Studies On The Coastal Defense Forts System Of The Ming Dynasty

The coastal defense forts system was very important for the national defense system of the Ming dynasty.Along with the Great Wall,they formed two lines of defense in the south and north of China respectively.However,comparing with that of the Great Wall,the research of the coastal defense forts system of the Ming dynasty is quite insufficient and it is far away to become an orderly framework.The coastal defense forts were distributed on the coastal areas from Liaodong to Guangdong and Hainan with structured space patterns,various scales,levels and corresponding hierarchies.The Wei towns,Suo towns,Bao towns and Zhai towns played principle roles in the main structure of the defense system.The patrol and inspection cities and passes were built for reconnaissance.The courier stations and cities were transfer stations for military information and equipments.There were also warning structures such as beacons and signal towers.All of these buildings had their own features while forming a whole system.Therefore,the coastal defense forts system was a result of the quintessence of politics,economy,military and culture of the Ming dynasty.Based on the field research and big data analysis,this thesis will have a systematical study on the coastal defense forts system with the aid of Architecture,Urban Planning and Geography.This research will cover the aspects of the building process,level analysis,forts distribution analysis and the defense feature analysis of the coastal defense forts system.During the field study of the coastal defense forts,the author found these historic building are nearly turned into ruins.The preservation of the coastal defense forts is a matter of great urgency.Through this preliminary study,the author would like to provide some fundamental understanding on this topic which may help the development of the research of the coastal defense forts system.Other than the distressing,the author would like to call on the whole society to comprehend and support the research and preservation of the coastal defense forts through the work of this thesis,for retaining this treasure for the Chinese nation.