Ruins of the Former Bodu Ancient City

Ruins of the Former Bodu Ancient City

The ruins of the Former Bodu Ancient City is a cultural tourism attraction.

Bodu City, a Liao and Jin dynasty site, is located 12 kilometers north of Fuyu City and about 200 meters southeast of the seat of Bodu Township government. The east, south, and west sides of the city are surrounded by plains, with a gentle southeast-trending ridge in the northeast. A road connecting Bodu Township to Fuyu Town lies 240 meters west of the city, which is also 4 kilometers west of the Second Songhua River. The city is roughly square in shape, oriented 5 degrees northwest, built with rammed earth layered construction. Its perimeter is 3,132 meters. The eastern wall is 709 meters long, the western wall 797 meters, the southern wall 812 meters, and the northern wall 814 meters. The walls are 2–3.5 meters high, 3–4 meters wide at the top, and 14–16 meters wide at the base. Several sections of the wall have been damaged. There are four existing gate sites, each located in the middle of the respective city walls. The north gate is 9 meters wide, the east gate 8 meters, the south gate 8 meters, and the west gate 9 meters. Each gate is equipped with a nearly square barbican. The barbicans on the east, west, and north sides are relatively well-preserved, while the southern one has been turned into farmland. There are 19 battlements—14 on the northern wall, 5 on the western wall, and the others are not clearly identifiable. The battlements on the northern wall are about 10–13 meters wide, spaced 60–80 meters apart. At the southeastern and northwestern corners of the city, there are remnants of corner towers. These semicircular towers are 3.5 meters high. Within the city, there are four remaining earthen platforms, located in the southwestern part of the inner city. One of them is larger, with a rounded square shape, measuring 26 meters in both east-west and north-south dimensions, and 3 meters in height. Its surface is scattered with numerous gray square bricks, rectangular bricks, cloth-patterned bricks, small lotus petal-patterned roof tiles, pottery shards, porcelain fragments, copper Buddha statues, Buddhist ornament remnants, grass-mixed mud-fired earth, and white lime plaster pieces. The other three platforms are smaller, situated respectively at the northeastern corner, southeastern corner, and directly south of the larger platform, each about 20 meters apart. Their surfaces contain scattered remnants of gray roof tiles and pottery and porcelain shards. These four platforms are believed to be the sites of temples. About 187 meters outside the western wall, there is a square earthen platform that is heavily damaged, with remnants of numerous gray bricks and tiles on its surface. Most of the artifacts within the city are concentrated in the central and southern areas. The pottery consists of gray clay and yellow-brown clay, fired at high temperatures and wheel-made, mostly consisting of vessels such as jars and pots. The decorative patterns include comb-stamped dots, string patterns, comb-tooth patterns, and applied relief patterns. There are also porcelain shards in yellow glaze, white glaze, celadon glaze, black glaze, and gray glaze, most of which are plain, with only a few featuring grass-leaf patterns. The vessel shapes are mainly bowls, plates, and pots. Building materials include roof tiles with beast-face patterns, grid-patterned roof tiles, and water-wave-patterned drip tiles. Among the metal objects, there is a rectangular bronze plaque featuring a bas-relief of the Thousand-Handed Guanyin, with a carved image of Skanda on the reverse side. A large number of ancient coins have also been unearthed, including Ban Liang, Wu Zhu, and Northern Song dynasty coins. This city is the largest Liao and Jin dynasty site within the territory of Fuyu City. In its vicinity, there are many smaller Liao and Jin sites, such as Xiancheng, Yangjiacheng, Tuchengzi, Jiucui Chengzi, and Bande. In 1987, the People's Government of Jilin Province designated this site as a Jilin Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.