Site of the Saqi City

Site of the Saqi City

The Site of the Saqi City is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located about 1.5 kilometers south of Yangmulinzi Village, Yangpao Manchu Township, Hunchun City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, on the southern hill at the northeastern edge of the triangular alluvial plain in the lower reaches of the Hunchun River. About 1 kilometer south of the city, an unnamed tributary of the Hunchun River flows from east to west, and approximately 3 kilometers northwest lies the Hunchun River. Geographic coordinates: 42°53′50", 130°31′45", at an elevation of about 387 meters. In 2013, it was designated as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

In the 1920s, Wei Shenghe conducted a survey of the site. In 1972, Mr. Li Jiancai from the Jilin Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology investigated the site and published "A Study of the Bohai Ancient City in Hunchun" based on his findings, proposing that the Saqi City was a settlement from the Bohai period. In 1983 and 2008, systematic surveys and documentation of Saqi City were carried out in conjunction with the second and third national cultural relics surveys of Jilin Province.

The city site is built along the undulating ridgeline, with an irregular plan and a perimeter of about 7 kilometers, covering an area of approximately 1.2 million square meters. The walls are constructed of stone, currently about 2–3 meters high, with a trench 2–5 meters wide running closely along the inner side of the wall. Five gate sites have been discovered so far, one each on the eastern, western, and northern walls, and two on the southern wall, with each gateway about 8 meters wide. Three watchtowers have been found within the city. One is located on a small hill about 300 meters southeast inside the northern gate; the other two are situated at the southwestern and southeastern corners of the city. The southwestern watchtower is about 3 meters high and 30 meters in diameter, built of stone, offering a panoramic view of the downstream plains of the Hunchun River. Three pond remains also exist in the city. Two are located about 50–60 meters from the eastern gate, and another is about 500 meters inside the southwestern gate. The ponds are edged with stone, likely used for water storage. Two building ruins have been found in the city, one located on the gentle slope west of the watchtower inside the northern gate, and the other on the mountainside north of the watchtower. The surface yields numerous gray and brown ribbed tiles, with some having rope, mat, or grid patterns on the raised surface, as well as finger-pressed tiles and brown grid-patterned tiles. One gray tile bears the raised character “王” (king), with additional characters below, though now damaged. Wheel-made pottery shards, loop handles, and iron arrowheads have also been unearthed in the city.

Currently, there is no consensus in academia regarding the dating and nature of the Saqi City. The *Hunchun County Cultural Relics Annals* suggests that the site is a military mountain fortress from the Bohai period. In *A Study of the Bohai Ancient City in Hunchun*, Li Jiancai proposed that Saqi City was the “Zhaicheng Prefecture” of Goguryeo, or the administrative center of either the Muzhou or Hezhou during the Bohai era. Since the site has not been excavated, previous determinations of its age and nature have largely relied on historical-geographical research and surface surveys, lacking solid empirical evidence. The Saqi City site is very large and relatively rare among mountain fortresses in Jilin Province. The abundant artifacts unearthed there suggest the possible presence of remains from multiple periods. Previous scholarly interpretations of the dating and nature of numerous mountain fortress sites in the Yanbian region of Jilin have been controversial. Further research on the Saqi City holds significant practical importance for studying the territorial extent of Goguryeo, the administrative divisions of Bohai, as well as the dating and nature of mountain fortresses in eastern Jilin.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units