Buried in the dust and wind, the historical Jiming Ancient Post Station remains hard to ignore

In early July, by chance, I visited Jiningyi, a place that left me with mythical thoughts.

Jining Mountain Post Station, named for its location north of Jining Mountain, is also known as "Jiningyi." It was established in the 18th year of Yongle's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1420). A fort was built in the 17th year of Chenghua's reign (1408). A brick city was built in the 5th year of Longqing's reign (1571). The city walls were comprehensively repaired in the 3rd year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1738). Currently, the east and west city walls of the post station each have a gate on the south section, both with the inscription "Jining Mountain Post Station." The post station is rectangular, covering an area of more than 200,000 square meters, with a layout roughly resembling a "well" character. According to records, the city contained government offices, garrison headquarters, post station buildings, warehouses, pastures, stables, and training grounds. The post station building is located in the northwest of the city, with a Ming Dynasty style brick and wood structure, three courtyards, and relatively well-preserved. Behind the post station building was the place where the post horses were kept. The post station office is located in the city center, with a courtyard structure similar to the post station building. During the Boxer Rebellion, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu stayed in this courtyard during their westward flight.

Jining Mountain Post Station is located at a strategic point on the north-south route, only over 130 kilometers from the capital, and was also an important castle in the Ming Dynasty for stationing troops to defend against northern threats. In Ming and Qing dynasties, they also set up military courier stations here to deliver military intelligence. Having gone through the dust of history and weathered the storms, what remains are the essence. This was my first impression of Jiningyi.

Jiningyi was initially built in the Yuan Dynasty. When Genghis Khan led his troops on a westward expedition, he opened a post road and set up a post station on the road leading to the west city. Today, the ancient city is still well-preserved, and apart from a few collapsed sections of the city walls, the general layout remains.

In traditional Chinese walled cities, the gate towers face each other, with a straight central axis road between them. However, the east and west gate towers of Jiningyi do not exactly face each other, and the road between them is arc-shaped.

This is because Huailai is a plain area, and when there are strong winds, they blow straight through, leaving residents nowhere to shelter. Therefore, by using asymmetry, the gate towers were built offset, creating a curve between them to avoid the wind.

Jiningyi was built near Jining Mountain, and its name is derived from Jining Mountain.

In the 19th year of Zhenguan's reign, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, "relying on his prowess, attacked Liao, and once passed this mountain. He once "stayed at its foot, heard a pheasant crowing, and named it Jining." An emperor can change history, and changing a place name is even easier. Thus, this mountain has been called Jining Mountain ever since. Therefore, this previously unknown small place beside the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Highway has become the origin of many legends.

On the desolate ancient city walls, the figures of Zhizunbao and Zixia Fairy from "A Chinese Odyssey" are nowhere to be found, but the post station remains. When the wind and dust fill the air, there is indeed a sense of "Ten years of life and death, two boundless, not thinking, difficult to forget." But standing on the city wall, looking out at the undulating Jining Mountain in the north and the overgrown weeds and discarded bricks and tiles on the city wall, it brings to mind the faint sorrow of "Outside the long pavilion, by the ancient road, the green grass stretches to the sky" in "Childhood's Memories".