The Comprehensive Research Of The Shanxi Town Military Settlements Along The Great Wall In Ming Dynasty

Located in north-central Shanxi Province，the landform of Shanxi Greatwall military settlements of Ming Dynasty is rich and varied. From the valley in thewest to the mountains in the east, there are a large number of historical remains ofGreat Wall defense facilities of Ming Dynasty. Among the Ming Dynasty Great wall’sNine Line Eleven Town system, Shanxi Great wall military settlements have uniquemode of organization in hierarchy, morphology and size. With the passage of time andchanges in history, the military color of the settlements have been fading. Most of themilitary settlements have become towns and villages, and some of the remains are inthe gradual disappearance, as a result, the research of Shanxi Great wall militarysettlements is extremely urgent.This paper firstly clarifies the hierarchical organization and management levelslaying behind the military settlement entity, from the established background ofShanxi Great wall military settlements and Ming border military management systemas a start.For the space feature research of the defense system of Shanxi, the paper, firstfrom the macroscopic angle, studies the cooperation relationship of three defenseareas--West, central and East Shanxi Town and analyses the working principle ofdefense system of this town. then the paper makes a thorough study on the logisticssystems of three defense areas--farming and the auxiliary function–border trade. Onthis basis, from more macroscopical angle, the paper analyses the very important roleof Shanxi town in collaborative work with the adjacent towns and important forts inthe defense system of Capital. At the microscopic level, the paper studies the spacedistribution characteristics and location factors of Shanxi military settlements, andanalysis of a variety of causes of Fort plane shape, internal structure and architecturalcharacteristics.In the dimension of time study, this article, from the historical angle, studieshistorical changes of Shanxi Town Fort in late Ming and early Qing Dynasty usingnational policy, economy and culture of Shanxi merchants as the breakthrough point.The researches above will provide the historical basis on today’s the Great Wallprotection and bring a lot of historical reference to our country current urban and rural planning work.