Building Guizhou! Securing the Southwest! How Epic Is the 600-Year Legacy of Tunpu?
Let us open the map of China's highway network and trace the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, a major east-west artery traversing the southern part of the country. Stretching 2,353.075 kilometers from Songjiang, Shanghai, to Kunming, Yunnan, its most breathtaking section spans 587.3 kilometers through Guizhou.
The Hongfeng Lake section of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway in Qingzhen.
Anshun, with its strategic value, convenient transportation, and flat terrain,
is one of the most densely distributed areas of Tunpu (garrison villages) in Guizhou.
Shengjing Pass has been a vital gateway from Guizhou into Yunnan for centuries.
Diagram of the relationship between Ming Dynasty military garrisons and Tunpu in Guizhou.
Feiyun Cliff in Huangping, Baojiatun in Anshun, and the ancient town of Longli
were once post stations on the Yunnan-Guizhou-Hunan courier route, Ming military garrisons, and the seats of thousand-household military units, respectively.
Photography/Wu Xuewen, Chen Weihong, =G
During the Ming Dynasty, Guizhou was governed jointly by imperial-appointed rotating officials and hereditary local chieftains known as "Tusi." Both Tusi and imperial officials had military and civil administrations, managed by the Regional Military Commission and the Provincial Administration Commission.
The house gate, curved pillars, and column bases of the Mei family courtyard,
with winding alleys leaving no blind spots, effectively defended against invaders.
Bottom left: Cross-shaped gunports on the outer walls of Tunpu buildings.
Dixi (ground opera) is a vital part of Tunpu people's spiritual life, featuring war stories of heroic battles and exuding a majestic military ethos. Believed to carry the righteous aura of heroes, it wards off evil spirits while providing a space for community gatherings and entertainment.
Below is the Jiuxi Dixi troupe, with provincial intangible cultural heritage inheritor Gu Jiashun standing in the center.
Most Tunpu villages have their own Dixi troupe,
each performing a complete set of traditional plays.
Due to its large size, Jiuxi Village has a Dixi troupe in Dapu, Xiaopu, and Houjie.
Among villages celebrating the "Carrying of Lord Wang" festival, Jichang Tun hosts the grandest event. Starting on the 18th day of the first lunar month, preparations begin as early as the 25th day of the 12th lunar month. Villagers volunteer enthusiastically without pay, and the scale grows yearly, even attracting overseas participants.
The "Imperial Calligraphy Tower" on the ancient Guansuo Ridge Road.
The North Gate tower and city gate of Pu'an Wei were built in the 25th year of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty, with the gate passage extending over twenty meters deep. This gate tower is the only ancient city gate in Guizhou where both the tower and gate remain intact.
Shengjing Pass is located west of Panzhou, marking the boundary between Yunnan and Guizhou.
Under the influence of the "Yunnan-Guizhou Quasi-stationary Front," the climatic differences between the two provinces can be observed from the stone lions on either side of the same boundary archway.
The stone lion on the left (Yunnan side) of the lower boundary archway remains dry, while the one on the right (Guizhou side) is covered in moss.
The "Eight Great Bowls" of Wei City include dishes like "Huojia Lanpian" (ham with bamboo shoots) and "Eight-Treasure Rice."
The ancient town of Qingyan, with its city walls and streets.
Zhenyuan has long been the gateway between Hunan and Guizhou. Historical records state, "To access Yunnan and Guizhou, one must first hold Zhenyuan."
The image shows the city wall of Zhenyuan Prefecture, winding along Shiping Mountain to the north of the city, with over 1,500 meters still standing today.
The old city walls of Zhenyuan have become integrated with the town's buildings.
Xingyi is located south of the main route connecting Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hunan.
Huangcaoba, where Jing Shuangding stationed his troops, is in today's Xingyi urban area.
The ancestral hall of the Liu Family Manor records the deeds of the Liu descendants.
They organized local militias and safeguarded the peace of the region.
