families.

Of the many temples in Zhangbi Fortress, the most famous is this Ming Dynasty Palace of the Empress Buddha.

The small temple is unassuming, but there are rare relics everywhere.

The roof of the temple is decorated with tri-coloured glaze from the Ming Dynasty, with delicate knives, exquisite firing and lifelike images.

There is also a general guarding the roof, probably because it is easier to stand tall to see far and detect the enemy.

I have never heard of any of the strange "marshals" inside the temple, which are really "different from the gods and Buddhas of the old fortress".

The main statue inside the temple is the King Kong Buddha, a gilded Ming Dynasty statue in good condition.

Behind the statue there is a mural of the story of King Kong Buddha becoming Buddha, Shanxi has the most cultural relics in the country, and many of the small temples can be a big surprise.

The real treasures are the two glazed tablets on either side of the temple, made of glazed glass, with a peacock blue background and black writing.

There should have been a north gate to the north of the village, but for feng shui reasons the gate was blocked and folded to the east so that the feng shui would not flow out.

The two brothers left the city carrying a bottle of freshly made white wine, perhaps in their opinion, we tourists who come all the way here to take pictures with our cameras are really bored, and there is no scenery in familiar places.
Zhangbi was selected by CCTV as one of the "Top 10 Charming Ancient Towns in China" and the village was also selected as one of the second batches of "Famous Chinese Historical and Cultural Villages", so the popularity of Zhangbi village is increasing, but as the traffic is not yet convenient and tour groups come less frequently, Zhangbi still has a rare simplicity and tranquillity.