Site of the Jincheng City

Site of the Jincheng City

The ruins of the ancient Jincheng city wall are located in Huashan Bay, five li northeast of Zhenjiang, and were discovered in 1984. The Zhenjiang Museum conducted surveys and trial excavations. The ancient city was built by utilizing natural hills and compacting earth. Today, the cross-sections of rammed earth layers and the traces of post holes rammed with round logs can still be seen. The rammed layers are about 6–10 cm thick, and the diameter of the ramming pits is about 4–5 cm. The remaining sections of the wall are shaped like a gate, with the eastern wall stretching approximately 700 meters, the northern wall about 1,400 meters, the southern wall around 1,200 meters, and the western wall roughly 1,400 meters, totaling about 4,700 meters. Currently, the fragmented remains extend intermittently for 1,700 meters, with the top of the wall being 8–15 meters wide, the base 30–70 meters wide, and the height varying between 10–25 meters. The city is situated at an elevation of about 30 meters, and outside its northeastern section, remnants of a moat about 150 meters long can still be found. Various types of inscribed bricks have been unearthed from the ancient city, including those marked with gate names such as “Dongguo Gate” and “Nanguo Gate,” kiln names such as “Xiaoli Kiln” and “Shili Tablet,” place names like “Jincheng Luocheng” and “Luocheng,” as well as bricks inscribed with personal names combined with place names, such as “Jincheng Yusheng,” “Jincheng Heqiang,” “Wuxi Li Qin,” and “Jiangyin Wang.”

Everyday pottery items such as large Eastern Jin Dynasty earthenware jars and celadon vessels from the Six Dynasties period—including pots, jars, basins, bowls, cups, and candlesticks—have also been unearthed. According to recent excavation findings, remnants of Tang Dynasty city walls and artifacts are still present in the upper sections and related parts of the surviving Jincheng city.

Historical records indicate that the ancient Jincheng city of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was initially built in the early years of the Daxing era (318). In the tenth year of the Taiyuan era (385) during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu Sima Yao, repairs were made to the Jincheng city. It continued to be used during the Tang Dynasty. The ancient city made full use of natural conditions, using the hills as fortifications and the river as a boundary. The city was reinforced with bricks both inside and out, giving it significant strategic importance in military terms.