Old city of Cangzhou

Old city of Cangzhou

The old city of Cangzhou is located in the west of Dongguan village, Jiuzhou Town, Cangxian County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. It was built in the fifth year of emperor Gaodi of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC). It is the mother of Cangzhou City and the seat of Cangzhou government before moving to Changlu NEW City in the early Ming Dynasty

It was also an influential political, economic and cultural center in the past dynasties. It was once named lion city and woniu city

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In the old city of Cangzhou, there are ancient architectural sites such as Cangzhou Iron Lion, Cangzhou Iron coin storehouse, Shilei stone hall, MaoGong Ganquan well, Imperial Palace platform and city wall. Most of the tiles unearthed are tube tiles and plate tiles from the Tang and Song Dynasties (7th century-12th century). There are many kinds of pottery, mainly red pottery and gray pottery, which were originally the components of pottery pots and pots

. Cangzhou Iron Lion in the old city of Cangzhou is one of the biggest cast iron art treasures in early China, which is of great value to the study of Chinese iron smelting history, sculpture history and Buddhism history

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In May 2013, Cangzhou old city was announced as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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Historical evolution

In the fifth year of emperor Gaodi of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC), the old city of Cangzhou was built, and Fuyang county was established

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In 517, Cangzhou was established in the Northern Wei Dynasty

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In the Sui and Tang Dynasties (6th-9th century), Fuyang was renamed Qingchi, and it was stationed in Qingchi when the state was in power

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In the middle of Tang Zhenguan (627-649), the old city of Cangzhou was built.

From the Five Dynasties to the early Ming Dynasty (from the 10th century to the 14th century), the state governance was fixed as the old state

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In the early days of song Xining (1068-1077), the old city of Cangzhou was rebuilt.

In the early Ming Dynasty (the 14th century), it was moved to Changlu, and the old state administration was abolished. Later, it was renamed Jiuzhou town

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In the 1990s, 48 tons of iron coin stacks were excavated in the old city of Cangzhou

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In 2011, the Department of cultural relics of Cangzhou City has carried out a survey around tieqianduo, the old city of Cangzhou, and found two ancient architectural sites, as well as triads (the soil materials used in the ancient construction of important buildings such as government offices and city walls)

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In 2017, the old city of Cangzhou was carried out archaeological investigation and trial excavation. The exploration scope is more than 120 meters in the south, 600 meters in the West and 400 meters in the north of Cangzhou Iron Lion

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Site features

Cangzhou old city is one of the few intact ancient cities in North China. The measured perimeter of the city wall is 7345 meters, covering an area of about 5 million square meters. There are rich cultural layers in the city, and the city wall is incomplete. There are only a few broken walls on the West and South sides

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The Imperial Palace platform (emperor's platform) is located in the north central part of the old city of Cangzhou. There are three mounds in the shape of earth mounds. They are arranged in a zigzag pattern from east to west. The space between them has been reclaimed as arable land, with a distance of about 100 meters. Taiji is called huanggongtai or huangshangtai. Among them, Xitai is called Xigong, Dongtai is called Donggong, and Zhongtai is called Zhenggong. The three platforms are similar in general, especially in the East. The soil layer of the platform is mixed with many broken bricks, tiles and bones, which are formed by the accumulation of soil, bricks, tiles and ceramic pieces. The height of the three ancient platforms is about 5 meters, and the perimeter ranges from 64 meters to 112 meters. The upper part of the soil layer contains a large number of ancient bricks and tiles, ceramic pieces, etc., especially a large number of thick plant ash charcoal, which shows signs of burning damage; the lower part is a rammed earth layer several meters deep, and there is also a hard rammed earth layer within 6-11 meters around the platform

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Cultural relics

In the old city of Cangzhou, there are many ancient architectural sites, such as Cangzhou Iron Lion, Cangzhou Iron coin warehouse, Miyun Temple stele, Shilei stone hall, MaoGong Ganquan ancient well, Imperial Palace platform and city wall. Most of the tiles unearthed are tube tiles and plate tiles from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and "Guan" is unearthed in the north of the city In addition, the large-scale building components unearthed from taidongtaizi of the Imperial Palace, such as Qiaokou, thick and wide tubular tiles, plate tiles, and tiles with a wall, are also included There are many kinds of pottery pieces, mainly red pottery and gray pottery, which used to be the components of pottery pots and pots; the bricks are blue rope pattern bricks, large and heavy; in the rubble, there are several kinds of porcelain pieces from different kilns, mainly from the Tang and Song dynasties

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Cangzhou tieqianku is the site of Qianku at that time. It is 0.4-0.5 meters deep below the earth's surface and is full of tieqian. It covers an area of 25 meters from north to South and 16 meters from east to west, weighing about several tons

. There are a large number of scattered pieces of iron coins, as well as scattered remains of blue bricks, tiles and porcelain pieces, with rope patterns on the back of the blue bricks

