Relevant introduction of the three passes

Three-pass Ming Great Wall

The Three-pass Ming Great Wall is located at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain on the northwest border of Yongning County, 4 kilometers away from Yinchuan City. This pass is the junction of Ningxia and Alashan Zuoqi in Inner Mongolia, and the highway from Yinchuan to Bayanhaote passes through it. The mountains here are winding and the terrain is magnificent and steep.

in the Ming dynasty, Mongolian Tatar and Wala often entered Chimukou (now the Three Pass) of Helan Mountain from Alashan Platform in Inner Mongolia, and drove directly to the Central Plains. The Ming rulers built the Great Wall at the Three Pass for border security. According to the "Ancient Great Wall Site in Ningxia", this section of the Great Wall was built in 1465-1485 during the Ming Chenghua period. It is a part of the West Great Wall, starting from Dababao in Qingtongxia City in the south and entering Yongning County in the north. From Ningxia to the outside, Toudaoguan, Erdaoguan and Sandao Pass are set up.

according to historical records, in the 1th year of Ming Jiajing (1531), Ningxia spent "ten thousand dollars" to build a dam fort in the south and three passes in the north, and the 8-kilometer-long Great Wall was filled up by sandstorms. In the 19th year of Jiajing, Yang Shouli, governor of Ningxia, rebuilt and repaired the old side wall, and added the Great Wall to the north of Sanguankou.

When the Great Wall was built in those years, there was more gravel and less soil here, so the soldiers cut through the cliffs and valleys and got several soil. Because there was no water, they made 1 water wheels and went to Pingjibao, which is more than 2 kilometers away, to get water. They were mixed with soil and gravel and rammed, which was very solid.

The head pass and the middle pass have disappeared. This place is a place where the mountains are open and there is room for a hundred horses. At the corners on both sides of the pass, a square pier is built, which is 2m higher than the wall and 3m square at the top. The north-south pass wall is connected with the Great Wall, and the north pass wall extends westward along the gable, while the south pass wall is applied to the southeast. The residual wall is 7m high, 6m wide at the base and 3.2-3.5m wide at the top. Thin female walls are built on both sides of the wall top, with a residual height of 5-7 cm and a width of 25-3 cm.

Erdaoguan, 6 kilometers west of Toudaoguan, is Erdaoguan. There is a hill more than 2 meters high on the south side of the pass. There is no pier on the hill, which is 11 meters square and 8 meters high. It is rammed with loess and gravel. There is a footwell in the southwest corner of the pier to reach the top. There is a wall with a length of 1 kilometer between the pier and the southwest peak, and the residual height is 2 meters.

Sandakanto is 2km away from Erdaoguan, which is sandwiched by two mountains. The valley is narrow and divided into one water, with steep mountains and steep walls. The terrain is very dangerous, and it is quite "and while one man guards it, ten thousand cannot force it". When the customs were built, there were a stone Great Wall and a deep ditch built by the mountain. Today, it has been turned into a road, but it still has a steep posture.

In the past, the Great Wall, which stretched vertically and horizontally along the Three Pass, was connected with the pier and beacon tower, which really threatened to control the throat of the desert in the west.

today, although the three passes have been ruined, they are magnificent, steep and winding, and you can still imagine the war scenes of Jin Ge and Tie Ma.