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In the Qin and the Han Dynasties Zijingguan was only a small city built with earth and stones. In the early days of the Ming Dynasty a new city was constructed, and the city was constantly extended and renovated in the Yong Le, Zheng Tong, Jing Tai, Hong Zhi, Jia Jing and Wan Li periods. Its perimeter is about 3 kilometers. There are four city gates. On the eastern, western and southern gates a wall was additionally built respectively, and the northern wall is near the Horse Resistant River. The structure of the pass city is complicated, and the layout is tight. On the inner and outer ramparts there are altogether 9 city gates and 4 water gates. Cities inside and outside, big and small, are neatly connected, which enables the whole pass city to become an obscure maze.
The northern gate was built with huge slabs. It is on the southern bank of the Horse Resistant River valley and faces the east. On the top of the majestic pass gate there was inlayed two white marble tablets. The upper one reads ‘Territory Needs Strengthening’, and the lower one ‘Zijingguan’. The handwriting is vigorous, old and strong, and was inscribed with ‘Fuguang wrote at home in Liaocheng, Ding Hai, Wan Li’.
