Weishan Gongchen Tower

In the winter of 2015, a sudden electrical fire reduced a six-hundred-year-old wooden monument to ash in a single night. This was the Gongchen Tower, the northern gate of Weishan Old Town, originally raised in 1390 during the Ming Dynasty.

The story of this fortress began with Zuo Qingluo, a local Yi leader who aligned with the Ming court to secure his family's rule. He built this defensive bastion on a tapered brick-and-stone base standing 8.1 meters high. Between 1648 and 1650, builders modified the original three-story tower into a two-story, double-eaved structure. They rested the upper columns directly on the lower wooden beams, bypassing the main foundation to expand the upper floor. Supported by twenty-eight massive columns, the timber frame lacked ornate carvings or complex interlocking brackets, presenting a raw, muscular silhouette.

For centuries, the tower held the memories of those who passed beneath its arch. In 1771, co-magistrate Kang Xiang brushed the southern plaque, declaring the town sovereign over the six historical tribal states. Fourteen years later, Huang Dahuo carved the northern plaque, expressing devotion to the distant central empire.

Today, the scent of fresh pine blends with the ancient stone. Visitors standing on the high deck can hear the strings of Nanzhao ancient music, looking north toward the cold, white peaks of the Cangshan Mountains.