Jiaxing Zicheng Site

Jiaxing Zicheng Site

The Jiaxing Zicheng Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Jiaxing Zicheng Site was built in the third year of the Huanglong era (231 AD) during the Wu Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period. That year, "wild rice grew spontaneously" in Yiquan County. Sun Quan, the King of Wu, regarded this as an auspicious omen and issued an edict to rename Yiquan County as Hexing County. He also commanded the local authorities to "build city walls, erect watchtowers, and dig deep moats and ditches," thus constructing the city.

In the fifth year of the Chiwu era (242 AD), Sun Quan designated his son Sun He as the crown prince. Since "He" shares the same pronunciation as "Hexing," to avoid the naming taboo, Hexing County was renamed Jiaxing County. In either the first year of the Wende era (888 AD) or the third year of the Qianning era (896 AD) at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Jiaxing expanded its outer city, which measured twelve li in circumference. People referred to the larger outer city as the “mother city” and the enclosed older inner city as the “child city,” with its walls called the child walls.

The “form” of a city primarily originates from its street and alley layout. It was precisely because of the early prototype of Jiaxing City—later known as the “Zicheng”—that people began to engage in production and settle down here.

The construction of the outer city of Jiaxing during the Tang Dynasty laid the foundation for the basic layout where the canal encircles the city and the administrative center lies behind the commercial area. Historical records indicate that it served as the site of the prefectural and county government offices throughout various dynasties in Jiaxing, as well as the political center of northeastern Zhejiang. From the Tang to the Qing Dynasty, the Zicheng continuously functioned as the seat of county, military, circuit, and prefectural governments. During the Taiping Rebellion, it also housed the Tingtian King’s Palace. After the Xinhai Revolution, the Zicheng became military barracks, commonly known as the “Western Barracks.”

The Zicheng is bordered by Zhongshan Road to the north, Jianguo Road to the east, Fufront Street to the south, and Ziyang Street to the west. For over a thousand years, it has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. As time passed and the world changed, it took root and flourished in the busiest section of the city center, much like a miniature Forbidden City, giving rise to the thriving urban landscape we see today.

In 2019, the Jiaxing Zicheng Site was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Zhejiang Province’s Second Batch of Provincial-Level Archaeological Site Parks

· Zhejiang Province’s Fifth Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units

· National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units (Eighth Batch)