Hanjiang Pass is located 3 kilometers northwest of Shibao urban and rural government in Subei Mongolian Autonomous County, 28 kilometers north of Yulin Cave, 53 kilometers northeast of Suoyangcheng Site, 20 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang City, 80 kilometers north of Guazhou County and 46 kilometers southwest of Subei Mongolian Autonomous County.
Shibaocheng-called Hanjiang Pass in ancient times, built on a cliff, is said to be the castle of Fan Lihua in Tang Dynasty. At that time, Xue Dingshan, a general of the Tang Dynasty, was besieged by Fan Lihua's army three times while crossing the Han River, forcing him to get married. Xue Dingshan made a superficial promise and then got divorced three times. Xue Dingshan was stopped by Hami general Yang Fan at Baihuguan (Baidunzi, Anxi County) and could not move forward. I had to kneel down three times and kowtow five times, asking Fan Lihua for help, so they got married. Finally, Fan Lihua led the army out of Hanshui Pass, met Tang Jun in Xue Dingshan, and the husband and wife marched into the Western Regions together.
Shibaocheng is located in the mountainous basin at the head of Yulin River, namely Shibaocheng Basin. The basin is about 16 km long from east to west and about 10 km wide from north to south. It is one of the main agricultural and pastoral areas in Subei Mongolian Autonomous County. The city site skillfully uses the terrain and is located on a hill with a relative height of about 50 meters in the west of the basin, with an altitude of 2247 meters. It's really like "Baiyun Lonely City". Its terrain is steep and both offensive and defensive. Looking down from the city, the sky is vast and far away, and it seems that the earth has become much bigger. Not far from the east of the city, Yulin River winds through the grassland like a green blanket decorated with silver thread. There is a country dirt road about ten feet wide at the gate, and the shallow stream along the road flows slowly, with three to five people. In the south of the city, the main peak of the snow-capped mountain at an altitude of 5483 meters is in sight, wrapped in silver, and soaring into the sky, especially enchanting against the blue sky.
Not far from the north of the city, there is a water gorge channel between Eagle Mouth Mountain and Ebo Mountain, the western branch of Qilian Mountain. About 25 kilometers to the south, it is the tribute tea mouth between Daxue Mountain and Yema Mountain, the main vein of Qilian Mountain. From this port, you can reach Qinghai Plateau through Gongcha Daban. Shibaocheng can be described as an important military fortress and transportation hub in the southern part of Gugua Prefecture.
The city site is built according to the hilly terrain, with an irregular rectangular plane, with a length of 145 m from east to west and a width of 77 m from north to south. The city wall is made of local gneiss and limestone, and the wall base is 3 to 5 meters wide. It is still very strong, and the residual height can reach 6 to 9 meters. There are square piers at four corners, and a horse face is built on each wall. Corner pier and horse face have traces of late repair. During the repair, a layer of grass was sandwiched between the three layers of adobe, which was obviously different from the original stone wall. The remains of the moat around the city are about 20 meters wide and 20 meters away from the city wall, and the depth of the moat is 1.5 meters to 2 meters. The moat is made of stones and white thorns.
There is a pagoda base in the middle of the west of the city, which is 2.4m long,1.5m wide and1.8m high. Bricks and tiles are scattered on it. There are more than 20 houses in the city, and the walls of the houses are also made of stone, with the residual height ranging from 0.5 m to 1 m. There are many charcoal ash layers in the houses, which are about 0.4 m to 0.8 m thick, indicating that people have lived for a long time.
The city gate faces south, and a short wall is built in the east about 20 meters in front of the city gate. The short wall can be connected with the pier in the southeast corner, and there is a semicircular urn relic in front of the short wall. Such a complicated and heavily guarded gate structure is rare. Standing under this tall and alert gate, I feel like "thinking about the iron horse and swallowing Wan Li like a tiger".
Not far from the east side of the city gate, there is a rammer platform, which is 1 m high. On the top of the hill behind the city (north), a field was leveled. The venue is roughly square, and each side is about 65 meters long. The edge of the field is also built of gneiss, which was probably used to make pots in those days. Gray pottery pieces, sand red pottery pieces and bronze arrows are scattered on the surface of the city, and the local cultural relics department has also collected iron swords.
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