Located at the junction of the three counties of Shimen, Taoyuan and Cili, the “Chengtuo Stockade” is hidden by its stockade rock and has never been discovered. The stockade lies in the Lianghekou Village of Mengquan Township, Shimen County, to the east of Chengmen Stockade, a local scenic spot. Piled up by five huge round red sandstones, Chengtuo Stockade is shaped by a dustpan-sized rock at its top, looking like a sliding weight of a steelyard. It reaches a height of over 20 meters and is as smooth as a mirror. It is said the stockade’s name “Chengtuo” (chèng tuó in Chinese means sliding weight of a steelyard) is originated from the rock’s shape.
The local legend says that at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng (1606-1645), the Daring General, ordered to bury the treasures in various cellars when he was chased by soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. He also entrusted his young son to a family surnamed Jiang and gave the treasure map to them. The Jiang family’s descendant Jiang Guangye, one of the richest men in China, discovered the scenic spot Chengmen Stockade, 10 kilometers away from his house when he was planning to build a summer resort. During the work at his summer resort in Chengmen Village, Jiang Guangye found Chengtuo Stockade, but left the project unfinished because of his failure to get on well with the villagers.
Geologically, Chengmen and Chengtuo Stockades were shaped by running water and weathering on the basis of folds and breakage incurred by the eastward movement of Hunan and Guangxi after the Ordovician.
Translator: Zhu Mengxia
Source: Hunan Official Web Portal