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In 1997, a 48 ton iron coin stack was excavated in the old city of Cangzhou. The words "Chongning Tongbao" and "Zhenghe Tongbao" on the coins are clear and recognizable. In 2011, iron coin stacks were found in the old city of Cangzhou. They are dark brown iron blocks with a diameter of about 80 cm. They are rugged in appearance, with regular round and vertical stripes on the side. Strings of iron coins are regularly placed together. Due to oxidation and rust, they adhere to a stack. On the top of the stack, the shape of the outer circle and the inner square can be distinguished

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Research value

The history of the old city of Cangzhou has continued to the Ming Dynasty. There are many historic sites in the city, which has historical research value. Among them, Cangzhou Iron Lion in the old city of Cangzhou is one of the largest early cast iron art treasures in China, which is of great value to the study of Chinese iron smelting history, sculpture history and Buddhism history

. A large number of iron coins unearthed from Cangzhou Iron coin vault may prove that there was not only iron coin circulation in the north of Song Dynasty (the circulation of iron coins in Song Dynasty mostly occurred in the South with relatively good economy), but also the ability of casting iron coins, which is of cultural value to the study of the history of Chinese currency circulation

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protective measures

On July 23, 1982, the old city of Cangzhou was announced by the people's Government of Hebei Province as the second batch of provincial cultural relics protection units in Hebei Province

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In May 2013, Cangzhou old city was announced as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In December 2014, the people's Government of Hebei Province set up the scope of protection: Taking the outer line of the wall foundation as the baseline, extend 30 meters to the East Bank of the moat in the East, 110 meters to the South Bank of the old floating road in the south, 73 meters to the East wall of Cangxian cotton oil factory in the west, and 60 meters to the North Bank of the moat in the north.

In 2017, the design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University prepared the protection plan of Cangzhou old city

In the same year, the State Administration of cultural relics issued the site selection scheme for the protection scope of Cangzhou old city involved in the overhaul project of No.11 gathering and transportation trunk line of No.3 oil production plant of Dagang Oilfield (cultural relics guarantee [2017] no.1049). The Cangzhou Municipal Bureau of cultural relics guided local governments and engineering construction units to further optimize the construction scheme according to the approval requirements of the State Administration of cultural relics, and put forward the optimized project The construction plan shall be submitted to Hebei Provincial Bureau of cultural relics and implemented after being approved by Hebei Provincial Bureau of cultural relics

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History and culture

The origin of tieqianku

Statement 1: in ancient times, Cangzhou was one of the places where prisoners were distributed. Cangzhou tieqianku might be a foundry where prisoners were concentrated to make coins.

Argument 2: Cangzhou tieqianku may be a huge official tieqianku. In the first year of song Jianlong (960), after Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, he hoped to redeem the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, which were occupied by the Liao state in the north. Cangzhou is at the junction of the Liao and Song Dynasties, and is just used to deposit iron coins

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The rise and fall of Imperial Palace platform

It was recorded in Cangzhou county annals of the Republic of China: "in the old city (Cangzhou old city), there was a port named emperor's platform. After the rain, every little piece of gold appeared, but it was no more than money. So after the wind and rain, people often look for it. I've seen people who sell it: the length of the curved stem is 67 points, its bottom is like a bell or spoon, and it looks like a woman's Earring. It's very ancient.

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In the old days, no one in Cangzhou called it the emperor's capital. The "emperor" of the Imperial Palace platform refers to Chai Rong, the emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty. The Imperial Palace platform is the place where he stayed. According to pan Zhen's ten scenes of the old Cang, the lion in the middle of the city, Zhou Shizong stayed in Cangzhou city while sun lie's song of the iron lion, it is said that the iron lion in front of the palace is divided into two sexes. Li Zhiye vividly described its magnificence: "the towering Phoenix que, the Jade Dragon Tower, the eight doors and the flow of the fields." It is obvious that the king of Zhou and the emperor in their works all refer to Chai Rong, the emperor of Zhou Shizong, and the Royal Palace is what later generations call the Imperial Palace platform. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, Cangzhou was an important border town in history. Chai Rong, the leader of Zhou Shizong, led the northern expedition to Khitan and stayed in Cangzhou. Cangzhou, as the reserve base closest to the battlefield, built the palace for the emperor

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In 1398, when Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness, his great grandson Zhu Yun ascended the throne. Soon after he ascended the throne, he accepted the advice of his close ministers to cut his vassal, which angered his uncle Zhu Di, the king of Yan, who was holding a heavy army in Beijing. Under the banner of "Qing emperor's side", the king of Yan sent troops to the south in a large scale, which led to the "battle of Jingnan" in history. The two sides launched a fierce fight, Cangzhou deeply suffered. At first, the northern army was defeated, and then came back to defeat the southern army. In order to revenge the army and the people loyal to Nanjing, and to play a strategic deterrent, the king of Yan ordered a crazy massacre, and the Imperial Palace platform failed to survive, decadent in the war. Wang Yuan, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, once wrote that "there are more than ten decadent places, and the clouds are ancient Cangzhou."

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