Moon City

Moon City

Moon City is located on the mountainside northeast of Zhaobao Mountain in Zhaobao Mountain Subdistrict, Zhenhai District. According to the Republican-era *Zhenhai County Annals*, it was built in the ninth year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1883). The original city wall was over seventy zhang long, twelve chi high, and nine chi wide. The existing Moon City covers an area of 128 square meters. The arched gateway and walls, constructed from strip stones, stretch approximately 60 meters in length and are 3.8 meters high (at the gate entrance), with a depth of 3.4 meters. The structure features an arched design and strip stones laid in a longitudinal interlocking and segmented parallel pattern. The middle section consists of rammed earth. The gateway is divided into two sections: the front section is a circular arch with a height of 2.10 meters, width of 1.70 meters, and depth of 1.38 meters; the rear section is a square arch, measuring 2.50 meters in height, 1.88 meters in width, and 2.00 meters in depth. In the center of the gateway, there is a door frame and a “general’s stone” that holds the door pivot. The arch is built using the longitudinal interlocking and segmented parallel masonry technique. The main gate lintel bears the inscription “海宇乂安” (Peace under Heaven). The inner wall houses a stele inscribed with “Record of the Addition to the Moon City of Zhaobao Mountain,” composed and written by Ouyang Lijian in the eighth month of the ninth year of the Guangxu reign (1883). The stele stands 0.76 meters high, 0.86 meters wide, and 0.06 meters thick, with text in regular script. The surviving structures are well preserved. This site witnessed battles such as those during the Sino-French War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, making it of significant historical research value. At the same time, the exquisite construction techniques offer considerable scientific and artistic value for the study of early military architectural facilities in eastern Zhejiang.