The history of Chajianling

Chajianling is located near the west wall of the ancient city in the northwest of Handan City, within the Zhaoyuan Tourist Area. The rammed earth platform on the ground is about 100 meters long and 3 to 8 meters high. According to legend, this is the place where King Wuling of Zhao trained his cavalry in "Hufu riding and shooting", hence the name Chajian Ridge. Relics such as copper clusters, tiles, drainage channel fragments and some Han Dynasty pottery pieces from the Warring States Period are often found in the ridge. After investigation, it was found that Chajianling was a building from the Warring States Period. It was repaired and used in the Han Dynasty and is a provincial cultural relic protection unit.

Sixteen kilometers southwest of Laiyuan County, there is a village called Chajianling. Although the mountain village is not big, it is famous for its connection with several historical events.

Eighteen kilometers south of Chajian Ling, it is a strategically important place since ancient times and one of the "Three Inner Passes" of the Great Wall. According to legend: Song general Yang Liulang fought a fierce battle with the Liao army at Daomaguan, and the Liao army gradually fell into a disadvantage. Therefore, the Liao army agreed to use archery to demarcate the border. The place where Liulang's arrow fell was where the Liao army retreated. Yang Liulang's arrow flew more than 30 miles and landed, which was later known as Chajian Ridge. There is also a legend about Yang Liulang resting on the mountain with his sword inserted and the sword (arrow) ridge named. It is not as exciting as the previous one.

In the autumn of 1937, the Yang Chengwu Independent Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army entered Hebei from Shanxi and fought repeatedly with the Japanese army at Chajianling. Sha Fei, a reporter with the army at the time, took many photos of combat life in this area. Those classic photographs published in publications such as Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Pictorial not only inspired the fighting will of the soldiers and civilians at the time, but also became precious materials that later recorded the history of the Anti-Japanese War.

Chaajianling Village, which is close to Baishi Mountain Scenic Area and National Highway 207, is no longer considered a remote place. People come here to see this famous ancient Great Wall and the mountain villages under the Great Wall. Many of the more than 40 numbered watchtowers and winding city walls have seriously collapsed, leaving a sense of remoteness and desolation among the grass.