Liaozhongjing site

Liaozhongjing site

Located in Tianyi town and Daming town of Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, liaozhongjing site was built in Liao Dynasty. It was one of the five capitals of Liao Dynasty. It was the capital of Liao Dynasty in its heyday and the political, economic and cultural center of Liao Dynasty

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Liaozhongjing site is more than 15 kilometers in circumference. The site consists of three parts: outer city, inner city and imperial city. There are three brick towers in the site, namely big tower (Daming tower), small tower (Jin Dynasty tower) and half tower (Lotus tower). The original name of Daming tower should be Daning tower

. Most of the surface remains of Liaozhong capital site are Liao Dynasty buildings, which basically preserve the original appearance of the buildings in Liaozhong capital city. It is one of the important sites for the study of Qidan national history

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On March 4, 1961, liaozhongjing site was announced as the first 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

Liaozhongjing (liaozhongjing site) is one of the five capitals of Liao Dynasty. It was built in the 25th year of Xutong and 25th year (1007), the sixth emperor of Liao Dynasty

It took about 5-6 years to take shape. To the early years of Xingzong, and after nearly 20 years of building expansion

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After the death of Liao Dynasty, the central capital was rebuilt in Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties. In Jin Dynasty, it was renamed as "Dading mansion of Beijing Road", and in Yuan Dynasty, it was renamed as "Daning road". In the early Ming Dynasty, Daning Wei was set up here, and in the first year of Yongle (1403), the Wei Suo was abolished, and it was reduced to ruins

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From 1959 to 1960, the cultural relics team of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and other units carried out an investigation and archaeological excavation on the site of liaozhongjing

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Site features

Scale layout

The liaozhongjing site is more than 15 kilometers in circumference, which is composed of three parts: outer city, inner city and imperial city. The outer city is 4200 meters long from east to west and 3500 meters wide from north to south. The remaining height is generally between 4 meters and 6 meters. The base width is 11 meters to 15 meters. The rammed earth layer is 10 cm to 15 cm thick. There are traces of sculls on the west wall every 90 meters. At the middle end of the south wall, there are two rammed earth heaps up to 6 meters high, which are square. The south gate is zhuxiamen. To the north of zhuxiamen, there is a 1400 meter long central trunk road with a width of more than 60 meters There are three north-south streets parallel to the central trunk road on both sides, and five East-West streets with widths of 8m, 12m and 15m respectively. There are also buildings such as Shifang, langshe, Guanguan, temple and xianguan, which are well arranged and orderly. The inner city, within the scope of the outer city, is located in the north of the center, forming a "Huicheng" ”It is 2000 meters long from east to west and 1500 meters wide from north to south The south wall and the north wall are well preserved, with a remnant height of about 5 meters and a base width of about 13 meters. There are rowsculls on the wall. The distance between rowsculls on the south wall is nearly 100 meters, and there are two tall earth mounds at the middle end, more than 20 meters apart, with a remnant height of 6 meters. This is Yangde gate, the South Gate of the inner city. The imperial city is located in the north of the inner city, square and long The width of each wall is about 1000 meters. Most of the city walls have been destroyed, and only the remains of the west wall can be seen It seems that there is a gate site in the middle of the south wall. In the southeast and southwest corners of the Imperial City, there are two rammed earth mounds, which are the East and West turrets recorded by Lu Zhen. In the north, there is a central road leading to the palace. At 180 meters on both sides of the gate, there are East and West Yemen. Each Avenue is connected with the palace. From the East Yemen to the Wugong hall, from the West Yemen to the West Yemen The two halls are the residence of emperor Shengzong and his mother empress dowager Xiao in the Liao Dynasty. There are also avenues between the two halls

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Three brick towers

There are three brick pagodas in liaozhongjing site, namely big pagoda (Daming pagoda), small pagoda (Jin Dynasty pagoda) and half pagoda (Lotus pagoda). The tower, also known as the Daming tower, was built in the Liao Dynasty. It is a typical representative work of the Liao tower. In the southeast of the inner city Yangde gate, the tower base is built on a rectangular platform about 5 meters high. The tower is 82 meters high, 35.6 meters in diameter and 112 meters in circumference,

It is an octagonal 13 storey solid brick tower with dense eaves. The tower base is in Xumi shape, and the upper part is embossed with a lotus. The height of the tower is 17 meters, and the width of each side is 14 meters. The middle part of each side is built with three characters. It should be repaired and built in the Qing Dynasty. The eight sides of the tower have distinctive Bodhisattva reliefs. The reliefs are rich in content, fine in carving, and easy to make The shape of the pagoda is beautiful. The corner of each side is carved with thin and high tower shaped corner columns. The bottom of the pagoda is supported by a lotus, and the top of the pagoda is a pearl. The corner columns have scarlet characters. The small pagoda is located in the inner city Yangde gate is located in the southwest of Yangde gate. It is a 24 meter high Pagoda with octagonal eaves. A lion is carved in the middle of each side. At the corner, there is a strongman carrying a lotus. There is a Buddhist niche on the East, West, South and north sides of the pagoda. There are two escorts on the other four sides. They stand on the top of the lotus. The corner of the pagoda is cylindrical. The eaves are 13 stories. The pagoda is made of small pagodas. The pagoda is made of Baozhu brick The half tower, also known as the lotus tower, is located in the southwest outside the outer city. Only the part below the first floor of the tower remains, with a residual height of about 6 meters

