Xixia site in Weicheng, Shanxi Province

Xixia site in Weicheng, Shanxi Province

In the Xixia period, 17 Military supervision departments were set up to guard the national security. Among them, the geographical location of the military department in Beidi is verified by experts, that is, the Xixia site in Weicheng city. He was responsible for the security of the northern part of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Ningxia. In the early stage, he defended Qidan, and in the later stage, he mainly defended Jin and Mongolia.

Located in Miaotai Township, Huinong District, Shizuishan City, Ningxia Province, the site of shengweicheng is a little square. The wall is rammed with loess. The height of the remnant wall is 2-4 meters and the width of the foundation is 13 meters. The north wall is 588 meters long, the south wall is 587 meters long, the east wall is 593 meters long and the west wall is 590 meters long. At present, it is found that there is a gate on the southern wall, which has only one gateway, about 4 meters wide and 13 meters long. A layer of irregular long stones is laid on both sides of the door opening as the foundation, on which there are four round stone column foundations. There is a stone threshold in the doorway, which is made of regular stones, 0.3 meters above the ground. There is a stone door pillow on both sides of the stone threshold. There is a groove on it, which looks like the place where the door frame is installed. There is a semicircular hole on the north side of the groove, which is the axle hole of the door pivot.

On August 23, 2016, the news report "eight people robbed more than 10000 coins from the ruins of Xixia ancient city, and the principal was sentenced to 10 years", once again attracted people's attention.

scale

There is a gate on the wall, which has only one gateway. It is 13 meters long and about 4 meters thick. There is a layer of long stones on both sides of the door opening, on which there are four round stone pillar bases. There is a stone threshold in the doorway, which is 0.3 meters above the ground. There is a stone gate pillow on both sides of the stone threshold, and there is a groove for installing the door frame on it

. The highest part of the site is a beacon Tainan, more than 4 meters high.

According to the literature, there was a big earthquake here, and the whole city fell into the ground. Only a young and old people were able to draw water outside, so they survived. With the baptism of wind, frost, rain and dew, the city walls became short and intermittent. The east wall has been completely changed, flattened, houses and courtyards have been built, and the north and south walls are well preserved. People use local materials to transform several sections of the city wall into brick kilns! Although the brick kilns have been abandoned, the red bricks have been exchanged for the scars that can't be erased everywhere in the provincial Wei city The city wall is now full of holes and dilapidated. There are traces of ditches in the city. It can be seen that the site was once developed into farmland.

In 1965, Ningxia Museum excavated coins, ancient pottery, porcelain and ironware of Tang, song and Xixia dynasties, which has been listed as the key cultural relics protection unit of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In May 2013, it was recognized by the State Administration of cultural relics and announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit. What's more, a porcelain bald head was unearthed here. Because Li Yuanhao ordered baldness as early as 1033, this one is even more precious. Archaeologists also found that except for a small amount of bricks, tiles and other building materials found in the South Gate site, no bricks and tiles were found in the site, indicating that most of the residents' houses in the city were earth houses.

Sunset, high sky, clouds flow, ethereal, confusing. In the city, there is a vast expanse, with many towers, just like stars. Looking to the west, the Helan mountain stands tall and towering. In the setting sun, the ancient city is still desolate and heavy, and the silence adds a bit of mystery to the ancient city.

Rise and fall of provincial Wei City

Shengwei city was built in 1024 ad. According to Xixia Shushi: "in June 1227 (the third year of Baoqing of song LiZong)," The earthquake, how bad the palace, Wang Cheng cry at night... " Since the earthquake "how bad the palace is," it can be said that it has an impact on Shengwei city. According to the records of the five elements in the history of the Ming Dynasty: "from February 16 to March 8, 1627 (from the first day of the first month to the second day of the second month of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign of emperor Fu Zong of the Ming Dynasty), all the Wei, Ying, Tun and Bao in Ningxia were destroyed from Jisi in the first month to February The earthquake, which lasted for nearly a month, has caused "city walls, side walls, piers and abutments to collapse". It should be said that it has caused great damage to Shengwei city. According to Ningxia Fu Zhi: "January 30, 1739 (November 24, Qianlong fourth year of Qing Dynasty) The earthquake in Ningxia, from north to south, caused the earth to leap like a spring. All the earth was buried. The two counties of Pingluo, beixinqu and Baofeng, were broken. The walls, dams and houses of the three counties collapsed, killing more than 50000 men and women of the government and the people. "According to relevant data, the magnitude 8 earthquake is extremely harmful, causing two" dislocations "in the hillside section of the great wall of hongguozi. To be sure, the damage to Shengwei city is also great. The history of Shengwei city is vicissitudes, but it is also brilliant. It covers the great achievements of Li Yuanhao, but it also leaves us a historical lesson of the rise and fall of royal power.

