Chongwu Ancient City - A Ming Dynasty Fortress in Quanzhou

In the 20th year of the Hongwu era (1387 AD), Chongwu Ancient City was first established. At that ti[...]

In the 20th year of the Hongwu era (1387 AD), Chongwu Ancient City was first established. At that time, due to the rampant Wokou pirates along the southeast coast, Zhou Dexing, the Marquis of Jiangxia, built this stone city to resist the pirate invasions. Chongwu Ancient City is a famous city in the southeast coastal defense of ancient China and has a history of over 600 years. It is one of the more than 60 well-preserved Wei Suo castles in China.
Constructed with locally sourced granite, the city’s exterior walls are built with rectangular blocks in a horizontal and vertical ‘T’ pattern, while the interior horse racing track walls are made with irregular stones or pebbles, filled with a mix of five types of soil. The city plan is roughly trapezoidal, covering an area of 373,756 square meters. The perimeter is 2,567 meters long, with a base width of 4 meters and a height of 7 meters including the battlements. There are gates on all four sides, with gate towers built above. The east, north, and west sides have three moon-shaped cities, and there are five beacon towers set up around.

The city walls of Chongwu Ancient City are made of white granite, and the four city gates are also well-preserved, including the east, south, west, and water gates. Numerous ancient residences, red-brick houses, ancestral halls, and temples from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties are preserved within the city. Built with the advantage of mountains and seas, Chongwu Ancient City is both offensive and defensive.

The city walls, watchtowers, moon-shaped cities, city gate towers, smoke signals, central command platforms, military training grounds, and the distinctive road system within the city form a complete ancient coastal military defense system, integrating defense, guarding, and residence, with strong military defensive capabilities. It is one of the most complete stone fortresses from the Ming Dynasty in China.

The city is open all year round, accessible 24/7.