When it comes to ancient castles, many friends may think of ancient foreign castles such as Prague in the Czech Republic, Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, Turku Castle in Finland, Chillon Castle in Switzerland, Lange Castle in France, and Wartburg Castle in Germany. In China, there are ancient palaces such as the Potala Palace. In fact, these ancient castles are relatively late compared with the ancient castle introduced in this article, because this ancient castle is known as the living fossil of the history of reclamation and garrison in 2000.
This ancient castle is located in Guomari Village, west of Longwu River, Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. It is one of the earliest and best preserved ancient castles in China. An antique black stone tablet stands at the entrance of the village, on which is written a brief introduction of Guo Mari Castle, and next to it is a stone tablet of a national key cultural relics protection unit.
According to relevant historical records, the ancient castle of Guomari was first built in the 7th century AD. It was built with rammed earth panels. It was a military barracks guarding the frontier with a history of more than 700 years. The castle is rectangular in shape, 260 meters long from east to west, 96 meters wide, with a construction area of 2496 square meters. There are three gates in the east, west and south. The east gate is the main gate, cast with red copper.
Stepping into the old castle, the mottled city walls and the dirt courtyards make me feel like a world away. The alleys in the castle are dotted with stars, with a maximum width of 2.5 meters, and only one person can pass through the narrow part, criss-crossing, like a maze. It's like entering in a group, it's best not to act alone, otherwise you might get lost inside, and it's not easy for others to find you.
The Regong area (Longwu River Basin) where Guomari Castle is located has fertile land and is also the gateway to Tibetan areas. It has been a place of disputes between military strategists since ancient times. It is said that during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the power of the Nanliang regime of the bald tribe of the Xianbei ethnic group who established the capital Ledu once penetrated here, and Tongren County was under the jurisdiction of Nanliang Water River County. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the "Henan Road" between Mobei Rouran, Western Regions and Tuyuhun also passed through here, and it is still a shortcut for Qinghai to enter Sichuan via Gannan.
In the third year of Emperor Gaozong Longshuo of Tang Dynasty (663 A.D.), Tubo attacked Tuyuhun and formed a confrontation with the Tang army. Therefore, the Regong area has become a veritable barracks in history. Although there are wars from time to time, people's lives have to go on, but safety issues are fully considered in the construction of residences. It is for this reason that Guomari Castle was built into a maze that is good for defense.
It is precisely because of this reason that the structure of the roadway in the castle is generally cobweb-like, winding and deep, and the end of the branch alley ends with a dead end. Walk in and you will find that every road is a dead end. At the same time, every courtyard in the fort is a military defense unit, and soldiers standing on the roof can use the top of the wall as a cover. Therefore, no matter which lane the enemy enters, no matter where he hides, he will be within the shooting range of the soldiers' bows and arrows. The walls and lanes in the village are wonderfully designed, complex in structure, and exquisite in layout.
However, if you spend more time in the castle, you can still find that the lanes inside are still divided into primary and secondary lanes. There is a main lane in the east-west direction and north-south direction. The road scale is relatively wide, about 2.5 meters, and the two main veins are in the The almost central position in the fort forms an intersection, and there are public scripture halls and mani rooms for the whole village, which become the public core of the ancient castle and the center of religious activities in the castle.
The buildings in the castle are not high, and there is a big gap with the castle we imagined. Most of these buildings have only two floors. The bottom floor is generally used as cattle and sheep pens, toilets, etc., and the second floor is the residence of the owner. Standing on the second floor, you can observe the situation in the alleyway outwards, but every house is connected to each other, and you can enter the neighbor's house by climbing over the low earthen wall. This design, on the one hand, saves a lot of space, reflecting the deep feelings among the residents in the ancient castle, regardless of each other. On the other hand, it can also play a defensive function to the greatest extent when foreign enemies invade. If the enemy really To break in, you only need to evacuate from the top of the wall to the next courtyard to ensure safety. From the perspective of military defense, the architectural design of Guomari Castle is exquisite and powerful, and at the same time it ensures the convenience of residents' daily life, which is really amazing.
According to information, Guomari Castle is the earliest and most complete castle in the Regong area, and it is also said to be the oldest castle in China. It is said to be a great miracle, coupled with the reason for its construction, it is no wonder that it is known as the living fossil of the history of reclamation and garrison in 2000, which is also understandable.
