Dukezong Ancient City

@Legend has it that the concept of building the ancient city at that time was inspired by the presence ofLiving Buddhawho looked at the ancient city from a hill across from it and discovered that Da Gui Mountain was like a lotus master sitting on a lotus flower. Therefore, the layout of the ancient city's construction resembles an eight petal lotus flower, creating a space that changes naturally. In the construction of the ancient city, most of the building materials were sourced locally. Craftsmen discovered that a locally produced white clay could be used as a coating for the exterior walls of houses, so the exterior walls of ancient city residences were painted white. This style has been used to this day. On a moonlit night, the silver moonlight made the white ancient city look particularly enchanting, so the locals called the ancient city "Dukezong". Dukezong "means" white stone city "in Tibetan, symbolizing the city of moonlight@In his famous bookThe Forgotten Kingdom, Mr. Gu Peter, a Russian 3#

, said that it was estimated that when all routes to China were blocked during the war, the "caravan transport" used 8000 mules and 20000 yaks@During the Tang Dynasty, the northwest of Yunnan (including the Diqing region) belonged to the Tubo Dynasty. In the years 676-679 of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo established the Shenchuan Governor's Office in Weixi Qizong and built an official fortress on what is now Daguishan. They built a city with stones and named it "Dukezong", which is the famous "Iron Bridge East City" in historyDukezong Ancient City

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhongdian was twice occupied by the Mu clan chieftain of Lijiang. The Mu clan chieftain built the "Xianggewa" village in Daguishan, a Tibetan language stone fortress, which was the original "Dukezong" of Daguishan. Later, a "Danian Yuwa" village was built by the banks of the Naizi River, named "Niwang Zong" in Tibetan, which means "Sunlight City". The two villages echo each other from afar, forming the famous "Xiangguniwa" in the history of Zhongdian, also known as the famous "Sun Moon City" in Tibetan areas

The ancient city of Dukezong has always been a hub for tea and horse trade between Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet. In the 27th year of Kangxi's reign (1688), the Dalai Lama requested the trade to take place on the Jinsha River, and the Qing court approved the establishment of a market in Zhongdian. Dukezong became an important market for trade between Yunnan and Tibet. During the reigns of Yongzheng and Qianlong, the mining industry in the area was prosperous, and merchants from all directions gathered@During the war, the Japanese occupied Myanmar, cutting off the transportation between Yunnan and Myanmar. A large amount of aid to China had to cross the Himalayas from Lhasa through northwest Yunnan to Kunming, and the county town became a transit point for trade between Yunnan, Tibet, and India@In addition, in 1936, He Long led the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army on a Long March through Zhongdian, and set up a command center in the two rooms of the Tibetan scripture hall in the ancient city of Dukezong, where an important meeting was held

The restoration and reconstruction work of Dukezong Ancient City in Shangri La City, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province has been basically completed and officially opened to the public on January 1, 2016. The following picture shows a scene of the ancient city of Dukezong in Shangri La, Yunnan, set against the backdrop of colorful prayer flags, taken on March 22, 2016