Diaolou is mainly distributed in ethnic minority areas such as Qiang and Tibetan in the upper reaches of Minjiang River, Dadu River and Yalong River. As early as more than 2,000 years ago, it was recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Biography of Southwest Foreigners, "Those who fled outside, ... all lived in the mountains, with stones as their houses and more than ten feet high, which were the cages of Joan." "Qionglong" is a transliteration of "Diaolou" in Qiang language. Ran Yan, the builder of Qionglong, was a branch of the ancient Qiang people, who mainly lived in the upper reaches of Minjiang River in Qin and Han Dynasties. By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, diaolou architecture was widely popular in western Sichuan and eastern Tibet. "Biography of Sui Shu Attached to the Country" contains: Attached to the country is "close to the valley, close to the mountain and dangerous, vulgar and hateful, so the base stone was born for the stone nest to avoid its suffering. Its stone nest is ten feet high, down to five or six feet, with more than ten feet on each floor, separated by wood. There are three or four steps, and two or three steps above the stone nest look like a floating figure. The door is opened on the next floor. It opens from the inside and closes at night to prevent thieves. " In the Ming Dynasty, Gu recorded similar things in the book "Diseases of Counties and Countries in the World": "Wei, Mao, the ancient land was covered with stones, such as floating figures, doors covered with wood, goods hidden on the top, people living inside, and stored in the bottom. The height is two or three feet, and those who are more than ten feet are covered. "

According to China's historical records, the area where Jiarong Tibetans live in the upper reaches of Minjiang River and Dadu River today is the residence of Jialiangyi, an ancient Qiang tribe in Sui and Tang Dynasties. This area belongs to the corridor of ethnic migration and integration, and all ethnic groups communicate and integrate with each other in the difficult migration process. Jia Rong's Tibetan ancestors were formed by the integration of Qiang people living in Xishan and Tubo people who migrated during Sui and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, the influence of Qiang culture is more prominent in life customs and other aspects. Now, Jiarong Tibetans living in Jinchuan, northwest Sichuan, have the same architectural form as Qiang watchtowers. This diaolou architectural culture has always influenced the eastern and southern parts of Tibet.

No matter what the original living form of a nation is, the purpose of a nation's ancestral architectural activities is always to resist the invasion of nature and foreign nationalities, hoping to get a stable place to protect themselves and seek a space for survival and rest. The Qiang and Tibetan ancestors living in the upper reaches of Minjiang River, Dadu River and Yalong River are no exception. Because of the frequent fighting between ethnic groups and within ethnic groups for a long time, it is necessary for them to build most of their villages on mid-levels or high mountains that are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and to build strong and tall towers near their houses to guard against the enemy and store food and grass. This created a prerequisite for the appearance of the watchtower.

In the process of national migration and historical evolution, the pattern of eighteen chieftains controlling the region in Ming and Qing Dynasties gradually formed in the upper reaches of Minjiang River, Dadu River and Yalong River, commonly known as Jia Rong's eighteen chieftains. The toast of Jinchuan, big and small, is among them. The two Jinchuan areas are "only thousands of miles apart, isolated from western Sichuan, with northwest leading to the rear of Gansu, southwest leading to Tibet, and adjacent to 18 Tusi tribes", that is, the large and small Jinchuan areas are close to Chengdu and far away from Weizang, which is the bridge and throat between the mainland and Qinghai, Gansu and other Tibetan areas and has played an important role in Sichuan-Tibet exchanges since ancient times. Therefore, since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the central dynasties have practiced the chieftain system here, imprisoned and managed their own land. After Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the influence of chieftains in Jinchuan, large and small, became increasingly powerful, and they often bullied and occupied the surrounding chieftains, which made western Sichuan restless. In the Qianlong period, this situation was not contained, but further expanded the influence of two Jinchuan chieftains. The power balance between the chieftains in Jiarong area of western Sichuan was broken. More importantly, the two Jinchuan chieftains hindered the normal business exchanges between Tibetan areas and the Central Plains, and their influence threatened the security of the mainland and the stability of Kangzang. Emperor Qianlong decided to launch a campaign to suppress them in order to "keep the border quiet", but there was a battle between Dajinchuan and Xiaojinchuan.

Emperor Qianlong used his troops twice in Jinchuan. Although he won, he paid a great price. The reason is not only the weather, terrain, people, but also the watchtower. The two Jinchuan wars often revolved around "attacking the bunker" and "defending the bunker".

