Gǔlàng

Gulang stands at the northern mouth of a mountain gorge on the eastern approach to the Hexi Corridor. Its river gave the town its name. The confined passage helped make this a place of fortification: the Ming rebuilt the older Herong position in 1377, constructing walls and gates where mountains and ditches could support the defences.

In 1438 Gulang became a guard-thousand-household establishment subordinate to Liangzhou Guard. A further enlargement in 1575 extended the town eastward and provided gates to the east, south and north. These changes gave the settlement a concrete role within the Ming military administration of Gansu, beyond its place on a long-distance route. Under the Qing, military government gave way to a civil county in 1724, attached to Liangzhou prefecture. The sequence from fortified post to county seat explains how the same narrow entrance to the corridor supported successive forms of local administration.