Wangfen Ruins

Wangfen Ruins

The Wangfen Ruins are a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Conservation Unit.

The Wangfen Ruins are located in Xitang Community, Xitangqiao Subdistrict, Haiyan County, consisting of a high mound and the surrounding farmland, covering an area of about 100,000 square meters.

In August 1994, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Haiyan County Museum jointly carried out an emergency excavation of the Wangfen Ruins. It was confirmed that the high mound is an ancient human cultural site from the late Songze culture and early Liangzhu culture periods. The top of the mound contains early Liangzhu culture burials and sacrificial pits, with burial objects including stone tools, jade artifacts, and pottery items. The pottery assemblage mainly consists of tripods, bean-shaped vessels, and jars. The base of the mound features deposits from the late Songze culture period, which include a large quantity of pottery shards, ceramic ware, stone tools, and bone or horn implements. The pottery types comprise sand-tempered red pottery, sand-tempered yellow-brown pottery, clay red pottery, gray pottery, and black-coated pottery, with rich decorative patterns. Additionally, a well dating to this period was discovered, yielding a number of pottery items characteristic of the Songze culture, such as tripods, jars, pots, cups, and spinning whorls. Among them, a lacquer-painted clay black pottery cup and a red-painted gray pottery jar are rare fine examples. The Wangfen Ruins are rich in content and hold significant value for studying the social nature and cultural connotations of the Songze culture, its relationship with the Liangzhu culture, and its cultural exchanges with the ancient cultures of the Ningbo–Shaoxing region.

In August 1997, it was designated as part of the fourth batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Conservation Units.

Xitang Community: Xitang Community is located within the Haiyan County Economic Development Zone, encircling the old Xitangqiao town center. The community enjoys convenient land and water transportation. The Jiuchang Line runs north-south through the entire community, while the 01 Provincial Road is just one kilometer north of the Xichang intersection. The Liupingshen Line stretches east-west across the community. To the east, it neighbors Wangzhuang Community, Shuguang Community, and Daning Village; to the south, it connects with Xincheng Community; to the west, it reaches Yangjiapuan Bridge, facing Liuzhuang Village across the river; and to the north, it borders Yongning Community. Established in 2001 through the merger of the former Xitang, Ren’an, and Tangdian villages, the community covers an area of 6.5 square kilometers, with 3,730 mu of cultivated land. There are 40… More details on Xitang Community++

Further reading:

· Fourth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Conservation Units