As for the watchtower in Jiarong Tibetan area, the Qing people described it this way: "Northwest Sichuan is a building, which is called a watchtower only high enough to live in, and a watchtower with seven or eight floors of heavy holes. Toast class. " "The watchtower is like a small town, with no problem at the top. Some are as high as thirty or forty feet, and some are dozens of stories. There are square holes on all sides of each floor, where you can put guns. Each family has its own, and it is very high and low. " "Jinchuan towers are sky-high, birds can't fly like apes" ... We can learn from historical data that there are many towers in Jinchuan area and Jiarong area, large and small, which are easy to defend but difficult to attack, exchange needed goods, and meet each other late, which has the advantage of "one person can defend it, and ten thousand people can't force it" in war defense. "The walls of Jinchuan Bunker are squint. Jinchuan soldiers are in the bunker. Looking down from above, it is convenient to spy on our soldiers and shoot. Our soldiers are shooting outside, and they are blocked by the inclined wall of the mouth, so they can't go straight through. " After the Qing army captured the Kangsal bunker, it entered the bunker and saw "the cellar with a slate cover at the top ... look at the northwest of the cellar." There is a basement. The top of the crypt is supported by wooden boards and supported by a big wooden column. It's quite wide, and it's not troublesome to walk. Is the way to connect the submarine to the second bunker. ..... To the second and third thieves' bunkers, the wooden city will be protected outside. In addition to the second bunker, there is a stone sign to pick up. "

In the actual investigation, the author can also feel the scientific design of the watchtower. Diaolou buildings are made of local materials, mud and stone, with beautiful appearance and solid walls. Taduo is connected with residential buildings, and some are built separately in flat land and valleys. Its shape is generally a pyramid prism: there are four corners, five corners and eight corners, and a few of them reach 13 triangles. Its height is generally not less than ten meters, mostly around thirty meters, and the height can reach fifty or sixty meters. The inside of the stone wall is vertical to the ground, and the outside is slightly inclined from bottom to top. From the perspective of use, towers in different positions have different functions, which can be roughly divided into home towers, city wall towers, sniper towers, beacon towers, feng shui towers and magic towers. Jiadiao is one of the most common villages in Jiarong Tibetan area. It is built in the front and back of the house and is closely connected with the house. Once the war breaks out, it can act as a fortress. The stronghold is usually the command stronghold of the stronghold leader, and it is also often used to worship ancestors. Blockade bunkers are generally built at the strategic gates of villages, which plays the role of "one bunker must be closed, and 10,000 people should not be opened". Beacon towers are mostly in high places, which can transmit signals from village to village and from village to village, and can also be used for combat. Feng shui blockhouses are mostly built on the sacred mountains of villages to seek happiness and ensure peace. The magic box is used to ward off evil spirits and remove special things. From a macro point of view, a village is a complete bunker, which constitutes a complete building complex. They are fan-shaped and distributed to the left and right with the main bunker as the center. Low bunker and bunker card, high bunker and turn-based building final gathering are in the main bunker, forming a fan-shaped group building centered on the main bunker. The main tower is usually backed by a cliff and faces the river. The surrounding towers are like stars arching the moon, which is very spectacular. In the war, these bunkers are just a defense system to defend against attacks. Microscopically, there are channels between villages, extending in all directions and covering several meters. There is a garrison around the corner, and dozens of soldiers can be hidden. There are ventilation holes, lighting holes, arrow eyes and defensive openings along the passage. In the village, there is also an underground passage between the bunkers, and there is an external passage at the top, forming a pattern that the air households are connected and the underground households are connected, "one party is in trouble and all parties support". At the same time, waterways are dug along the passages of various houses and villages. The waterway leads to every household, and there is a water intake at the door of each household, and the rest of the waterways are completely closed. This will not only protect the water quality, but also make it difficult for the invading enemy to obtain water. Watchtowers used in combat are generally very tall and strong, each floor is surrounded by shooting holes with large inside and small outside, and there are special places for storing food and ammunition. There are bunkers around the roof, places and facilities to release wolf smoke. Slates are embedded around the outside of the wall, so as to evacuate to the ground from a height and enter the underground passage in an emergency. From the improvement of the strategic defense system of the watchtower, it is not difficult to understand why the Qing army had to pay a high price to win the Jinchuan war in the face of a tiny place.

