Shanhai Pass - Sankaikan

Japanese: 山海関 - さんかいかん

The city district of Qinhuangdao, located in the northeast of Hebei Province, China, at the eastern end of the Great Wall. The Yanshan Mountains are in the northwest, and the city faces the Bohai Bay to the east, where the Great Wall ends. Population: 144,500 (2012, excluding Qinhuangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone). A strategic military location leading from inland China to the northeast, the city is surrounded by a wall, and the famous plaque reading "First Pass in the World" hangs on the tower of the east gate. This place became the end of the Great Wall in the 6th century, during the Northern Qi Dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and was called Linyu Pass in the Sui Dynasty, but its location was slightly west of today. It was moved to its current location during the Liao Dynasty in the early 11th century, and a fortress was built here at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, and Shanhaiwei was established to station troops there, which is how the name Shanhaiguan came about. There are many historical sites related to the legend of the Great Wall in the vicinity, such as the Meng Jiangnu Temple.

[Hibino Tsuyoshi, Editorial Department, March 21, 2017]

World Heritage Registration

In 1987, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) registered Shanhaiguan Pass as a component part of the Great Wall of China as a World Heritage Site (World Cultural Heritage).

[Editorial Department, March 21, 2017]

[References] | Qinhuangdao | The Great Wall | Meng Jiangnu

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、河北(かほく)省の北東部、万里の長城東端に位置する秦皇島(しんこうとう)市の市轄区。北西には燕山(えんざん)山脈が迫り、東は渤海(ぼっかい)湾に面し、長城がその海岸で終わっている。人口14万4500（2012。秦皇島経済技術開発区を除く）。中国内地から東北に通ずる軍事上の要地で、市街は城壁に囲まれ、有名な「天下第一関」の額はその東門楼上にかかっている。当地が万里の長城の終点となったのは6世紀、南北朝時代の北斉(ほくせい)のときで、隋(ずい)では臨渝関(りんゆかん)といわれたが、その位置は今日よりやや西であった。11世紀の初め遼(りょう)のとき現位置に移り、14世紀、明(みん)代の初めにここに関城を築き、山海衛を置いて軍隊を駐屯させたのが、山海関の名のおこりである。付近には孟姜女廟(もうきょうじょびょう)など長城伝説にまつわる古跡が多い。

［日比野丈夫・編集部　2017年3月21日］