The old city of Handan

The old city of Handan

The old city of Zhao Handan, also known as the old city site of Zhao Handan, is the ancient city site of Handan, the capital of Zhao state during the Warring States period. It is located in the urban area of Handan and its southwest suburb in Hebei Province. The total area is about 18.88 million square meters. The whole city is divided into Kuocheng and Gongcheng, with a distance of more than 60 meters.

It was also one of the most famous metropolises in the late Warring States period with a large population and prosperous commerce to the north of the Yellow River. According to the investigation, Kuocheng rose in the spring and Autumn period and was expanded in the Warring States period. It was the main part of the capital of Zhao.

The old city of Handan includes Zhaowang city and Dabei city. Zhaowang city is the site of zhaodu Palace City, which is divided into three cities: East, West and North. On the ground, there are rammed earth platforms such as Longtai, Nanbei Jiangtai and so on. On the ground, there is a wide area of rammed earth base site, which shows the basic appearance of urban architecture in the early feudal society of China. The ruins of workshops, ironmaking and pottery kilns were found in Dabei city.

From the 16th year of king an of Zhou Dynasty (386 BC) when Zhao Jinghou moved his capital from Jinyang to Handan, to the 19th year of emperor Zheng of Qin Dynasty (228 BC) when Zhao state was broken by Qin, Handan, as the capital of Zhao state, has gone through eight dynasties and lasted for 158 years. The Han Dynasty was the capital of Liu Ruyi, king of Zhao. After the Han Dynasty, it gradually declined.

archaeological excavation

In 1940, the Japanese carried out local investigation and excavation. From 1964 to 1965, the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics team and the zhaowangcheng cultural relics preservation Office of Handan City conducted a comprehensive investigation and drilling of the palace city. Since 1970, Kuocheng has been investigated and drilled, and at the same time, some excavation works have been carried out in cooperation with the industrial and agricultural construction projects. In 1961, the State Council of the people's Republic of China announced it as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Construction time

Handan's name first appeared in the spring and Autumn Annals of Guliang. Ji Ji, the younger brother of Wei Xian, fled to the state of Jin to "weave gorgeous Handan and never talk about Wei all his life". "Zuo Zhuan AI Gong Si Nian Zhuan" (491 BC) contains the record that "Zhao Yang surrounded Handan in September and Handan fell in October in winter".

Handan city belonged to Wei at the beginning, then to Jin, and finally to Zhao. Today's remains of the old city of Handan, is the capital of Zhao state after Zhao Jinghou calmed down the rebellion of the prince Dynasty. The story of Shouling youth of Wei state "walking in Handan, crawling back" in "autumn water of Zhuangzi" has been well known for more than 2000 years. It shows that Handan city was a very famous city in the Warring States period.

In 386 B.C., Zhao Jinghou moved his capital to Handan and built the royal city here. In 228 B.C., Zhao died in Qin Dynasty, which experienced a prosperous history of 158 years. The architectural layout of Zhaowang city laid a foundation for the symmetrical basic pattern of the capital architecture in the early feudal society of China, and had an important impact on the architectural style of the capital of later generations.

geographical position

The old city of Handan is located in the south of Hebei Province, with Taihang in the west, Huabei Plain in the East, and Xindu in the hilly area in the south of Jiuyi. Before the capital moved to Handan, it was a well-known city with a large population, developed handicraft industry and commerce, and was able to accommodate and attract guests from all walks of life. The new capital was changed to a hilly area in order to avoid flooding.

The city of King Zhao was built before and after Zhao moved his capital to Handan. According to records, in the first year (386 BC), marquis Zhao Jinghou moved his capital from Zhongmou to Handan, which lasted 158 years. It was occupied by the state of Qin in the eighth year (228 BC). In 209 BC, Zhang Han, the general of Qin Dynasty, attacked King Xie of Zhao Dynasty and ordered "Yi Qi Cheng Kuo". A generation of famous capitals were destroyed and gradually turned into ruins. This ancient city site, which has experienced more than 2000 years, is still magnificent. It is of great value for the study of the capital layout and architectural art in the early feudal society of China.

Architectural features

Main structure

The old city of Handan can be divided into two parts: Zhaowang city and Dabei city. Zhaowang city is a palace city, in the shape of pin, which is composed of three small cities: the east city, the west city and the north city. The plan of the west city is square, with a circumference of 5680 meters. The four walls are 3 to 8 meters high. The width of the wall base varies. Most of them are about 30 meters wide, and some of them are only 15-21 meters wide. The plan of the east city is not as neat as that of the west city. The north wall connects with the north wall of the West City in the same direction. The west wall is the east wall of the west city. The south wall moves more than 50 meters southward than the south wall of the west city. The east wall turns and the plane is slightly missing It is rectangular in angle, about 4736 meters in circumference, 926 meters in width from east to west, and 1442 meters in length from north to south. The south wall of the north city consists of the north wall of the east city and the east part of the north wall of the west city. The west wall is relatively straight, the north wall and the east wall turn more, so the plane of the north city is irregular, with a perimeter of about 5800 meters, the widest from east to west of about 1326 meters, and the longest from north to south of about 1557 meters.