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Cultural relics

In addition to the rich architectural relics on the surface of the site, there are various building materials, such as plate tiles, tube tiles, dripping water, bricks and so on, as well as the brick decorations on the roof and inside, and the burnt rice grains in the granary of the Liao Dynasty. Others, such as inscriptions, stone carvings, bronze seals and bronze mirrors of the Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties, as well as statues of Buddhas carved in stone and clay, white porcelain pieces of Ding kiln, coarse white porcelain pieces imitated Ding kiln, pottery utensils and copper coins of the Northern Song Dynasty, have also been unearthed. Other architectural sites in liaozhongjing site mainly include Buddhist temples on the hillside in the southwest corner of the outer city

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Research value

There are five capitals in Liao Dynasty. Dadingfu (the site of Zhongjing in Liao Dynasty) is the auxiliary capital of Liao Dynasty in its heyday. It plays an important role in the military, politics and economy of Liao state

. With a large construction area and a long history of use, the site of the capital site in the middle and late Liao Dynasty was one of the political, economic and cultural centers and one of the larger cities in the northern grassland at that time

It is of great scientific value to study the political, economic, military and national development of Han Dynasty, Liao, Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties

. Like the Shangjing site of Liao Dynasty, the central capital site of Liao Dynasty is the two important capital cities established and well preserved by the Qidan people in Mobei. It provides abundant materials for the study of the history of Qidan nationality and ancient urban architecture, and also plays an important role in the study of Nuzhen and Mongolian history

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protective measures

On March 4, 1961, liaozhongjing site was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 1981, the State Administration of cultural relics invested more than 500000 yuan to repair the Daming tower. The project was completed in August 1984

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In 2012, the people's Government of Ningcheng County commissioned the school of archaeology, culture and Museum of Peking University to prepare the protection plan of liaozhongjing site

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History and culture

Zhongjing (the site of Zhongjing in Liao Dynasty) is located in a dangerous place, which is a must for military strategists of all dynasties. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States period, it was inhabited by Shanrong and Donghu. In the late Warring States period, the Yan general Qin opened a thousand miles away from Hu and built the Great Wall to reject Hu. Then there were five counties, Liaodong, Liaoxi, Yuyang, Shanggu and youbeiping. Zhongjing belonged to youbeiping county. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, wuwan and Xianbei moved to the south, and the Laoha River Basin served as their hunting places. After the Northern Wei Dynasty, Qidan began to be strong and gradually became a nomad in the south, so it lived together with Xi people in Zhongjing area

. According to historical records, in the 22nd year of Tonghe (1004), Emperor Shengzong of Liao Dynasty passed through Zhongjing and looked at the southern part of Zhongjing. The sun was shining in the distance. It looked like Yingguo pavilions. It was auspicious and the capital was built because of the proposal

. Because of its fertile land, suitable climate, and close to the Central Plains, it was convenient to communicate with the Song Dynasty, so Zhongjing was established here when Liao Shengzong arrived

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The construction regulation of the central capital imitated the layout of the Central Plains capital (Bianliang City, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty), and the whole project was mainly carried out by Han workers. It is divided into outer city, inner city and imperial city. The outer city is 4000 meters long from east to west and 3500 meters wide from north to South; the inner city is 2000 meters long from east to west and 1500 meters wide from north to south, with the inner and outer cities slightly in the shape of "Hui". The imperial city is square, each side is 1000 meters long, living in the north of the inner city, with the north wall of the inner city as the north wall of the imperial city. Because of its vast scale and huge engineering, in addition to driving a large number of craftsmen, it also consumes amazing building materials. For example, nearly 100 brick kilns were found along the South Bank of Laoha River, 5km south of Zhongjing city

. From its construction to its loss to Jin Dynasty, Zhongjing has been an important capital of Liao Dynasty for nearly 120 years. After the Jin soldiers captured Shangjing, they occupied Zhongjing in 1122. In the Jin Dynasty, Liao Zhongjing was changed into Dading mansion in Beijing. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, it was changed into the general office of Beijing, and in the 25th year of the Yuan Dynasty, it was changed into Wuping road. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Daning Wei was set up here. After the death of emperor Taizu, the city was destroyed because of the chaos of the kings. The ground buildings in the capital of central Liaoning have disappeared, but the tower is independent. According to Yuan Yi Tong Zhi, it may have been built in the fourth year of Chongxi (1036). There are two lines of Mongolian on the red face of the pagoda, which is written by the Qing Dynasty

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Tourism information

geographical position

Liaozhongjing site is located in the alluvial plain on the North Bank of Laoha River in Tianyi town and Daming town of Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is 15 kilometers away from yezhishou Chifeng Chifeng railway Tianyi station in the East and 280 kilometers away from liaoshangjing site in the north. It is roughly the same as the mileage from Zhongjing to Shangjing recorded in the itinerary of the envoys of the Northern Song Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : Liao Zhong Jing Yi Zhi