Nhen Chinese people speak of a pass (guan'ai) they refer not only to a space between two mountains but also to the type of military installation often built there. The word "pass" as used in the following article refers to the military installation.

In ancient China, passes were important military and transport installations set up at the borders of countries and at strategic points. They had their own architectural styles and were spread all over the country, interspersed among mountains and rivers and adding beauty to the landscapes.

Passes are usually surrounded by walls. The walled passes on flat ground are more or less square in shape, but the walled passes on mountains are built following the terrain, and thus they vary in shape, like the trapezoid Badaling Pass and the plum-shaped Zijing Pass. Inside each pass are barracks, a Yamen (government office), a warehouse, and a repository for official dispatches and money. The gates of each pass are adorned with exquisite carvings and are designed according to the size of the pass, the terrain, and the military needs. Some passes, such as Juyong Pass and Shanhai Pass, have several successive walls and gates. Although the passes are not as magnificent as palaces, they exist as exotic flowers in the ancient architectural history of China.

The first passes were built during the Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256B.C.). They were set up as checkpoints for collecting taxes at the city gates and the borders of the country and were administered by special officials known as siguan. The construction of passes in large numbers probably started during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476B.C.) when the states of dukes and princes were frequently at war with one another. With the development of strategy and tactics, the battlefields moved from flatlands to mountainous areas.

"The natural formation of the country is the soldier's ally," says Sunzi in The Art of War. The states built many passes at strategic points, such as the famous Zhaoguan Pass. Legend has it that Wu Zixu, whose father and elder brother were killed by the duke of Chu State, tried to escape through Zhaoguan Pass and go to Wu State, where he would ask for help. The pass, however, was fully garrisoned. He was so nervous that his hair turned white overnight.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the construction of passes reached its peak. The Ming passes had been improved both in shape and layout on the basis of those of the former dynasties. Shanhai Pass and Juyong Pass are examples of the Ming times. Recently, some passes have been discovered in the ruins of the western Hunan border wall, which was built for defense against the rebellions of the Miao ethnic group during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

After the Ming Dynasty, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) did not emphasize the construction of passes. The Ming government had concentrated on building passes but had paid little attention to establishing good relations with the common people and the various ethnic groups. On the contrary, the Qing rulers, especially in the early years of the dynasty, governed the nation by granting favors to people. After the middle period of the Qing Dynasty, however, the imperial power started to decline and the rulers had to take a defensive strategy by building passes.

Passes were usually set up at borders, along important transport routes, and at strategic points. The frontier pass was a symbol of the sovereignty of the country and was usually located at a strategic point. Yanmen Pass is an example of this type and was the site of more than 1,700 battles, great and small.

In ancient wars, the guarding of frontier passes had a great influence over the outcome of a battle and the safety of a country. In the late Ming Dynasty, the Battle of Shanhai Pass played a decisive role in the defeat of the peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng. Li and his army kept on retreating after being defeated in the battle by Wu Sangui, a general of the empire, and in the end, they had to withdraw from Beijing, the capital. Li Zicheng never recovered his previous military strength.

Some passes were located at important transport routes, usually among mountains. These passes relied on precipitous surroundings to keep the important roads under control. Hulao Pass, Jianmen Pass, Loushan Pass, and the well-known Yumen Pass are examples of this type. Because of the important positions of passes on transport routes, boundaries were sometimes moved to coincide with the passes.
The place known as Within the Passes is so named because it is closed by passes in all directions. East of the Pass and West of the Pass are divided by Hangu Pass and Tongguan Pass. Shanhai Pass is on the boundary between Inside the Pass and Outside the Pass.

Some passes acted as protective screens for cities. Yanmen Pass provided a protective screen for Taiyuan City, Tongguan Pass for Xi'an, Juyong Pass for Beijing, and Jianmen Pass for Chengdu. If the protective screens were guarded strictly, the cities would be in safety; if they fell, the cities would be in danger. From the locations of the passes, we can re-create a map of the transport routes and frontier markets of ancient times.

Although the passes were mostly located at strategic points and along important transport routes, they played different roles during different periods. Over thousands of years, the passes experienced numerous wars and periods of prosperous frontier trade. They saw many of the northern ethnic groups move south into the Central Plains and mix into the Chinese nation.

Ancient passes give us a view of the tactics, frontier policies, and diplomatic strategies of the ancient people. In the Han and Ming Dynasties, many passes were built to prevent the nomadic groups in the north from harassing the border areas. Hangu Pass was built as an offensive tactic by Qin State during the Warring States period, and Tongguan Pass was built as a defense by the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).

The rulers in the middle and late Ming Dynasty garrisoned Jiayu Pass to defend against the Turpan ethnic group and strengthened the eastern Liao section of the Great Wall to prevent the Mongolians and Manchus from attacking. Many passes were built in the southeastern coastal area to defend the area against Japanese pirates.

Through the ages, there have been many stories about the passes. Legend has it that Guan Yunchang, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms (220-265), well known for loyalty and boldness, forced his way through five passes and killed six captains. The story of Yang Liulang, a marshal of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and one of the warriors of the Yang Family, garrisoning three frontier passes is widely known by Chinese people.

In and around each pass were memorials to gods and famous personages, such as Wu Zixu Memorial Halls, Town God Temples, Emperor Jade Temples, Dragon King Temples, Guan Yunchang Memorial Halls, Warriors of the Yang Family Memorial Halls, and Confucian Temples. Among these temples, the Memorial Halls to Guan Yunchang and the Warriors of the Yang Family were especially popular. People respected these heroes and hoped to receive blessings from them.

Memorial temples to heroes were often built on the frontiers, where the soldiers had easy access to them. In this way, the rulers of the country encouraged the patriotism of the soldiers. The temples of the gods were places where the soldiers could find spiritual sustenance.

Many passes no longer play an important role in military strategy and transport. Because of the lack of maintenance after the end of the Qing Dynasty, most of them are now partially destroyed, giving a sense of desolation, but their charm will go on forever.

(From an article by the Great River Culture Company)