City of Plum Blossom: how a stone fortress in China survived 500 years of war with Japanese invaders

Decisions made when building the Meihua Fortress on China’s east coast helped protect its people, scientists have found

The historical city in the province of Fujian has survived invasions, typhoons and the threat of floods over five centuries

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A Ming dynasty map of Meihua Fortress, which scientists have been studying to see how it has survived for so many centuries. Photo: Fuzhou University

Published: 3:31pm, 9 May 2024

Lessons from the past may help build “resilient” cities of the future, according to a team of scientists who have been studying a fortified stronghold on China’s east coast.

Meihua cheng – or Plum Blossom City – has seen repeated Japanese invasions and extreme weather, including typhoons, for more than 500 years but it is still holding strong.

In one strike in May 1558, the fortress in Fujian province was attacked by seven bands of Japanese pirates in a fleet of more than 100 ships, including main battleships and small fishing boats.

According to local legend, the pirates, bare-chested and painted with totems, brandishing curved swords and scaling the walls of Meihua with ladders. The men of the fortress lit beacons, signalling the alarm while repelling the attackers with swords, bows and arrows, and stones.

Meanwhile the women of the fortress, hoisted pots to the top of the walls, filled them with water, then built makeshift stoves from stones to heat the water. As the enemy scaled the walls, they doused them with the scalding water, sending the pirates howling and tumbling off the ladders. Some even added pig feed to the water to make the boiling liquid even stickier and more damaging.

While official Chinese records often skim over such details, the stories told from person to person are prone to exaggeration. So to find out how the Meihua Fortress has held strong for five centuries, scientists took a deep dive into its layout and construction. They discovered that the designs at the fortress’ key points not only lent credence to the folktales, but also conformed to the optimal results calculated by computers.

City of Plum Blossom: how a stone fortress in China survived 500 years of war with Japanese invaders

Decisions made when building the Meihua Fortress on China’s east coast helped protect its people, scientists have found The historical city in the province of Fujian has survived invasions, typhoons and the threat of floods over five centuries

Decisions made when building the Meihua Fortress on China’s east coast helped protect its people, scientists have found

The historical city in the province of Fujian has survived invasions, typhoons and the threat of floods over five centuries