The Spring Hunting Site Complex

The Spring Hunting Site Complex

The Spring Hunting Site Complex is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Spring Hunting Site Complex is located in Zanzi Township, Qian'an County, Songyuan City, Jilin Province. Discovered in November 2009, it includes four large-scale sites from the Liao Dynasty. Within the complex, thousands of "earthen platforms" were found, along with a large number of ancient coins and pottery and porcelain shards, all manufactured during the Liao and Northern Song dynasties — a first such discovery in China. Archaeological experts have preliminarily determined that this is the site of the Liao emperors’ "Four Season Hunting Palaces (imperial mobile courts)," specifically the "Spring Hunting" site among the "Spring Water," "Summer Cool," "Autumn Mountains," and "Winter Stay" palaces. This also proves that the first emperor to visit Jilin Province during China’s feudal era was from the Liao Dynasty, not the Qing Dynasty’s Emperor Kangxi as previously believed by archaeologists — pushing the timeline back by about 700 years. The discovery of this site complex fills a long-standing gap in the search for the exact location of the "Spring Hunting" sites by national and provincial cultural relics authorities, and will provide extremely important resources for the development of tourism in Qian'an County and even Jilin Province.

In early November 2009, while conducting a cultural relics survey, staff from the Qian'an County Cultural Relics Management Office heard that local residents had unearthed many copper coins near "Huanaopao," with one person finding over 800 coins, as well as iron pots and stoves. This information caught their attention. After careful investigation, they subsequently discovered four large Liao Dynasty site complexes: north of the Keti Highway Line at Kezi Village in Zanzi Township on the south side of Huanaopao, north and directly east of Cangzi Village in Rangzi Town, and at Dizi Village (southwest of Chagan Lake).

According to investigations by archaeological experts from Jilin Province, the site complex discovered in Qian'an County has been preliminarily identified as the Liao emperors’ "Four Season Hunting Palaces (imperial mobile courts)" — specifically the "Spring Hunting" site among the "Spring Water," "Summer Cool," "Autumn Mountains," and "Winter Stay" palaces. The term "nabo" (捺钵) here is in the Khitan language, equivalent to the Chinese term for an imperial mobile court. This marks the first discovery of such an imperial residence site from the Liao Dynasty. According to Professor Fu Jiaxin from the School of History and Culture at Northeast Normal University, nabo was a unique political system of the Liao Dynasty. The Khitan people lived on the vast grasslands and gradually developed the nomadic custom of moving with the seasons. Even after the establishment of their state and increasing feudalization, traces of their nomadic, water-and-grass-following lifestyle remained evident in all aspects of social life. Even the emperor, despite his noble status, moved with the seasons, climate, and availability of water and grass, handling state affairs as he traveled. This gave rise to the Four Season Hunting system. The "nabo" were arranged according to the seasons — spring, summer, autumn, and winter — hence also referred to as the Four Season Palaces.

In 2009, it was designated as a County-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit. In May 2013, it was approved and announced by the State Council as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units