View source for Hangu Pass

{{Short description|Mountain pass in China}}
{{Redirect|Kankoku|text=That sense indicates "Kankoku Pass"; for the Japanese language term, see [[Korea]].}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name              = Hangu Pass
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| photo             = File:Hangu Pass.jpg
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| photo_caption     = Hangu Pass archaeological site museum at Xin'an, Luoyang
| map               = China Northern Plain#China
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| traversed         =  {{jct|country=CHN|G|310}}
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| location          = [[Sanmenxia]], [[Henan]], China
| range             = [[Qinling]]
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| coordinates       = {{coord|34.63|N|110.92|E|type:pass_region:CN-41|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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{{chinese
|pic= |piccap=A 1941 relief map of China. The Hangu Pass lies just below [[Tong Pass]] ("Tungkwan")
|t={{linktext|函谷關}} |s={{linktext|函谷关}} |p=Hángǔguān |w=Han-ku-kuan
}}
'''Hangu Pass''' or '''Hanguguan''' was a [[fortified gateway]] that commanded the strategic [[mountain pass]] between the [[Yellow River]] and [[Qinling Mountains]], forming the main [[choke point]] on the only land corridor between the [[Zhongyuan|Central Plain]] and the [[Guanzhong]] region. The pass restricted access into the lower [[Wei River]] valleys, where the heartland of the [[ancient Chinese state|state]] of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] and the unified [[Qin dynasty]] were located, as well as the subsequent [[dynasties of China|dynasties]] of [[Han dynasty|Han]], [[Sui dynasty|Sui]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]]. 

The Hangu Pass lies on the south (right) bank of the [[Yellow River]], {{cvt|60|km}} downstream of its eastward bend out of the [[Ordos Loop]]. It was built by the state of Qin in [[330 BC]] and had been the site of many [[siege warfare|siege]]s and [[field battle]]s during the [[Warring States period]] and early imperial eras. Due to terrain changes from [[bank erosion]]s and [[alluvial]] [[sediment|deposition]] of the Yellow River over the centuries, the Hangu Pass eventually fell to ruins after losing its defensive values to the newer [[Tong Pass]] to its west, which was built near the [[river mouth|mouth]] of the Wei River in [[196 AD]] by the warlord [[Cao Cao]].

The term "Hangu Pass" can mean to two locations: the Qin-era Hangu Pass in Hanguguan Town, [[Lingbao, Henan|Lingbao County]], [[Sanmenxia]], [[Henan province]]; and secondly, the Han-era Hangu Pass in [[Xin'an County]], [[Luoyang]], Henan. Traditionally, the term refers to the former. In 2014, the archeological site was recognized by UNESCO as part of the “[[Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor]]” [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1442/documents/|title=Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-13}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:亜細亜大観 09 053 "函谷古關 （河南省靈寳縣）".jpg|thumb|Hangu Pass in 1932]]
[[Chinese legend]] states that [[Lao-tzu]] wrote his ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' at the insistence of [[Yinxi]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Theobald |first1=Ulrich |title=Chinese Literature Guanyinzi 闕尹子 "Master Yin of the Pass" |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Daoists/guanyinzi.html |website=Chia Knowledge |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref> an astrologer and the guard at Hangu Pass, before leaving for the west.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hangu Pass tourist site |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/regional/2013-05/31/content_16561579.htm |website=chinadaily.com.cn |publisher=China Daily |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>

The [[state of Qin]] fortified the pass in 361{{nbsp}}BC as its eastern border,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2015-07/15/content_21289770_3.htm|title=22 World Heritage sites in China along the Silk Road[3]- Chinadaily.com.cn|last=顾馨|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=2018-04-26}}</ref> protecting access to their homeland from the armies of the other [[Warring States]] competing to succeed the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]]. It continued to protect the [[Guanzhong]] area of the [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] and [[Western Han dynasty|Western Han]] empires. Under the [[Eastern Han dynasty|Eastern Han]] that succeeded [[Wang Mang]]'s "[[Xin dynasty]]", its fortifications protected the capital [[Luoyang]] in the other direction, staving off attacks coming from the west and northwest.

After the fall of the Han and rise of the [[Three Kingdoms]], the Hangu Pass lost most of its importance as the primary fortifications moved a little west to [[Tong Pass]].

== Discovery of Han dynasty Hangu Pass site ==
Between 2012 and 2013 a team from the Luoyang Cultural Relics and Archaeological Institution conducted an archaeological excavation at the site in Xin'an, Luoyang, on an area of more than 3,000 square meters. This excavation brought several roads, platforms and walls to light.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/News/New_discoveries/2014/0425/45972.html|title=Hangu Pass--the 2100 years ago’s pass site found in Henan province|date=2014-04-25|website=Chinese Archaeology|access-date=2018-04-26}}</ref>
Today, the archaeological site of the Hangu Pass in Xin’an is a museum park.
 
== Hangu Pass in fiction ==
In the manga series ''[[Kingdom (manga)|Kingdom]]'' by [[Yasuhisa Hara]], the Hangu Pass was the last chokepoint that Li Mu and his Coalition Army needed to overcome in order to defeat Qin. Their attacks were repelled with great losses, forcing Li Mu to make a decision of attacking [[Xianyang]] via Zui.

==See also==
* [[Sanmenxia]]
* [[Tong Pass]] 
* [[Wu Pass]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Mountain passes of China}}

[[Category:Mountain passes of China]]
[[Category:Landforms of Henan]]

{{Henan-geo-stub}}