Shui Xiaojie took the photo in June 2019 from Danjiangkou, Shiyan, Hubei to Xichuan, Henan, Danjiangkou Reservoir, Suzhai

Video: Heigou Village in Haoping, Danjiangkou City, Shiyan, Hubei Province, aerial photography of the Chu Great Wall and ancient cottages in the Han River Basin 1

Can several consecutive cottages on Pangshan Mountain be related to the Chu Great Wall? Wengang Village, Watting Town, Neixiang County, Nanyang, Henan

Aerial photography of the Chu Great Wall beside the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Dengzhou Xingshan Geopark, Xiangyang, Hubei, Nanyang, Henan

Anthology: Searching for the earliest Great Wall in China— — "Chu Great Wall" Investigation 1 (Introduction and Table of Contents)

After a rough inspection, we found that although this mysterious stone wall on the Qin-Chu border may be hundreds of kilometers long, it was first opened in 1980 In the 1980s, it was reported by many authoritative media such as People's Daily that the "Chu Great Wall Ruins" had been discovered, which aroused people's curiosity. Many places also became enthusiastic and claimed to develop the "Chu Great Wall" tourism resources. However, due to the lack of conclusive information, The evidence, in fact, has been controversial.

Obviously, these high and short stone walls erected on the border of Shaanxi and Hubei provinces were indeed built on a large scale during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This should be an indisputable historical fact. Until the War of Liberation a few decades ago, this "Great Wall" still played a military role. The question is, were these stone walls created in the Ming Dynasty or Qing Dynasty?

Is it possible that the initial foundation is really related to the "Great Wall of Chu" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? Or, could it be that it was really based on the "Chu Great Wall" that was repaired and utilized every time there were wars in the past dynasties, and this continued until modern times more than two thousand years later? One historical data that cannot be ignored is that while Qin Shihuang was building the Great Wall in the north, he also ordered the demolition of all the Great Walls in the interior where Qi, Chu, Wei, Zhao, Yan and other countries were defending each other.

I remember that the day after the firecracker shock, we got out of the tent shrouded in winter morning mist, climbed up a section of the old wall in the gray world, waited patiently for the clouds to clear, and after admiring the sea of ??clouds, we took a closer look As for the several sections of wall, I couldn’t help but wonder about this issue at the time: To the naked eye, the old wall had several sections, and the wall at the top was obviously narrower than the wide wall below, and it looked like they were not completed in one go. It seems that they are all later-built walls, built on the original foundation.

In other words, it is really possible that later generations took advantage of the fruits of their predecessors' labor, and we cannot rule out the possibility that the Ming and Qing Dynasties took advantage of the achievements of their predecessors. The thing is almost the same as searching for the "savage" in Shennongjia. The legend always seems to be true, but when it turns out to be true, it turns out that he is hard to find.

The key is, where is the evidence? We went back and forth between intuitive feelings and historical data, and fell into confusion.

3. Misty archaeological data

Video: What is the purpose of a circular fortress like the "Chu Great Wall" beside the Danjiangkou Reservoir? The junction of Hubei and Henan

Looking for the new section of the Chu Great Wall (1) Zhoujiazhai, Nanzhao, Henan Province Nanzhao County, Nanyang City, Henan Province

Looking for the new section of the Chu Great Wall (2) Aerial photography of the junction of Hubei and Henan The Ancient Cottage of the Great Wall of Chu

Anthology: Searching for the earliest Great Wall in China - Investigation of the "Great Wall of Chu" 1 (Introduction and Table of Contents)