Yanxiadu site

Yanxiadu site

Yanxiadu site is the capital site of Yan state in the Warring States period. The city is rectangular, about 8 kilometers long from east to west and 4 kilometers wide from north to south. It is the largest capital of the Warring States period. There is a partition wall in the middle of the city, which divides the city into East and West. The east city is divided into five parts: palace area, handicraft workshop area, residential area, tomb area and ancient river area. Xicheng is a defensive city with few remains. In addition to the bronze, iron, pottery, stone and other production and living utensils unearthed in the city site, many building components such as water pipes, tube tiles, plate tiles and so on were also found.

Since October 1, 2018, the ticket price will be cancelled and the tour will be free

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Site distribution

In Hebei Province Yi county territory. Yanxiadu site is the largest known capital of the Warring States period. It was built in the late Warring States period (311 BC). Distributed in the plain, the two rivers become natural barriers.

Yanxiadu ancient city is rectangular, about 8 kilometers long from east to west, 4-6 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of about 40 square kilometers. In the middle, there is an ancient river road running through the north and south, which is said to be Yunliang river. On the East Bank of the river, there is a wall parallel to the river, which divides yanxiadu into East and West cities. The plane of the east city is similar to the square city. In the north of the middle, there is an east-west partition wall, which divides the east city into North and south parts.

The east city and the west city are made up of a thick wall and a hand dug earth transporting wall. The wall base is about 40 meters wide and 18 kilometers long. There is a partition wall between the East and the West in the north of the central part, which divides the palace city into two parts. The wall base is about 20 meters wide and 4460 meters long. The west city is Guocheng, which is composed of three walls in the north, the West and the south, and Yunliang river. The west wall is straight, and the north wall has a bend. It turns several times in the west, the north and the east of Xidou village, forming a compound Dou shape. The south wall turns from the west of Yanzi village to the south, and then goes eastward to the west entrance of longwantou village, connecting with the West Bank of Yunliang river. The base width of the wall is 40 meters. The three walls are 14 kilometers long.

Architectural features

The Dongcheng culture remains of yanxiadu site are very rich. It is the center of Yan people's activities at that time. It is divided into palace area, handicraft workshop area, residential area and burial area. The palace area is located in the northeast of the city site and consists of three groups of buildings. Wuyangtai, a large main building, is located in the center of the palace area. It is 140 meters long from the east to the West and 110 meters wide from the north to the south. Among the rammed earth building sites of yanxiadu, it has the largest scale.

This architectural form was still very popular until the Han Dynasty. On the ground level, we use rammed earth technology to build high platforms with different heights and volumes, and then build palaces on the high platforms, which are high and low, majestic and spectacular. This kind of architectural style appeared many times in the bronze decoration of the Warring States period. The rammed earth platform in yanxiadu is large and numerous. There are more than 50 proven high platforms inside and outside the city. Among them, the tallest "Wuyang platform" is 110 × 140 meters in width and depth, and the residual height is 11 meters, "laomu platform" is 90 × 110 meters in width and depth, and the residual height is 12 meters. A small one, such as the "observation platform", is 26 × 40 meters wide and deep. It can be imagined that at the beginning, yanxiadu was magnificent and the palace buildings were luxurious and ostentatious.

To the north of wuyangtai, wangwangtai, zhanggongtai and laomutai are located on a central axis. Taking the high rammed earth platform as the base of the main building is one of the most obvious characteristics of urban architecture in the middle of the Warring States period. In the northeast, Southeast and southwest of wuyangtai, there are three groups of large palace buildings. The handicraft workshop area surrounds the palace area, and the tomb area is located in the northwest of Dongcheng. In order to strengthen the security of Dongcheng District, the defensive attached City was set up in Xicheng District, and there were few remains in the city site.

There are many weapons, cast iron, jade making and pottery burning sites around wuyangtai, indicating the prosperity of Yandu economy and culture at that time. Around the city, there is a high rammed earth wall with a total length of more than 40 kilometers. The west wall of Xicheng is well preserved, with a height of 3717 meters, about 6 meters higher than the highest place on the ground.

Site protection

In 1961, it was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of China. In March 2001, it was rated as one of the "100 great archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century". In the same year, the State Administration of cultural relics of China listed it in 100 major sites protection projects.

unearthed relic

Yanxiadu is rich in cultural relics. Since the early years of the Republic of China, more than 100000 cultural relics have been unearthed. The four utensils of the Marquis of the Qi Dynasty, the Bronze Dragon and other precious cultural relics have caused a sensation in the world. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the bronze man of the Warring States period and the head ring of the big copper shop unearthed were regarded as national treasures by experts. These cultural relics, with their high historical, scientific and artistic values, have filled many historical gaps. The cluster tombs in the south of the city are the only cluster tombs of human heads in China. There are 14 head pits side by side. Each pit has more than 2000 heads, stacked up and down.

From 1964 to 1978, more than 3800 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed in the Dongcheng tomb area, many of which are very delicate and precious. The bronze Li Feng Pan Long Pu shou (an ornament on the palace gate) unearthed in laomutai East is 74.5 cm high and weighs 22 kg. It is engraved with dragon, Phoenix, snake and other animal patterns, which is rare in archaeological relics. From this, we can infer the grand scale of the palace. In 1965, a cluster burial pit was excavated near wuyangtai, in which 1480 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed, most of which were iron weapons, such as swords, spears, halberds, helmets and pieces of iron armor. Through the analysis of 9 weapons of 7 kinds, including sword, spear and halberd, 6 of them are pure iron or steel products, and 3 of them are pig iron products with or without softening treatment. This shows that in the late Warring States period, China was able to manufacture high carbon steel and understand the quenching technology. The discovery of the quenched steel sword in yanxiadu is two centuries earlier than the time of "quenching its front with clear fire" recorded in the book of Han Dynasty.

historical background

Yanxia capital was built in the 4th century BC, about the middle of the Warring States period. It was built by Yanzhao king and has a history of more than 2000 years. According to the records of Yan Family in historical records, after King Wu of Zhou conquered Zhou of Shang Dynasty, he granted Zhaogong to Yan, located in Beijing, central and northern Hebei. The capital of the state of Yan is located in "Ji", which is called Shangdu, in the area of Beijing. In the Warring States period, the northern state of Yan became strong and powerful, competing to dominate the Central Plains, known as one of the seven heroes. In order to cope with the southern countries, the state of Yan established an important military town in Yi County, Hebei Province, known as "Xiadu". It is between Beiyishui and Zhongyishui. It is close to Taihang Mountain in the west, Yishui in the South and Hebei Plain in the East.

tourist resources

Yanxiadu is surrounded by Jingke tower, Zhenling tower, Warring States film and television city and other tourist attractions related to the Warring States culture, forming a special tourism area of Warring States culture, which has become a yearning place for cultural relics and Archaeology tourists at home and abroad. Yanxiadu cultural relics preservation office has a cultural relics exhibition room, equipped with sand table and text introduction, which is convenient for sightseeing.

Address: yanxiadu site, Yi County, Hebei Province

Longitude: 115.52489320469

Latitude: 39.300597659182

Tel: 0312-8283318

Chinese PinYin : Yan Xia Dou Yi Zhi