赣州古城墙:我国最完整的宋城墙

江西赣州不仅因山水秀丽而闻名于世，更由于这座古老城市因完好保存了自宋代沿袭至今的三千多米古城墙而名闻遐迩。赣州宋城墙全长3664米，它以其高低逶迤之势与秀丽江水形成美妙反差。清晨漫步在古朴蜿蜒的城段上，只见城外一江清流，远处山乡田舍烟云缥缈，近处街坊店铺鳞次节枇，让人感到犹如置身于一幅美丽的《清明上河图》之中。为了保护好这道我国现存规模最大、保存最完整的北宋砖砌古城墙，前年赣江市政府又斥资8000万元对其维修，清除了古城墙两边的所有无关建筑，还古城墙以本来面貌，于是，这座宋代古城墙便变得更加丰姿秀色、楚楚动人了!

早在汉高祖六年(公元前201年)郡县制分江西为18县，赣州城便正式建制，到了西晋，江上漂浮一只大鼓又改变了这座城市改变命运。那是西晋太康末年(288年前后)，赣州洪水瀑涨，此时宽阔的江面上忽然悠悠荡荡地漂来一只大鼓。这只大鼓顺着水流，悠晃着飘进一座废弃多年的名为葛姥的土城内就再也不动了。城里居民发现了这“不速之客”，一下子涌来了许多人对它又拖又拉，可这只神秘的大鼓始终纹丝不动。由此，人们以为这是神的昭示，赣州城只有搬到这只大鼓停留处才能五业兴旺，于是一城百姓毫不犹豫地将县城迁到了这座汉代末年葛姥人抛弃的旧城，也就是现在的赣州城址。

赣州城墙的建造乃至赣州城的形成和发展，说来还得益于四位杰出人物：一位是东晋南康郡(今赣州)太守高琰，他以惊人的胆略在东晋永和五年(349年)夯土筑城；第二位是五代的卢光稠，五代时群雄纷争割据，使得偏安虔州(今赣州)的百姓军防御使卢光稠萌发了称王的念头，他将城区扩大了约二倍的面积，形成王城的规模，不料背疾忽发英年早逝。不过他人虽走了，赣州城的规模却被他扩大了；第三位人物是孔子第46代孙孔宗翰，北宋嘉年间(1056―1063)他担任赣州知州。为了解除江水年年灌城的灾害，他用铁水浇固城墙石基，用砖石全面改砌城墙，逐渐把土城墙改砌成砖石城墙，因而他成了赣州宋代砖城墙的创始人。风流倜傥的孔宗翰还特意在三水交汇处的城墙上砌建了一座石楼，营造起一处可以让官宦大吏、文人雅士们观景品茗的地方。这位风流才子的远见卓识，引出了后来坡数访虔州，为八境台赋诗作序的历史佳话；第四位是北宋虔州知州刘彝。这位著名的城建水利专家一心为民谋福，完成了卢光稠未竟事业，他修建城内福沟、寿沟，整理疏通虔州城的地下排水系统，在临江水道口又修筑了12座水窗，从而解决了年年江水倒灌的困境。

如今，人口不知翻了多少倍的赣州城，排污水系仍然依靠900年前先人留下的杰作，它成了今天全国仅存的宋代府城完整而又珍贵的地下排水系统。

900年来历代州民们对赣州城墙不断修葺，垒高加固，增修马面、警铺等军事设施，特别是清代咸丰年间，因防太平军兵锋，赣城清军又在城门上增建了五座炮城。清代顺治间(1655年)，荷兰派遣公使约翰・牛霍夫朝见顺治皇帝。牛霍夫漂洋过海，沿赣粤边界的梅关古驿道北上进京路过赣州，对赣州城墙留下深刻印象，他在《荷使朝华录》中写道：“该城是中国最有名的城市之一……城区四方傍赣江而建。该城有四个大门，依东、南、西、北方向命名，式样古朴。城墙高大坚固，用砖头砌成，所有的炮眼都有盖子，盖子上画着凶恶的兽头，绕墙走约需要两个小时。站在城墙上向北望去，可以看见来自数省的数不清的船只。”

坚固的赣州宋代古城墙不仅抵御了近千年来洪水的冲击，还目睹了一次又一次攻城之战。最残酷的一次莫过于1932年2月，当时的中央苏区在“夺取中心城市”错误路线的狂热下，数万红军连续3次大规模地攻打赣州城，虽然动用了挖地道、棺材炮等种种办法攻城，最终还是以3000战士的生命代价而失利，从而使横刀立马、英勇善战的将军，惨痛地留下了他一生中少有的败笔，故而人们又称赣州为“铁赣州”。

