The origin of the name of Gubeikou Town

It used to be a military town in the border region, with more than 70 temples and other cultural relics, as well as the footprints of many literati. In the fifth year of Song Jiayou (1060), Ouyang Xiu set off from Bianjing and went straight to Gubeikou. Climbing to the top of the mountain and looking at the inside and outside of the Great Wall, homesickness arises spontaneously, leaving behind "the ancient style declines and Liu gathers in the west of Western jackdaw, and Macheng is on the wane; I still go to the west building for two thousand miles, and pedestrians come to the Mohs' house. Since the Northern Song Dynasty, a group of people have left poems in Gubeikou. According to "Poems Oded to Gubeikou by Scholars in Past Dynasties", there are 53 poems written for Gubeikou by Qing Emperor Gan Long alone. In local legends, the name "Gubeikou" was given by Emperor Qianlong.

In the first year of Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong passed Gubeikou on his way to Jehol, marveling at the beautiful scenery inside and outside the Great Wall, and asked Liu Yong what his name was. Liu Yong truthfully replied: "It was called Beikou in the Spring and Autumn Period, Chuxia in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Hukou in the Tang Dynasty." Emperor Qianlong thought: I come and go from this mouth, how can I be called "Hubei mouth"! So he sent Liu Yong to inquire about any historical sites, and finally found the word "Guguan" on the city brick of the south gate lintel and the word "Beikou" on the city brick of the north gate lintel. Emperor Qianlong changed this place to "Gubeikou", which has been passed down to this day.

The "one vertical and four horizontal" ancient street in the ancient town was a place for commercial transactions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Today, there are still old paved houses in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as stone bridges, three-eye wells and imperial sealed wells. The local old man told me that the number of temples in Gubeikou reached 108 in its heyday. According to historical records, until the early years of the Republic of China, there were more than 40 large and small temples. At present, there are more than 10 temples that can be traced back to the original construction time, such as Yanglinggong Temple built in the fifth year of Taiping in Liao Dynasty (1025) and Wang Yao Temple built in the eleventh year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1378). "Two Steps and Three Temples" is a true portrayal of the temple culture in the ancient town. September 14th of the lunar calendar is Yang's birthday, and the local people spontaneously celebrate it, gradually forming a grand folk temple fair, which attracts many people from surrounding areas every year.