Zhongshan ancient city site

Zhongshan ancient city site

Zhongshan ancient city site, located in Sanji Township, Pingshan County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, is the site of Lingshou City, the ancient capital of Zhongshan state, which was founded by Xianyu tribe of Baidi nationality in northern China

It covers an area of 46 square kilometers

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The site of Zhongshan ancient city is mainly composed of three parts: mausoleum, capital and military garrison

. More than 19000 cultural relics unearthed from the ancient city of Zhongshan

Bronze, pottery, musical instruments and jade ware were unearthed, as well as horse skeleton, lacquer, ornaments, military tent and weapons

More than 10000 pieces of exquisite bronzes, jades and other precious cultural relics were unearthed from the tomb of wangcuo in Zhongshan, and precious long bronze inscriptions and a national bronze plate of Zhaoyu map were obtained. It provides important and rich historical materials for the study of the political, economic, social and cultural development of Zhongshan state during the Warring States period

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On January 13, 1988, Zhongshan ancient city site was announced as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

. In 2017, Zhongshan ancient city site was listed in the third batch of national archaeological sites Park project list by the State Administration of cultural relics

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Historical evolution

In the Zhou Dynasty (8th-3rd century BC), Zhongshan state was established three times, and the ancient city site of Zhongshan was the capital twice. In the 13th year of King Zhao of Zhou (1040 BC), King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed the dukes and established the Zhongshan state by feudalizing a distant family with a Viscount surnamed Ji in Lingshou. The old city of Lingshou (the site of Zhongshan ancient city) was the capital. In the 22nd year of Wang Jiao of Zhou an (380 BC), Duke Huan of Western Zhou Dynasty (that is, Duke Huan of Zhongshan) expelled the rule of Wei state and established Zhongshan state for the third time. The old city (the site of Zhongshan ancient city) was the capital for the second time

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In the 12th year of King Zhou Weilie's reign (414 BC), the people of Zhongshan led by Wu Gong of Zhongshan migrated from Shaanxi to Sanji township (the site of Zhongshan ancient city) in Pingshan County, Hebei Province.

In 1935, when the ancient city site of Zhongshan was cultivated by villagers, a Heguang stone with characters was unearthed

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In 1973, farmers in Sanji Township collected soil near the ancient ruins of Zhongshan City

Iron, bronze and other cultural relics of various shapes were excavated.

In October 1974, the archaeological team of Zhongshan state was formed by the cultural relics administration of Hebei Province to carry out the investigation and excavation of the ancient city of Zhongshan

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From 1975 to 1979, archaeologists in Hebei Province excavated No. 1 and No. 6 tombs of the ancient city of Zhongshan, and unearthed more than 19000 cultural relics.

In 1977, a bronze frame with four dragons and four phoenixes and fifteen copper lamps were unearthed from the site of the ancient city of Zhongshan

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From 2013 to 2014, archaeologists in Hebei Province conducted a comprehensive investigation on the sites of zhangjiamiaotai and its surrounding area, which are about 3 million square meters, 1.9 million square meters of military garrison in Fangcheng, and 4 million square meters of handicraft workshops in Zhongshan ancient city

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Site features

architectural composition

The ruins of Zhongshan ancient city are rectangular, about 1400 meters long from north to South and 1300 meters wide from east to west. In the east of the city, there are canal, baijiangou and water transport wharf connecting Songyang River and jiantuo river. In the old city, there are bajiaojing, fish pond and other relics. There are five villages in the east of the North City, the east of the South City, the south of the east city, the south of the west city and the west of the city

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Wangling District, located in the west of Zhongshan ancient city site, has the tombs of Zhongshan king and Queen (empress AI). The surrounding area is the tombs of nobles and civilians, which preserve the original historical features. Dongbao city has three walls and zhaowangtai in the west, North and East. The sacrificial area is located on a mound at the intersection of Hutuo River and Nandian River in Lianghe township of Pingshan County

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The capital area (the main city area) is divided into the East and the West. The east area is roughly divided into the northern palace area and the southern handicraft workshop area and residential area. There is a "small Huangshan" in the west of the palace area, which can be used as a commanding point to watch the enemy situation and set off the beacon fire. It also confirms the name of "Zhongshan". The middle and South are handicraft areas. Located in today's Jiazhuang village, the battlements of Zhongshan's capital city (commonly known as bojizhang) are the dividing line between the East and the West.

The walls of the city are rammed according to the natural terrain. The walls in the West and North and the corners in the southeast and northeast are high in the north and low in the south. The above ground parts have disappeared, and the foundation of the underground rammed city is still in existence. From the perspective of rammed earth city foundation, the widest part of the west city wall is 40 meters, and the narrowest part of the partition wall is 25 meters. The rammed earth city wall is made of soil mixed with rice soup and rammed every 6 cm. The city wall is more than 10 meters high. There are five beacon towers on the straight line from zhaowangtai in the city to Pucheng in Zhengding new city.

