Céngtái

Cengtai lies among the mountains east of Bijie, in the old Shuixi country of northwestern Guizhou. The Ming built a fort here and established Cengtai Guard in the late fourteenth century, placing soldiers in a district where hereditary chiefs also held authority. The guard was later abolished and replaced by a subordinate post of Chishui Guard. Its walls and garrison were part of the Ming effort to hold the roads and passes through the mountainous approaches to Sichuan and Yunnan.