A little-known Ming Dynasty sea defence city hid in the heart of this Guangdong city! 133

The Ming Dynasty was probably the most enthusiastic of all the feudal dynasties in China in terms of building walls, and not only did they build the Great Wall, they also built hundreds of coastal defences, with 181 defences and fortresses along the coast, and 1,622 forts, fortresses and clay houses. In addition to these, there are many other coastal defences that were built around the region, but after hundreds of years of change, there are few remains of these ancient cities left, and only a few are well preserved. Those that have been lucky enough to survive to this day have mostly escaped urbanisation because of their isolated location.
But there is one ancient Ming Dynasty coastal defence city, located in the heart of the city, which still has around 70% of its walls and some of its ancient buildings, and this is Kanxia City, a protected cultural heritage unit of Guangdong Province, located in the urban area of Shanwei.

Located in the city centre of Shanwei, Kanxia City is one of the best-preserved Ming Dynasty coastal defence cities in Guangdong Province.

In 1561, Chen Cong built Kanxia Fortress, and in 1636, Ye Gao Biao, a sage who was then a minister of the Reiji Section, gave permission to Emperor Chongzhen to build it.

Kanxia City is an irregular oval-shaped city with walls originally 5.6 metres high, but the existing walls are about 3 metres high and are double-walled and rammed with grey sand.

The area of Kanxia City is not small either, with 72,000 square metres, a perimeter of 1,157 metres, 391 battlements and four gates, east, west, north and south, respectively, with 78 defensive guns.

When Kanxia City was first built, it was leaning against a mountain on one side and surrounded by water on three sides. The northern gate was a mountain, while the eastern, western and southern gates faced the sea. The west gate (at the present-day West Gate A-Ma Temple) was a water gate, so only boats could enter and exit, just like the Liang Shan Water Fortress, and the pier was inside the city.

As early as 1995 this place was already listed as a district-level cultural relics protection unit in Shanwei City, and in 2008 it became a cultural relics protection unit in Guangdong Province.

Kan Ha Cheng was built in accordance with the Ming Dynasty's "Shou Cheng" architecture, with the original Wen Yamen, Wu Yamen, the Flagstaff Storehouse, the Gunpowder Storehouse, the Military Barracks, the Salt Farm and the Inner School, as well as the Wen Temple, the Wu Temple, the Residence and the School, with well-defined lines and easy access.

Many people still live in the old city today, but not many of the houses have survived the changes of the past generations.

The three main historical buildings in Kan Ha Cheng are the City God Temple, the Wu Di Temple and the Confucius Temple.

The City God Temple looks old, and the hand-painted gate gods in the Chaoshan style add a touch of colour to the rustic temple.

The Wudi Temple is the largest temple in Kan Ha City, with two exquisitely carved stone pillars with coiled dragons.

Next to the Wudi Temple are carvings of stone men and horses, which appear to be newly carved, but should also be restored to history.

In front of the Wudi Temple, we can also see the old Wudi Temple plaque and the fragmented carving of a stone horse.

Most of the monuments in Kan Ha City have not survived, especially in recent decades, and have been badly damaged. The fact that a few temples have survived to this day is also related to the relatively strong faith of the local people.

A pair of stone lions in front of the Wudi Temple, with the male lion somewhat broken and a young one underneath the female.

The Temple of Confucius is below the front of the Temple of Emperor Wu, and where there is a temple of Emperor Wu, there is a temple of Emperor Wen, and this is one of the smallest Confucius temples I have ever seen.

The small size of the Confucius Temple does not detract from the worship of Confucius, which is honestly the first time I have ever heard of it.

In front of the Confucius Temple, there is a more authentically preserved section of the city wall, which is still a small urn when you stand on it.

In any case, it is rare that most of the walls of this ancient city, which dates back more than 380 years, are still preserved today, and that it is located in the middle of the city.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Chen Jiongming, Governor of Guangdong Province and Commander-in-Chief of the Guangdong Army, and Zhan Tianyou, the "Father of Chinese Railways", laid a small railway between the walled city of Kanxia and the port of Shanwei to connect north-south traffic.

The area was known as "Cheng nei", so the streets in the old city are now called "Cheng nei", and there is a road called "Chengnei Road" in the village of Shanwei to this day.

During the Republican era, Kanbai Park was built at the north gate to take advantage of the natural landscape and was visited by literati and scholars.

In 1925, the Soviet regime established by Peng Pai also used the city as a training ground for the Red Guards.

The world has changed and the stage of history has changed, but what remains the same is the small park in the city, which was used by students as their playground after school.

Of the four gates that once stood east, west, north, south and south, the Yong'an Gate is all that remains today. Although no longer intact, this ancient Ming Dynasty city has been preserved in the heart of the city for over 380 years, and one has to give credit to the local efforts to preserve the heritage sites.

Although Kanxia City is a protected cultural heritage unit in Guangdong Province and is also located in the centre of the city, it is not well known and not many people, not to mention visitors from outside the province, have heard of it, compared to Dapeng Shecheng in Shenzhen, which was also a coastal defence city during the Ming Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, the coastal areas of China were mostly not governed by prefectures, but by guards, who had a separate political area and were in charge of the population and the region. At that time, the Ming guardhouse in Hailufeng was Jieshi Wei, which had 5,600 soldiers stationed at Pinghai, Jiesheng and Jazi, especially Jiesheng, which was not too far from Kanxia City.
But by the time of the Chongzhen reign, the peasant uprisings of the late Ming dynasty were already well underway, and the imperial court could not be bothered with the distant coast of Lingnan.