wōpù 窩鋪

Note

Literally, wo 窩 refers to a recessed shelter or safe hiding place and pu 鋪 can refer to a bed, and perhaps by extension, an inn or station, such as a postal station (Hanyu dacidian; Kroll). In the Tang dynasty pu 鋪 was associated with military security, meaning “a place for guards” (Dong 2002). As a compound term, wopu usually refers to a simple military facility where soldiers could reside and store equipment (Guo and Wang 1602, 39.23b; Zhu and Geng 1522-1566, 1.26a). Wopu were mostly built on city walls, but also on river banks, campsites, and other areas where temporary quarters were needed (Liu 1576, 6.50b; Xu 1522-1566, 2.5a; Mao 1621, 94.19b).

The earliest source we have found with the compound term wopu is from the Yuan dynasty, where it was used in a military context to refer to the soldiers’ residences (Anonymous 1271-1368, 4a-b). During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the use of wopu in military contexts can be roughly classified into three categories:(1) war defense, mostly on the city walls (Duncan 1522-1607, 12.53a); (2) disaster relief, often on the riverbank (Chen 1736-1796, 4.14b); and (3) security and surveillance, built near the gate of the training ground (jiaochang 教场) (Li 1831, 19.19a), in city streets, and elsewhere (Li and Dai 1772, 6.38b). Among them, the most common were those associated with war defense on the city walls. This type of wopu could also be called jingpu 警鋪 (Qian and Zhang 1627-1644, 2.1b-2a) and qiafang 卡房 (Zhang and Dong 1796-1820, 10.2a), or they could be called pu 鋪 for short (Chen 1736-1796, 5.1b). According to literary records and old photos of kafang on the Xi’an city wall (Shanxi Xi’an, built in 1774, now rebuilt, Figure 1, Figure 2) wopu were generally built at regular intervals (Li 1368, 30a) and erected atop the mamian 馬面 (Mao 1621, 110.18b) inside the embrasure wall (duokouqiang 垛口墙) (Zhao and li 1831, 11.1a). Most wopu were single-story brick-wood structures (Shi 1573-1620, 32b), and their main part is called pufang 鋪房. Ancillary facilities related to life and defense could be set around the pufang (Ji and Lu 1899, 92.11a). As well as being used in military contexts, the term wopu could also refer to a simple temporary house. (Wu 1592, 6.6b; Du and Ying 1855, 27.4b).2

從字義上看，“窩”指人的安身處(漢語大詞典, 電子版)。“鋪”本有臥具之意，與軍事治安關聯，並指“衛士警戒之所”，則最早可追溯到唐代（董 2002）。

窩鋪作為建築術語，通常指供士兵宿歇(郭和王1602，39.23b)和儲備（朱和耿 1522-1566，1.26a）的簡易軍事設施，多建造在城墻上(劉1576，6.50b)，也見於河堤（徐1522-1566，2.5a)、野營地（茅1621，94.19b）等需要臨時駐扎的區域。

“窩鋪”一詞最早出現於元代，用於軍事語境，指士兵居所（佚名1271-1368，4a-b)。明清文獻中，窩鋪在軍事上的使用場景大致可分為三類：（1）戰爭防禦, 以城墻上的居多（鄧 1522-1607，12.53a)；（2）搶險救災, 常見於河邊(陳1736-1796，4.14b)；（3）安保警戒，可見於教場大門（李1831，19.19a)、城市街巷（李和戴 1772，6.38b）等處。其中，城墻上與戰爭防禦相關的窩鋪出現頻次最高，最具代表性，這類窩鋪又有“警鋪”（錢和張 1627-1644，2.1b-2a)、“卡房”（張和董 1796-1820，10.2a）等其他稱呼，或可簡稱“鋪”（陳 1736-1796，5.1b)。根據文獻記載和西安城墻卡房舊照（陝西西安，建於1774年，現已改建），城墻上的窩鋪間隔一段距離設置一座(李 1368，30a)，一般建於馬面上(茅 1621，110.18b)，垛口墻以內（趙和李1831，11.1a）。窩鋪多為單層磚木結構(石 1573-1620，32b)。主體是供士兵居住和存備軍器的房間，可稱作“鋪房”，鋪房周圍可設置生活防禦相關的附屬設施（嵇和陸 1899，92.11a)。除了應用於軍事場景，“窩鋪”一詞也少量出現在日常生活中，指代簡易、臨時的小型房屋（吳1592，6.6b；杜和英1855，27.4b)。1