In the first Jinchuan War, with the deepening of the war, the Qing army led by Zhang Guangsi, then governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, was at a loss in front of the big Jinchuan war bunker. Realizing the difficulty of attacking the bunker, Zhang Guangsi told Emperor Qianlong: "When I entered the country and passed through various places, all I saw were mountains and steep. At the pass, there is a watchtower, like a small town. The highest place in the middle is like a floating figure, or eight or nine feet, or more than ten feet, or even fifteen or sixteen feet. There are small holes in the left and right sides to watch the gun. It is particularly dangerous to build a bunker, which is called a war bunker. This is true everywhere, but Jinchuan is particularly dangerous and has many watchtowers. The way to attack the bunker, or the tunnel, to blow up the mine; Or dig a hole in the wall to put a cannon; Or trapped around the waterway. All kinds of methods are easy to prevent, but they can be used once, not again. Last year, everyone knew about the attack on the halberd, preparing for the rebellion, or digging trenches outside the bunker, or accumulating water in the bunker, or protecting the bunker and building protective walls. The terrain is extremely dangerous and the defense is extremely thorough. There are guns in the camp, such as mother and son, which can only defend the enemy and cannot attack the bunker. According to Chen Jishan's system, more than 20 mountain guns were fired in nine sections, each weighing more than 300 tendons. The horse and mule couldn't carry it, so they hired a captain to carry it in order to attack the bunker. If they hit the waist and abdomen of the bunker wall, they still stand still, but if they hit the top of the bunker, they can smash a few stones or even break through. Although the thief was afraid, he made up for it. " In the case of Zhang Guangsi's repeated defeats, Emperor Qianlong decided to send Guo, a university student and minister of military aircraft, to Jinchuan to direct the war. I have put forward the strategy of attacking blockhouses with blockhouses. "I think thieves are based on bunkers because they are risky, so I can guard against the public less." Today, our soldiers are forcing thieves to build bunkers. They build bunkers according to the season, which is risky to them. It also shows that they are building houses and ploughing fields. "This policy was denied by emperor Qianlong. In order to attack the bunker, Emperor Qianlong decided to drill ladder soldiers, and transferred Manchuria and Sauron soldiers to replace the green camp soldiers, and asked Zhong Nanshan Taoist priests to hit the bunker with the Five Thunder Mantra and ordered the Zhang family to curse Buddhism. JiaHe Zhang, a Buddhist, and his assistant performed the ceremony of "* * * Most Horses" for several days. In the following years, Zhang Jia, a Buddhist, repeatedly lost his gallnut on the imperial edict, and had little leisure. ".These episodes reflect that the Qing Dynasty did everything it could for the sake of Kejinchuan.

Just as Fu Heng, a great scholar, said when analyzing the local situation in the last performance: "Although our army has many soldiers and guns within easy reach, it can reach the solid wall and be content with thieves. There are only a few thieves, but the guns are worth it. I only attack stones, thieves attack people. I have no cover, thieves hide, and dig more holes. If you are in a hurry, you can't go through. The battle tower stands tall, higher than the tower in Middle-earth, and it is cleverly built. It took less than a few days, and the rest was made up as needed. And strong inside, until death does not move. The bunker was broken and couldn't go. The artillery passed here and people got up. The guest and host have different forms and different schedules. It is difficult to capture the city by attacking the tower. " With its steep terrain and solid battle bunker, Jinchuan Tusi stuck to the danger and fought back many times. Therefore, Fu Heng proposed to change the attack strategy: "Don't go over the bunker to attack, bypass the front", and attack in multiple ways, avoiding the real and attacking the virtual, so that it lost its barrier and turned the battle around, but it did not achieve a decisive victory. Investigate its reason, just as Emperor Qianlong said in his letter to Fu Heng: "The thief relies on the geographical position and has no hope of success." In the 14th year of Qianlong (1749), the first Jinchuan War ended with Yue Zhongqi's successful surrender.