Cultural relics

overview

Unearthed from the site of the ancient city of Zhongshan are four dragons and four phoenixes with gold and silver inlays, fifteen copper lamps, two winged beasts with gold and silver inlays, copper lamps with silver head figurines, copper screen sockets for tiger eating deer with gold and silver inlays, copper "mountain" shaped utensils, copper plates for zhaoyutu, and a large number of jade and pottery.

Four dragons and four phoenixes

The four dragons and four phoenixes of cuojinyin, or several square cases, unearthed from the ancient city of Zhongshan, are 36.2 cm in height, 47.5 cm in length and 18.65 kg in weight. They are composed of 78 parts. The whole case requires 24 times of casting, 48 times of welding, 138 clay molds and 13 clay cores. The modeling simulates the natural forms of the three animals, namely, the dragon, the Phoenix and the deer, and is organically combined with the actual functions of the case

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Fifteen copper lamps

Fifteen copper lamps, 82.9cm in height, unearthed from the ancient city of Zhongshan are assembled by the base and seven lamp brackets with mortise and tenon. The seven lamp brackets change from thick to thin from bottom to top, and the transition is uniform. The seven mortise and tenon are different, which makes the assembly fast and accurate. The fifteen lamps of the fifteen copper lamps are evenly distributed, and there is no overlap whether viewed from the side or from the top. At the seven mortise and tenon joints, the joints are even and smooth, and two 24 characters are engraved on the base

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Research value

Zhongshan is a local country in the Warring States period. The ruins of the ancient city of Zhongshan are of great significance to understand the Chinese civilization in the Warring States period, to study the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient Zhongshan, and to protect, continue and develop the historical context

. Zhongshan ancient city site is a rare and well preserved large-scale city site in China, which reflects the urban construction concept of the Warring States period. Zhongshan ancient city National Archaeological Site Park plays an important role in promoting the archaeological protection and development of Pingshan, Lingshou and the whole Shijiazhuang city

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protective measures

On January 13, 1988, Zhongshan ancient city site was announced as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 1992, the Zhongshan ancient city site management office was established, hundreds of meters away from the mausoleum area of Zhongshan ancient city site. The "protection area" and "construction control area" were set up, of which the area of the protection area is 21.42 million square meters, including the main city area, Lingshou East City area and sacrifice area. The construction control area is 37.09 million square meters

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In 2000, under the guidance of the State Administration of cultural relics, the people's Government of Pingshan County started to compile the protection plan for the ancient city site of Zhongshan state

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In 2012, the people's Government of Pingshan County started the preparation of the protection plan for the ancient city site of Zhongshan state, which was approved by the State Administration of cultural relics.

In 2013, the people's Government of Hebei Province announced the implementation of the "Zhongshan ancient city site protection plan"

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In July 2018, the Zhongshan ancient city site management office submitted the planning of Zhongshan ancient city National Archaeological Site Park to the State Administration of cultural relics, which was approved by the expert review meeting

. In the same year, Shijiazhuang Municipal People's government planned Zhongshan ancient city National Archaeological Site Park, with a planning area of 33.38 million square meters and a protection exhibition area of 11.18 million square meters. The construction content includes 10 sub items, including site museum construction, mausoleum area construction, city wall and moat, Ximen Que and ancient road, city road site area, Dongpu urban area, sacrifice area, Zhongshan Lake scenic area, and agricultural experience area order

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History and culture

Ancient Zhongshan state

Sima Qian recorded in historical records: "Duke Wu of Zhongshan lived in Gu, Duke Huan moved to Lingshou."

. Zhongshan Culture, Yan culture and Zhao culture are one of the three ancient cultures in Hebei Province

. In the Zhou Dynasty (8th-3rd century BC), Zhongshan state was established three times, and the ancient city site of Zhongshan was the capital twice.

In the 13th year of King Zhao of Zhou (1040 B.C.), King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed the dukes and feudal a distant family with a viscount in Lingshou. This is the "Viscount with Ji surname" Zhongshan state. The old city of Lingshou (the site of Zhongshan ancient city) was built as the capital. In 491 BC, the state of Zhongshan perished in the civil strife of Jin, and its neighbor Xianyu perished at the same time. In the first year of Wei (440 BC), King Kao of Zhou granted his younger brother Jie the title of Duke Huan of Western Zhou.

In the 12th year of King Zhou Weilie's Wu reign (414 BC), King Zhou Weilie enfeoffed the territory of the former Zhongshan state and Xianyu state and Wugong of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was named as Wugong of Zhongshan state. The state of Zhongshan was established twice, which was known as "Wugong was established at the beginning", and its capital was Gu (Dingzhou City, Hebei Province). In 406 BC, the state of Zhongshan was destroyed by the state of Wei and became a vassal state of Wei.

The 22nd year of Wang Jiao in Zhou'an

Chinese PinYin : Zhong Shan Gu Cheng Yi Zhi