今天，这座3660米的宋代城墙，不仅给后人留下了悠悠历史的无限记忆，在它的伟岸躯体还留下了北宋以来的“熙宁二年”、“嘉熙戊戍年”、“至正壬辰年”等数以千计的历代年号和窑户、督造官的珍贵砖铭画押，它成了中华民族灿烂的文化见证，成了全国重点保护文物单位。现在，古城墙已维修一新，并全部贯通，它犹如一条巨形的纽带，将赣州的众多名胜古迹连结在一起。游人登上古城墙，可以一路游览西津门、郁孤台、蒋经国旧居、八境台、古浮桥等名胜。海内外大批游客慕名而来，大饱眼福，赞叹不已。海外客家人更是倾心向往，为先民们的聪明才智和不朽壮举而感动与自豪。

The Ancient City Wall of Ganzhou

By Zhang Sijie

Ganzhou in East China’s Jiangxi Province combines the wonders of man and nature. What nature gives the city is its gorgeous scenery. Man’s wisdom and endeavor can be best seen in its 3,660-meter-long city wall completed in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Take a stroll on the city wall that undulates with the terrain and you will be awed by the contrast between the beauty of the ancient man-made structure and the beauty of nature. In order to preserve the longest brick wall of the Song period in China today, the city government allotted 80 million yuan in 2004 to refurbish the architectural wonder. The project also involved the removal of indifferent buildings on both sides of the wall. Today, the wall looks more beautiful than ever before.

Administratively, Ganzhou came into being in 201 B.C. when the Jiangxi province was divided into 18 counties in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). The fate of the city changed forever in the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316 A.D.) simply because of a huge-sized drum that flowed down on the river. Legend has it that around 288 A.D. the residents of Ganzhou were amazed to see a large-size drum flow down the wide river in a flood. The drum got stuck in a deserted earthen city on the river. The residents rushed out to push and pull the drum, but despite all the efforts, the drum refused to budge an inch. The residents then believed it was an oracle from the heaven that they should move to the deserted city for prosperity in the future. Without hesitation, they moved to the site which had been desolate since the last years of the Han Dynasty. This is how Ganzhou stands where it is today.

The birth and maintenance of the city wall of Ganzhou are attributed to four outstanding persons in history.

The man who initiated the city wall was Gao Yan, procurator of Nankang prefecture (today’s Ganzhou) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420). He organized people to build an earthen wall around the city in 349. The second contributor was Lu Guangchou, a general who guarded the city during the period of the Five Dynasties (907-960). It was a time of wars and chaos when ambitious generals had chances to become a king. The ambitious Lu wanted to become a king. So he started to expand the city, planning to build it into a capital for his future dynasty. However, He died of a sudden disease before he had a chance to realize his ambition, but the city did expand out as much as twice its previous size. The third man who contributed to the city wall was Kong Zonghan, the 46th-generation great grandson of Confucius. Kong came to govern the city during the Jiayou years (1056-1063) of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). In order to free the city forever from floods that would inundate the city every year, Kong first ordered to have the stone foundation of the city wall consolidated with melted iron and then to have the wall covered with bricks. Kong also had a stone pavilion built on the wall where three rivers converge. The pavilion was built for viewing the beautiful scenery. Su Dongpo, presumably the greatest scholar of the Song Dynasty, was attracted to Ganzhou several times and wrote poems for the pavilion. The fourth man who contributed to the wall was Liu Yi, the successor of Kong Zonghan. An expert of water control and conservation projects, Liu had the underground draining system of the city dredged and a network of additional ditches built to drain rain water from streets. And he also had twelve “water windows” built around the city to help divert flood water from one side of the city to the other side. The measures rid the city of annual flood disasters forever.

The draining system built in the Song Dynasty is still in use today in Ganzhou even though the city population has multiplied. It is China’s only existing complete urban underground wastewater system built in the Song Dynasty.

During the nine hundred years after the Song period, the city wall was reinforced and heightened on various occasions. Military facilities were also added to the city wall. In the Qing Dynasty (1944-1911) when troops of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-1864) threatened to attack the city, five emplacements were built on the city wall.

For nearly 1,000 years, the city wall has not only survived numerous floods, but also withstood attacking troops. The fiercest battles the city witnessed in history took place in February, 1932 when the Communist Red Army tried to seize Ganzhou. Three full-blown campaigns were launched and tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers threw themselves at the city. To bypass the city wall from underground, they dug tunnels. To blast the city wall open, they used explosives nicknamed “Coffin Guns”. But all these tactics failed. The Red Army finally withdrew after a heavy casualty of 3,000. Though Marshal Peng Dehuai is remembered for his military genius and brilliant military career, the combats he fought to seize Ganzhou were a total failure. The city wall was said to be one key barrier and a contributory cause of the defeat.

Today, the 3,664-meter wall still retains thousands of historical stamps showing the titles of an emperor’s reign, the names of brick makers, and the signs of supervisors. It is a key cultural site under the state protection.