明代前中期九边地带的区域防御经历了一个曲折的演变过程。洪武时期地方防守的基本形式是省区及与此相关的行都司防御,防守重点是省区和呈团块状分布的军事战略要地。此外,朝廷委派公侯等将军驻防边地,导致了诸将管防区的出现和区域防卫的复杂化。永乐以后,以边境为主体构建边防,防御重心移至边境沿线,形成九边防御区。九边的形成经历了初级形态和典型形态两个阶段,虽然各边形成时间不一,但至正德年间已经全面建成,至此“九边”一词出现。正统以后,九边内部分防区日益发展,以镇为单位的大区域和镇内小区域相结合的防御形式,发展为九边区域防御的稳定形式。 The regional defense of the nine border areas in the middle and early Ming Dynasty underwent a tortuous evolution. The basic form of local defense during the Hongwu period was that the provinces and autonomous regions and their counterparts were defensive. The defense was focused on the provincial and cantonal strategic points of mass distribution. In addition, the appointment of generals and other generals by the court to guard the border areas led to the emergence of allied defense zones and the complexity of regional defense. After the Yongle, border construction as the main body of the border defense center of gravity moved to the border along the 9th border defense zone. The formation of nine edges underwent two stages of primary form and typical form. Although the formation time of each side was different, it was completed until the year of Zheng dynasty. At this point, the word “nine edges” appeared. After orthodoxy, the development of partial defense zones in Nine Bridges developed as a combination of large-scale town-based units and small-town inner-zone defenses and developed into a stable form of regional defense in the nine-nation border.