Mysterious ancient watchtowers of Himalayas

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Ma County and Li County are located in the Min Mountains north of Chengdu, where the Min River flows through, and are the home of most Qiang people today. There are many villages protected by ancient watchtowers. Although D. C. Graham recorded many "ancient watchtowers over 100 feet tall" in The Customs and Religions of the Ch'iang, the tallest existing watchtower today is only 20 meters high (65 feet). Recently, I heard a legend in many Qiang villages: "Our ancestors were once very powerful and built tall ancient watchtowers, but after failing in a major battle, they fled into the barren mountains, and the emperor who defeated them prohibited them from building tall watchtowers." This aligns with the records in Chinese chronicles. Many Qiang villages are built around a spring, with the water channeled through stone channels to flow throughout the village. This way, even if the village is besieged for a long time, there will be no water shortage. All the ancient watchtowers and houses are built from small stones and a large amount of mortar, with the construction techniques being identical. The mortar is mainly composed of mud and clay, and adhesive is rarely used, allowing the stones to be reused multiple times in construction. Among the three wood samples I collected, the oldest one is only over 600 years old. From the location of the ancient watchtowers in the village, it can be inferred that the earliest watchtowers were used for defense, as the local residents say. The locals say that the houses and the connected ancient watchtowers were continuously built and rebuilt, with some dating back to the 19th century, making it impossible to definitively identify which watchtower is the oldest or which piece of wood is the oldest. Near Li County, there is an ancient Qiang village called Taoping. It is conveniently located and has become a tourist destination. Chinese experts believe that according to the records in Chinese chronicles, this Qiang village settlement has a history of over 1,000 years. P48