Fishing town
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fishing Town or Fishing City (Simplified Chinese: 钓鱼城; Traditional Chinese: 釣鱼城; Pingyin: diaoyucheng) also called the “Oriental Mecca” and “the Place That Broke God's Whip” is one of the three ancient battlefields in China. It is famous for its resistance against the army of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in the later Song (Sung) dynasty. The most notable event that made Fishing Town famous was the death of Mongol leader Mongke Khan by cannon shot, thus forcing the immediate withdrawal of Mongol troops from Europe and Asia and obstructing the Mongolian Empire from extending towards Africa.
The Mongols launched an aggressive war against the Song dynasty in the 13th century. Between the period from 1243 to 1279, Fishing Town experienced more than 200 military confrontations. The town created the miracle of "persistant resistance" for 36 years during the war.
The ancient Fishing Town covers an area of 2.94 square kilometers. Situated on a hill surrounded by water on three sides about five kilometers east of Hechuan County, it lies near the confluence of Qujiang, Fujiang and Jialing rivers. The terrain is precipitous yet the landscape is beautiful. About seven hundred years ago, Yu Jian built this fortress town to resist the Mongols during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).
Though numbering more than ten thousand soldiers and led by the Great Khan Mongke himself, the Mongols could not take the tiny fortress. Yu Jian won many brilliant victories culminating in the deaths of Mongke and his vanguard General Wang Tege. Although Mongke distinguished himself in battles and was then called 'the Whip of God', he was wounded in this battle and eventually died on July 21, 1258. For this reason, Fishing Town is known to European and Asian historians as “the Place That Broke God's Whip”. Because it consists of many historical sites—the wharf for the navy forces, the drilling grounds, the watch towers, and a fortification with built-in cannons—Fishing Town was designated by the State Council as one of the major national cultural and historic sites under State protection.
