The Shahukkou section of the Great Wall.
Shahukou of Youyu county, Shanxi province, bordering Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, which has been the main pass controlled the route linking the two sides of the Great Wall in China since the ancient times.
Literlly it means "Kill the Tiger Pass". In ancient time, the Chinese called the other minority nationalities live in the North as "HU 胡", so Shā Hǔ Kǒu originally was written as "杀胡口" meaning "the pass where the HU being killed". In Qing Dynasty, since China is under the governor of Manchu, but Manchu itself is the descendant of Jurchen, one of the "HUs", "kill HU" sounds not friendly to them. In mandarin "Tiger 虎" and "HU 胡" enjoy the same pronunciation, instead of "Kill HU pass", it was changed to "Kill the Tiger Pass" since then.
From a strategic point of view, Shahukou is a key gateway from the South of the Great Wall to Mongolia grassland. Shahukou had been a military garrison as well as a dynamic town of trade since ancient times. The imposing and majestic Great Wall, the undulating beacon towers, the desolate ancient battlefields, and the rare stone-paved road - these dazzling views are studded into this piece of land like a string of jewels. The most noteworthy, though, is the historic migration route, a road that conveyed the glory and dreams, and trials and hardships of Shanxi merchants. A witness to the tears, pains, and sorrows of Shanxi’s migrants, it provides an accurate snapshot of the Ming and Qing history of Shanxi, as well as a virtual object lesson in the vicissitudes of modern Chinese finance and trade.
(Written by Jamestz, Photograph : Zhang Jun) |
