Shahu Pass was called Shenhekou in ancient times. In order to resist the southern invasion of Mongol Oara, the Ming Dynasty sent troops from this mouth many times to fight, so it was named "Killing Hukou". Since the "mutual trade" between Mongolia and Han in the fifth year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty, conflicts have turned into friendship, and horse markets in Shahubao, Deshengbao, and Xinpingbao (Tianzhen) have reopened. In 1925, the National Army led by Feng Yuxiang entered "Killing Hukou". That year, Feng Yuxiang appointed Han Duofeng, one of his thirteen Taibao, as the envoy to kill Huguan. In order to ease ethnic conflicts and promote trade between the Central Plains and beyond the Great Wall, South Korea officially changed its name to "Shahu Pass", following the common name since the Qing Dynasty.
High mountains confront each other on both sides of Shahukou, and the terrain is very steep. It is adjacent to Tangzi Mountain to the east and Dabao Mountain to the west. The open Cangtou River Valley between the two mountains has been an important north-south passage since ancient times. The highway from Datong to Hohhot still passes through here.
Shahukou Pass City was built with earth in the 23rd year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1544 AD) and covered with bricks in the 2nd year of Wanli (1574 AD). The city circumference is 1 km and it is 11.7 meters high. In the 43rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1615), a new castle was built outside the Shahukou Fort, named Pingji Fort. Its length, width, height, and thickness were the same as the old one. Between the two forts, east and west were built. The walls are connected, forming a mutual support situation.
As for the importance of Shahukou and Youyucheng in the Ming Dynasty, it can be seen from the fact that Emperor Daizong conferred the Water and Land Shenzhen. Emperor Zhu Qiyu succeeded Yingzong after he was captured by the Mongolian Oara. He prayed to God for the safe return of Yingzong and made a wish that if Yingzong returned after defeating the Oara, he would like to bestow the "Water and Land Shenzhen" to Youyu County, Shuoping Prefecture. Later, the Kyoto defense battle organized by Yu Qian was victorious, and Yingzong was released. Daizong then sent his ministers to award Youyu with the "Water and Land Shenzhen" to thank the gods. "Shuilu Shenzhen" are 120 rare treasures and valuable paintings stored in the palace. It is said that most of these paintings were painted by Wu Daozi and Yan Liben during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. Some of the remaining treasures are now collected in the Shanxi Provincial Museum.
As military fortresses, Shahukou and Youyucheng have been subject to constant wars since ancient times. Especially from the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty to the Jiajing period, they were captured by the Mongolian army many times. However, in a war in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557 AD), the defenders fought alone and held on to Youyu City for eight months without any support. This was also unprecedented in the history of Chinese wars. Common.
This war originated from the "Taosongzhai Incident". Taosongzhai was the concubine of Xin Ai, the son of Anda Khan. She was fooling around with a leader of Xin Ai's men. After being discovered, she hurriedly defected to the Ming Dynasty. The then governor of Datong, Yang Shun, sent her to the capital in order to claim credit and reward. . For this reason, Xin Ai led his troops to attack Shahukou, and then surrounded Youyu City. Seeing that things were not going well, Yang Shun regretted that he should not have taken Taosong Village in. He lied to the court that the Mongolian Xin'ai Ministry was willing to exchange Taosong Village with Han Chinese who had fled after the failure of the White Lotus Sect uprising. The emperor agreed to return Taosong Village, but Xin Ai not only did not retreat, but strengthened his troops. While attacking Youyu City, he also launched an attack on the Great Wall in Datong and Xuanfu areas.
Under the repeated strong attacks by the Mongolian soldiers, the soldiers and civilians of Youyu City fought bloody battles. After General Youyu was killed in the battle, a general named Shang Mingbiao who was resting at home volunteered to take command of the defense of Youyu. . In this extremely difficult situation, in addition to repelling the enemy's attacks, he also seized advantageous fighter opportunities and sneak attacks on enemy camps many times. From September to April of the next year, although Youyu City was not captured, the soldiers and people in the city were almost without food and food, and all the cattle, horses and other livestock that could satisfy their hunger were eaten up.
When the situation was very critical, the Ming Dynasty sent Yang Bo, Minister of War, to personally lead an army to relieve the siege of Youyu. When the Mongolian soldiers saw that Youyu City was difficult to capture and that the Ming Dynasty reinforcements were approaching, they took the initiative to lift the siege of Youyu City and withdrew the Great Wall from the Tiger Killing Pass.
After this war, Shahukou and Youyucheng, as well as the Great Wall in the Shahukou area, were re-reinforced and repaired. And the number of garrison troops was increased, which greatly improved the defense capability of Killing the Tiger's Mouth.
The historical story of "walking to the west exit" happened at Killing the Tiger Pass.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the long-term suppression of peasant uprisings and the war against the Qing Dynasty caused great damage to production within the Great Wall in the north. Fields everywhere were barren, houses were broken down, and people were in exile.
A large number of bankrupt peasants and defeated peasant rebels in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and parts of Hebei either "brought men and women with them" or were alone. They left their homes in groups and illegally crossed the Great Wall, "taking the Xikou" (referring to Shanxi Province). Kill the tiger's mouth. Later, it was generally pointed out that the mouths in the west of the Great Wall went to various places in western Inner Mongolia) to "naturalize" and "forage for survival". At that time, the refugees headed west from Tumote, either renting land from Mongolian people to cultivate crops, or entering the desert to cultivate crops privately, forming a migratory group that "went westward". In addition, the Qing Dynasty adopted a soft policy toward Mongolia. He promoted Lamaism, built temples, and recruited a large number of craftsmen and bankrupt farmers from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hebei. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the military disaster of Lin Dan Khan, the Tumut leader Xiao Shunyi, whose population was reduced sharply, supplemented the population of Dingkou and Sumu (Zuo). Regardless of nationality, Nading made an exception to make up for the shortfall of 30 sumu (1 sumu for 150 households). Refugees from Shan and Shaanxi came to join the Mongolian nationality one after another; with the relaxation of the Qing Dynasty's ban on Mongolia and the Over the years, farmers who suffered serious natural disasters and went bankrupt continued to flow in. People who "walked the west entrance" gradually moved from Tumed to the west to Alxa, Ejina and other banners to farm and herd and eat. This continued until the liberation. The painful history of "walking to the west exit" ended only after liberation.