Ruins of the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard

Ruins of the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard

The ruins of the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard are a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The ruins of the Longjiang Shipyard are located in the Zhongbao Village area near Sancha River in the northwest of present-day Nanjing.

The Longjiang Treasure Shipyard, also known as the Longjiang Shipyard or the Treasure Shipyard, got its name because it was situated near the Longjiang Pass (now Xiaguan) of Nanjing at that time. It borders the Yangtze River to the west and the Qinhuai River to the east. According to *The Chronicles of the Longjiang Shipyard* by Li Zhaoxiang of the Ming Dynasty, “In the early years of the Hongwu reign, an open space in the northwest corner of the capital city was allocated to establish a shipyard for boat construction,” referring to this very area.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Longjiang Shipyard was very large in scale. Its area “stretched from the city moat in the east to the military farmland of the Qinhuai Guard in the west, from the first block of civilian and official corridor foundations near Yifeng Gate in the northwest to the military camp base of the Right Garrison Guard in the south, and from the alfalfa fields of the Nanjing Ministry of War and the land of Pengcheng Marquis Zhang in the north.” It spanned 138 zhang from east to west and 354 zhang from north to south, covering an area of over 500,000 square meters. After the Ming Dynasty, it was gradually abandoned, and most of the site has since become farmland and ponds. The ship docks of that time were referred to by locals as “work ponds.” Today, the specific locations of the First to Seventh Work Ponds can still be identified within the site. These work ponds are rectangular in shape and arranged side by side from east to west. Among them, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Work Ponds are relatively well-preserved, especially the Fourth, which is the largest remaining dock from that era, now approximately 300 meters long, 30 meters wide, and over 1 meter deep. A thick layer of silt has accumulated underwater, indicating the massive scale of the dock at the time, which was fully capable of building ships of various sizes for Zheng He’s fleet.

Since the liberation, wooden materials, components, and tools used for shipbuilding have been discovered under the silt in the ponds of the Zhongbao Village area where the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard once stood. In 1953, a square, hole-free wooden timber over ten meters long was unearthed at the site of the “Fourth Work Pond.” In May 1957, a giant rudder stock measuring 11.07 meters was excavated from the “Sixth Work Pond.” In 1965, a broken capstan wood measuring 2.22 meters was salvaged from Wenjia Pond (i.e., the Fourth Work Pond). In 1983, a stone mortar was discovered with a small amount of oil-lime still inside, likely used for mixing oil-lime for shipbuilding at the time. In 1974, a large bronze anchor 2.65 meters long with four claws was excavated at Dinghuaimen. In 1975, a large iron anchor was found at Sancha River. Additionally, shipbuilding materials such as camphorwood timber and wood edge scraps have also been discovered. These artifacts serve as important physical evidence for the study of the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard, treasure ships, and the history of Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas.

In 2006, the ruins of the Longjiang Shipyard, as an ancient site from the Ming Dynasty, were included in the sixth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.

Address: No. 57, Lijiang Road, Gulou District, Nanjing

Type: Historic Site

Rating: AAA

Phone: 025-86227011

Opening Hours:

8:30-17:30

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level