The Bamencheng City Site

The Bamencheng City Site

The Bamencheng City Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The Bamencheng City Site is one of the provincial-level key cultural heritage protection units in our county and served as the administrative center of the Han State during the Liao Dynasty. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Wuxing Village, Bamencheng Town, at an altitude of around 144 meters. Based on multiple measurements, the city site is diamond-shaped: the east wall is 749 meters long, the west wall 747 meters, the south wall 830 meters, and the north wall 911 meters, with a total area of approximately 300,000 square meters. Remnants of ribbed roof tiles and porcelain shards from the Liao and Jin periods can be found throughout the site. An octagonal stone mortar currently housed in the museum was excavated here. Currently, the site houses several enterprises including a water supply company, while the rest of the area consists of vegetable greenhouses belonging to villagers of Wuxing Village. National Highway Shuangba runs north-south through the center of the city site. The southern wall is adjacent to the South Ring Road, beyond which lie the Bamencheng Martyrs’ Cemetery, the reconstructed Qingyun Shifo Temple, a gas station, and other facilities. The northern part of the site is adjacent to residential areas.

In 1984, the Bamencheng City Site was designated as one of the first batch of county-level cultural heritage protection units by the People’s Government of Changtu County. In 1988, it was listed as part of the fourth batch of provincial-level cultural heritage protection units by the People’s Government of Liaoning Province, with clearly defined protection boundaries and construction control zones. The “Four Haves” standards for cultural heritage preservation were effectively implemented. Currently, the Bamencheng Cultural Heritage Protection Leadership Group has intensified efforts to protect the site, formulated a protection plan, published specialized works, and is actively promoting the ancient city’s cultural legacy to revitalize the historical significance of the ancient Han State.

The Bamencheng City Site has a history of over a thousand years. Historical records indicate that before the Liao Dynasty, the area was occupied by the Shiwei and Xi tribes and was called Xiying. During the Liao Dynasty, it served as the seat of the Han State, and in the Jin Dynasty, it became Liuhe County. According to the Chronicles of Changtu Prefecture, in the early years of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty, when constructing a fortress, a fragment of an octagonal stone stele was unearthed, with a diameter of 38 cm, height of 44 cm, distinct edges, but no inscriptions, hence the name Bamencheng (Eight-Sided City). As described in the essay "Bamencheng is the Han State" in the Illustrated Gazetteer of the Three Eastern Provinces, “In the first year of the Daoguang reign, when General Fuyong of Jilin inspected land disputes in Bamencheng, he discovered a bronze mirror with 31 seal characters engraved around its rim: ‘Inner purity shines, outer radiance brightens, brilliance akin to sun and moon, heart never falters even when obscured, always watchful and shining, never forget, in sunlight’s embrace.’ On the back of the mirror were four regular script characters: ‘Han State Prefect.’ This discovery confirmed that Bamencheng was indeed the site of the Han State during the Liao and Jin periods. In the 1950s, a farmer in Bamencheng unearthed a bronze seal from the Han State ruins inscribed with the words ‘Seal of Liuhe County.’ Liuhe County was a subordinate county of the Han State during the Liao period, with its seat located within the Han State city. By the mid-Jin Dynasty, after the Han State was relocated to Jiubai Xiying, the seat of Liuhe County remained in the original Han State city. The discovery of this seal further substantiates that Bamencheng was once the administrative center of the Han State.

Wuxing Village: Wuxing Village... More details about Wuxing Village++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units of Liaoning Province