The Nine Frontiers and Eleven Garrison Posts of the Great Wall

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The world-famous Great Wall of today in fact is the Great Wall of the Ming dynasty（1368-1644）.The Ming Great Wall started from Yalu River in the east and reached Jiayuguan in the west，with a totallength of over 7，000 kilometers.It is the greatest，the most famous and splendid masterpiece in the whole Great Wall construction history in China.Itssuperb construction skills，tight defense measures，magnificent construction style and mighty building work were all unprecedented.Winding up and down across the green mountains and boundless deserts，the Ming Great Wall enventually runs to the sea in an intrepid manner.It was not inferior to the Qin Shihuang Great Wall at all.Therefore，the Ming Great Wall became an important cultural relics of people.

The Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）divided the Great Wall into nine defense sections，which were called“Nine Fron-tiers”，and each of the frontiers had a Zhenshou（military commander) responsible for the defensive affairs. They were called”Nine Strategically Important Posts”. Later in order to strengthen the defense work of the capital and protect the Ming tombs, the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) added the garrison posts of Chang and Zhenbao in the northwest of Beijing in 1551, hence the eleven garrison posts, composing the defense pattern of nine frontiers and eleven garrison posts.

The Ming Great Wall The run of the walls of the 11 garrison posts and the station place of the military commanders were as follows: e(O°1) The Great Wallin Liaodong Garison Post The Great Wall in Liaodong Garrison Post was in the present-day Liaoning province, and it was the most powerful screen of the capital. It started from the side of Yali River in the east and reached Shanhaiguan in the west, with a total length of 970 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Guangning (the present-day Liaoningbei Town).

The Great Wallin Jizhen Garrison Post The Great Wall in Jizhen Garrison Post was distributed in Hebei province, Tianjin and Beijing, and it was an important screen of the capital. It started from Shanhaiguan in the east and reached Mutianyu in the west, with a total length of 880 kilometers or so. The military commander was stationed in Santunying(in the Qianxi county in Hebei province).

The Great Wallin Lizhen Garrison Post The Great Wall in Liizhen Garrison Post was later added in the original Jizhen Garrison Post, and it started from Mutianyu in the east and reached Zijinguan in the west, with a total length of about 230 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Changping.

The Great Wallin Zhenbao Garrison Post The Great Wall in Zhenbao Garrison Post was also added later in order to strengthen the defense work of thecapital. It started from Zijinguan in the north and reached Guguanguan in the south, with a total length of about 390 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Baoding.

The Great Wallin Xuanfu Garison Post The Great Wall in Xuanfu Garrison Post was located in the northwest part of Hebei province, starting from Juyongguan in the east and reaching Xize River(in the northeast of Datong in Shanxi province today), with a totallength of 570 kilometers or so. The military commander was stationed in Xuanhua.

O6) The Great Wallin Datong Garrison Post The Great Wall in Datong Garrison Post was located in the border area in the north of Shanxi province. It started from Zhenkoutai(the northeast of Tianzhen Town in Shanxi province) in the east and reached Yajiao Mountain (in the northeast of Pianguan in Shanxi province today) in the west, with a total length of about 335 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Datong.

The Great Wallin Taiyuan Garrison Post, The Great Wall in Taiyuan Garrison Post was also called the Great Wall in Shanxi Garrison Post, situated inthe east and north of Shanxi province. It started from the side of the Yellow River in Baode and Hequ in the west, and reached Huangyu Pass in Heshun county in the east, with a total length of about 800 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Pianguan.

The Great Wallin Yansui Garrison Post The Great Wall in Yansui Garrison Post was also called the Great Wall in Yulin Garrison Post, starting from the west bank of the Yellow River in Fugu county in the east and reaching Huamachi(the present-day Chixian county in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) in the west, with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Yulin.

The Great Wallin Ningxia Garison Post The Great Wall in Ningxia Garrison Post was located in the north of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, starting from Dayanchi(in the present-day Chixian county inNingxia Hui Autonomous Region) in the east and reaching Lanzhou in the west, with a total length of about 830 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Yinchuan.

The Great Wallin Guyuan Garison Post The Great Wall in Guyuan Garrison Post was located in the south of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the southeast of Gansu province. It started from Jingbian in the east, connecting with Yulin Town Great Wall and reached Gaolan in the west, linking with the Great Wall in Gansu Garrison Post, with a total length of about 750 kilometers.

The Great Wallin Gansu Garrison Post The Great Wall in Gansu Garrison Post was located in Gansu province, starting from Lanzhou in the east and reaching Jiayuguan in the west, with a total length of about 800 kilometers. The military commander was stationed in Zhangye.

The Great Wall of above nine frontiers and eleven garrison posts had a total length of more than 7,500 kilometers, and over 976,000 defense officers and soldiers all along the wall(the statistics above was only the ones in a certain period). What’s more, the length of the Great Wall is also got from some records in the historical literatures, while the factual length of the Great Wall must be much longer.