Peaceward Camp was first built during the Dali period, originally serving as a reclamation and coin-casting si…
Peaceward Camp was first built during the Dali period, originally serving as a reclamation and coin-casting site for the Anxi Army. Located beside Jade Gate Pass, it slopes from north to south. According to the surviving villagers, Peaceward carries three meanings.
Firstly, "looking toward Anxi." As a strategic hub, Peaceward Camp overlooks Jade Gate Pass. Garrison soldiers stationed at the tower of the coin-casting factory north of the camp would gaze east at Jade Gate Pass daily. Bugles at dawn and drums at dusk relayed messages. The lights of Jade Gate Pass burned bright, and the cooking smoke of Peaceward Camp curled upward. They watched over each other, never apart.
Secondly, "looking forward to peace." Peaceward Camp sheltered local people, whoever had nowhere to go could settle here. In the past, soldiers and civilians in Peaceward Camp lived as one, with doors left unlocked at night and lost belongings untouched on the roads.
The third meaning was left unspoken by the villagers. They only said that in the past, when the Tang court issued an imperial edict, the people rejoiced, and soldiers and civilians waited quietly for the imperial army to arrive from the east. Yet the army never came, instead, a sandstorm struck, scattering the soldiers and civilians, and collapsing the houses. Today, only a few households remain, clinging to life. The prosperity of the past can never be restored.