In the second Jinchuan War, fierce battles took place in the most densely populated places of watchtowers, such as Lewuwei and Galayi. Lewuwei is one of the main official villages of Da Jinchuan Tusi. It blocks the Jinchuan River in front of it, but there is a high ridge behind it. The terrain is dangerous and the walls are strong. There are battle towers around Guanzhai, with a total of 24 floors. There are many villages, and the defense is very strict. If we want to break through Wu Le, we must first clear the surrounding bunkers, and these bunkers are often "small stones with a deep ditch in the middle". Thieves shoot up in the ditch, and it is difficult for our soldiers to surpass them. ""and the elevator, its material from near-earth. It is not difficult to work together all day. No matter the artillery bombardment, it failed to destroy the solid in an instant, that is to say, fortunately, with the help of artillery, a bunker was broken and thieves used its residual base to retreat and rebuild. "In the end, the Qing army adopted the method of' first wearing a bundle of firewood, pushing sandbags by hand, entering the thin edge, laying bricks, and instantly forming a triple fence to attack thieves'. For the land of ditches and caves, those who dig ditches to resist thieves will be killed by shelling. "In order to break through the strong defense line of the size of Jinchuan toast, Emperor Qianlong sent the Jianrui ladder battalion he established after the first Jinchuan war to Jinchuan to participate in the war, in order to achieve miraculous results. At the same time, Fu, a westerner who is good at measurement technology, was sent to Jinchuan for field measurement, designed artillery, and made a more advanced artillery weapon at that time-cupola to help Jinchuan fight. " But the official village is tall and thick, but the artillery units are gradually destroying it, so we have to postpone the day a little. Cutting off the back road should be quick. Today, the land occupied by officers and men has been inserted between Lewuwei and Brick Well Building. The road of communication between them has been broken. But there is another way. Under the cliff, on the beach. When the officers and men want to cut off this road, there is a big bunker in front, and a group of stockades are connected to the left and right sides of the bunker. If we have to conquer this place, the rest of the villages will be easily swept away. "In order to break through Wu Le, the Qing army spent nine months, fought hard, and then advanced 20 miles. It can be seen that the watchtower's solid defense system brought difficulties to the Qing army's attack, and the Qing court changed its combat mode.

While taking military strikes, the Qing army carried out a policy of appeasement to the people of Liang Jinchuan who surrendered in the war. For people of all walks of life, big and small, who surrendered, although they have led many people to die in battle, it is difficult to distinguish the severity of their crimes. Moreover, there are too many people who surrender and beg for mercy, and they can't bear to kill them. They should be comforted separately. In view of the subtle relationship between Jinchuan and the surrounding toast, A Gui sent a message to Jinchuan toast, telling them that once Jinchuan toast fled to the toast territory for assistance, it was necessary to "immediately seize and send it" ... If they dared to hide, or let it escape to other places, then this general and others would take the infantry from various provinces and soldiers from Sanzhagu into their nests to suppress Bora and promote the victory of immersion. ..... where to escape, where to chase. The toaster repeatedly said, "I will send it to the general day and night, not to mention men, even women who escape." A Gui laid hands on all the chieftains in the Tibetan areas around Jinchuan to prevent external forces from secretly supporting Jinchuan, strengthen the clearing of the city walls and isolate the chieftain forces in Jinchuan. More importantly, he warned other toasts not to go against the wishes of the imperial court, otherwise the end of Jinchuan toast would be their future, leading to "thieves leaving the village, digging grass roots to eat, hungry and cold." In July of the 40th year of Qianlong (1775), the soldiers of the Qing army were divided into two roads, forming an encirclement from Hebei (Dajinchuan River) and Henan, and attacking Lewuweiguan Village from all sides. At first, the soldiers of the chieftain in Dajinchuan were still resisting, but when they saw the Qing army officers and soldiers pouring in from all directions, they fled in succession. The Qing army learned from the confessions of the surrendering masses that Jinchuan people "have starved to death by half, and only those who have fields in Dajinchuan still have some rations, which can't be eaten for one month, and even the food of the toast is not enough for two months." From this point of view, under the tactics of the Qing army's siege and clearing the field, the chieftain of Dajinchuan was at home and abroad, and his morale was lax and he was cornered. The Qing army thus won the second Jinchuan War.

The victory of the second Jinchuan War was mainly due to the fact that the Qing court absorbed the experience and lessons of the first Jinchuan War and adopted strategies and tactics different from the last one. Strategically, the Qing central government adopted the policy of giving equal attention to kindness and prestige, and implemented the policy of appeasement under the deterrent of force. On the one hand, we tried our best to appease the local people who shook the morale and disintegrated the troops; On the other hand, they used powerful force to suppress rebellious chiefs and chiefs. Tactically, Jinchuan natives who resisted the Qing army adopted the policy of strengthening the wall and clearing the field, which made their internal morale lax and lost their combat effectiveness because of lack of food, ammunition and weapons, that is, they consumed the power of Jinchuan Tusi from the inside. At the same time, a well-trained and skilled special force, Jianruiti Battalion, was sent to attack the watchtower, with artillery as the main weapon to give full play to its power. Under the cover of artillery bombardment, the specialty of Jianrui Ladder Battalion was brought into play and attacked Jinchuan Tusi. Under such tactics, although the Qing army spent a long time, consumed a lot of silver and paid some casualties, it finally broke through the high-risk tower and won the war.