中文摘要：

长城防御仅靠长城墙体及其上的墩台,并不能阻挡住北方游牧民族的铁骑,其强大的防御能力有赖于长城沿线驻扎的上千个屯兵城,即军事聚落,这些军事聚落分布在八千多公里的明长城沿线,是长城防御体系的重要组成部分。卫所制度下军事聚落分为镇城、路城、卫城、所城和堡城五个层次,各层次军事聚落又具有相应的建筑特点。

英文摘要：

The defense system of the Great Wall includes more than the walls and abutments,which alone fails to stop the invasion of the northern nomadic cavalry.The strong defense also depends on the troop-stationed cities,known as military settlements along the way.These military settlements,distributed along the 8,000-kilometer Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty,constitute an important part of the defense system.Under the Wei-suo System,military settlements have five levels,namely,town,road,Wei,Suo, and fort.Military settlements at different levels have their own architectural characteristics.