Guocheng, the Great North City, is located in the northeast of the palace city. Its area is larger than that of Zhaowang city. Its plane is irregular rectangular, about 3200 meters wide from east to west, 4800 meters long from north to south, and more than 15400 meters in circumference.

architectural composition

The layout of the old city of Handan is quite special. The palace city and Guo City are completely separated, and the three small cities that make up the palace city are also independent of each other. The west city is the core of the palace city, and the east city and the north city are Guo City. This kind of layout form is unique to them. The palace buildings are concentrated in the west city. There are five rammed earth platforms in the city. The No.1 rammed earth platform is the largest, 296 meters long from north to south, 267 meters wide from east to west, and 17 meters high. There are No.2 and No.3 rammed earth abutments to the north of No.1 rammed earth abutment, and No.9 rammed earth abutment outside the city, forming a north-south axis. There is No.4 rammed earth abutment near the southeast of the west gate of the north wall. About 400 meters to the east of No.2 rammed earth abutment, there is No.5 rammed earth abutment, and there are underground rammed earth building sites in the west of No.1 and No.2 rammed earth abutment. There are also underground rammed earth building sites between No.2 and No.5 rammed earth abutments. There are also underground rammed earth building sites in the northeast of No.5 rammed earth abutments, near the southwest of the South Gate of the east wall and near the northeast of the east gate of the south wall.

The layout of Dongcheng consists of No.6 (beijiangtai) and No.7 (nanjiangtai) rammed earth foundations, which form the north-south axis. There are underground rammed earth building sites in the north and south of No.7 rammed earth foundation, and there are No.8 rammed earth foundation and its west underground rammed earth building sites in the southwest of No.7 rammed earth foundation. There is only No.10 rammed earth platform in the southwest of the North City, which faces the rammed earth platform outside the city from east to west. The building specifications are gradually reduced from the west city to the east city, and then to the north city.

In the northeast of Zhaowang City, there was Dabei City, which was a commercial and handicraft workshop area and a residential area at that time. The site of the city has been obliterated, and there are still many relics, such as chajianling, zhaomeichi, dressing house, arrow casting furnace and so on.

Building specifications

Longtai is the main building base of Zhaowang city and the largest rammed earth base in the Warring States period. At that time, it was a group of tall buildings surrounded by corridors, with overlapping eaves and towering clouds. In Zhao Du Fu, Liu Shao, a famous Chinese writer, described the grand occasion of Zhao Wang City: "Er Nai, the capital city, has ten thousand pheasants, hundreds of Li and Zhou Hui, nine roads crisscross, three doors open, many storied buildings and pavilions. The main hall is just like its heavenly structure, and the Zhu lattice is magnificent. The winding of Pan Qiu and the flying beam of Chengxiong rainbow. Jieyun Pavilion is in Nanyu, and Congtai is in Shaoyang. "

From this we can imagine the grand momentum of the city of King Zhao.

Dabeicheng is not connected with Gongcheng, it is an independent Guocheng. From the relics of daily utensils, pottery burning, iron smelting, copper casting, bone making and stone making handicraft workshops found in the city, dabeicheng was the center of handicraft workshops and commercial area at that time, as well as the residential area at that time. The palace city was completely separated from Guo City because of the safety of the palace.

No defensive facilities were found in the old city of Handan, but the layout itself had preventive considerations. The underground building base may also be set up to strengthen the defense of the city gate.

Miyagi

Zhaowang City, known as Zhaowang City, is composed of Xicheng, Dongcheng and Beicheng. Its plane looks like a pin shaped shape. It is located 4 kilometers southwest of Handan City, with an area of about 5.05 million square meters.

Xicheng is nearly square in plane, 1390 meters long on each side. The walls are 20-30 meters wide, 52 meters wide at the widest and 3-8 meters high. There are two gates on each side. There are 5 rammed earth platforms preserved on the ground in the city, among which the largest one is "Longtai" in the south of the central part, with a side length of 264-296m and a residual height of 16m. Longtai and No.2 and No.3 rammed earth platforms to the North constitute the North-South central axis, and there are many rammed foundation sites on both sides of the ground.

The east city is a little smaller, only separated from the west city by a wall. The plane is nearly rectangular, 926 meters wide from east to west, and 1442 meters long from north to south. The four walls are 20-40 meters wide and 2.8-6 meters high. There are 1 gate in the South and 2 gates in the north.

There are three rammed earth platforms in the west of the city, of which the scale of "nanjiangtai" and "beijiangtai" are relatively large. There are many underground rammed foundation sites nearby, forming the building complex on the North-South central axis of the east city. Beicheng is located in the north, the plane is not very regular, the widest part is 1410 meters from east to west, and the length is 1520 meters from north to south. Only the south section of the west wall is left on the ground. The width of the wall is about 30 meters, and the remnant height is 2-7 meters.

City wall construction

The construction of the city wall is to tamp the soil above the original soil before building the wall. The ramming pits are dense, about 4-6 cm in diameter. The ramming layer is 6-8 cm thick. The lower part of the outer side of the wall is about 11 degrees, and the inner side is stepped. Every 2 meters high, the lower part is about 1 meter, forming a layer of steps. The upper part is paved with tubes and tiles. Now there are only two layers in the lower part. Every 20 minutes on the inside of the wall

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Han Dan Gu Cheng