Tunpu (garrison villages) are not only exquisite historical fragments but have also shaped modern Guizhou.
Fuquan was originally "Pingyue Wei," one of the earlier areas in Guizhou to establish a garrison and build city walls.
The main road between the north and south gates of Wei City remains an important urban thoroughfare today.
The image shows the ancient city wall at the Small West Gate of Pingyue Wei.
Wusheng Gate in Guiyang was one of the earlier city gates built during the Ming Dynasty.
Ming-era roads like Hongbian Road (today's Putuo Road), Puding Street (today's Qianling West Road),
and Renshou Street (today's Qianling East Road) have transformed into bustling urban districts.
In the Ming Dynasty, official schools followed the principle of "temple-school integration," with Confucian temples and school buildings often constructed together under the "temple on the left, school on the right" layout.
The upper image shows Anshun Confucian Temple, and the lower image shows Panzhou Confucian Temple.
Schematic diagram of the number of provincial graduates (juren) in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty.
Descendants of military households consistently held a high proportion in the imperial examinations.
Source: *Qian Ji* (Wanli era), *Guizhou General Gazetteer* (Qianlong era).
Representative figures of military household jinshi (metropolitan graduates) from Guizhou in the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yangming taught at Longchang Post Station and in Guiyang,
elevating Guizhou's academy education to its peak.
The Guli Ancient Road was a section of the "Nine Post Stations of Longchang" postal route.
The Old Town's dragon dance and city god procession—a grand celebration shared by all ethnic groups.
Governor-General Gan Wenkun of Yunnan and Guizhou, trapped in Jixiang Temple, committed suicide for his country.
After the bloody Battle of the Xiang River, the Red Army suffered severe losses,
and "whether to detour through Guizhou" became a life-or-death decision.
The image shows the "Red Ribbon" (Long March Culture Digital Exhibition) performance of the Long March journey.
Anti-Japanese soldiers photographed in front of Huangguoshu Waterfall.
Wartime transport convoys passing by Huangguoshu Waterfall in Anshun.
In the 1960s, China launched the famous "Third Front Construction." Guided by the principle of "relying on mountains, dispersing, and concealing," Guizhou—surrounded by mountains and located at the heart of the southwest—naturally became a key area for the Third Front Construction.
In this grand chapter of history, waves of elite talents from across the nation came to Guizhou with the belief of "good people and horses to the Third Front, preparing for war and famine for the people." Even today, in cities like Liupanshui, Anshun, and Guiyang, there are groups of Third Front Construction workers and their descendants who speak Northeastern, Cantonese, Hunanese, or Shanghainese dialects.
Builders from all over China personally established aviation industrial bases, hydroelectric dams, and coal-and-iron cities in Guizhou. Ancient postal routes also regained new life during this process: the Sichuan-Guizhou, Hunan-Guizhou, Guizhou-Kunming, and Guizhou-Guangxi railway lines were built along the directions of these old routes. Industries such as energy, steel, machinery, and chemicals extended along these railways, forming a comprehensive development pattern for national defense, science, and technology. The vast network woven by military post roads six hundred years ago now depicts Guizhou's vigorous stride toward modernization in the new era.
In 2024, *Didao Fengwu* presents
"Colorful Guizhou: Cultural Landscapes · Peaks of Time" Guizhou Culture Special Feature!
Unattributed image source | Chen Weihong
Former Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial People's Congress
Former Director of the Guizhou Provincial Institute of Culture and History, Chief Editor of "Guizhou Library"
Former Director of the Institute of History, Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences
Former Director of the Guizhou Provincial Local Chronicles Office
Vice President of the Tunpu Research Branch of the Chinese Ming History Society
Director of the Tunpu Culture Research Center, Anshun University
Third-term Council Member of the Guizhou Tunpu Research Association
Director of the Academic Committee for Urban and Rural Cultural Heritage Protection, Guizhou Civil Engineering and Architecture Society
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