structure

Located in Shengwei village, Miaotai Township, Huinong District, Shizuishan City, Shengwei city is a three-level key cultural relic protection unit in China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Shizuishan city. The city is square with a construction area of 360000 square meters. There is an urn in the south gate, surrounded by a moat, 6 meters wide and about 1 meter deep. The east wall of the city was built into a residential area by local farmers. The west wall and the north wall are relatively complete. The base width of the decadent wall is 13 meters, the highest is 4.7 meters, and the lowest is 1 meter. The wall is made of rammed loess, with rammed layers ranging from 20 cm to 30 cm. According to the present ruins of the wall, there are only two gates in the East and south, and no gate in the West and North. In the northwest corner of the city, which is 300 meters away from the west wall and 200 meters away from the north wall, there is a place with an area of about 1000 square meters. There are a lot of green bricks, debris and pottery. According to the laws and decrees of the Western Xia Dynasty, there are two possibilities for the common people to live in earthen houses and the officials to live in brick and tile houses. One is the location of the government or the officials' houses, and the other is the location of the temple.

Scenery

The site of Shengwei city is a grand ancient city site, where there is a wide urban area, flat ground and tall city wall. The highest part of the city wall is about 6 meters, and it is basically continuous. After thousands of years of trials and hardships, it is not easy for the ceremony to have such a look.

archaeological work

The military value and architectural art value of Shengwei city is a very important material for studying the special history and culture of Xixia.

Shengwei city is the only Xixia city in the autonomous region. Two tests were carried out in 1965 and 1966. More than 330 square meters of trench were excavated in these two trial excavation works, and the south gate was cleaned up. A large amount of charcoal and burnt blocks were found in the fill of a Shimen road. It was found that among the dispatches in the fill, 57 coins were found, including Tongbao of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty and Tongbao of Yuanfeng in Song Dynasty.

In addition to coins, there were also pots, bottles, dishes and bowls. These porcelains were all fired in Xixia. There is a very precious portrait of human head, which is bald. Except for brown glaze on the head, white glaze is applied on the face. Because in March of the second year of Tao (1033) of the song and Ming Dynasties, Yuan Hao issued the order "bald today" to the people of Dangxiang tribe After Yuan Hao thought that his ancestor was Tuoba of Xianbei, Xianbei people had the custom of baldness. In order to remember his ancestors and keep the old custom, he took the lead in balding his hair, that is, shaving his head and wearing earrings. The unearthed cultural relic also has a bronze hollow decoration plate, which is in the shape of Asian. It has a grain on the front and a button on the back. It is 6 cm long. The cultural relic was considered to be a plaque or token at that time. But now some scholars think it is a symbol of Nestorianism. Ning Lingge, the son of TouKong, believes in Taoism. The attribution of TouKong decoration is under study. Also unearthed are crossbows, machine teeth, iron axes, knives, nails and other cultural relics.

Suspense of geographical location

In the long course of history, different answers have appeared to the geographical location of Shengwei city.

There are few historical records about the city of Shengwei. According to the records of Ming Dynasty and Shuo local chronicles, "the city of Shengwei was abandoned in Hedong, but its origin is not known. "What needs to be explained here is that most of the local records are recorded as" provincial Wei City, waste city in Hedong ". Today, it seems that the provincial Wei city is in the west of the Yellow River, but not in the east of the Yellow River. What has changed its geographical location? The geographical location of Shengwei city and the diversion of the Yellow River are the historical changes of "thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi". It contains vicissitudes, solemn and stirring, but also rich and colorful. According to Cihai, "the Yellow River has changed its course 26 times in history." Up to now, the Yellow River Section entering Ningxia has been changing its course without exception. For example, in 2003, the Taole section was heavily scoured by the river, and thousands of people took part in flood control and bank protection. This is not only the objective process of the earth's biological clock, but also the comprehensive reflection of phenology, gas image, geology and geographical movement. According to Shizuishan cultural relic records, it is clearly indicated on the landscape map (Xixia) on page 36-37 of Volume 6 of the atlas of Chinese Historical Geography (published by China map literature society, 1974 Edition) of song, Liao and Jin dynasties that the location of Shengwei city is in the east of the old Yellow River and the west of the Yellow River. This section of the Yellow River diversion time, when in the Ming Dynasty Jiajing 19 years (1540 years) to Wanli 10 years (1582 years). If the course of the Yellow River had been changed before the year 1540, the new Annals of Jiajing Ningxia compiled in that year would not have written "Shengwei City, Hedong abandoned city" on Volume 1 of the annals, and marked the location of Shengwei city in Hedong on the map at the beginning of the annals. In the second article of the book 7 of Atlas of Chinese history, it is said that the administrative region of 1852 (the 10th year of Wanli) is basically the region of the thirteen ministers of the two capitals. At that time, Ningxia belonged to the Ningxia town of the chief minister of Shaanxi Province. On the landscape map of Shaanxi from page 54 to 55 of the atlas

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