The Underwater Ancient City of Lion City

The Underwater Ancient City of Lion City

The Underwater Ancient City of Lion City is a cultural heritage site protected by Zhejiang Province.

The Underwater Ancient City of Lion City refers to the ancient city submerged beneath Qiandao Lake in Chun’an County, Zhejiang Province.

Lion City was the county seat of the former Suichang County (merged with Chun’an in 1958). It is located in western Zhejiang, between the Suian Islands and Wutoujian in the current Qiandao Lake–Jiangjia waterway, about 5 kilometers from Jiangjia. Lion City was the only one among the six counties of the ancient Yan Prefecture that had a city wall. Suichang County was established in the 13th year of the Jian’an era during the Eastern Han Dynasty (208 AD), with its original county seat located in Mulian Village on the north side of the stream in Andingli (now around Xianju and Tongjiawu in Fenkou Town, Chun’an County). In the 4th year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (621 AD), the county seat of Suichang was moved from Muling Village to the foot of Wushi Mountain — this later became Lion City.

The “Suichang County Annals” from the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli year of Renzi states: “Wufeng Peak encircles its front, Five Lions embrace its back, cradling streams such as Wuqiang and Longdu, flanked by Liuxing and Wenchang Pavilions. Though not connected to major post routes, it is indeed a superior land of Yan.”

In October 1955, the then Ministry of Electric Power Industry selected Tongguan at the border of Chun’an and Jiande to build the Xin’anjiang Hydropower Station. On April 30, 1959, Suichang and Suichang Counties merged into the later Chun’an County, and 290,000 people relocated away from their hometowns. On September 21, the Xin’anjiang River was dammed, and the reservoir began filling with water. Two ancient cities with a history of a thousand years — Lion City and Hecheng — along with 27 towns, over 1,000 villages, 300,000 acres of fertile farmland, and thousands of homes sank to the bottom of Qiandao Lake.

Lion City had five city gates: the East Gate (Xingwen Gate), South Gate (Xiangming Gate), Small West Gate (Kangfu Gate), Large West Gate (Jingwu Gate), and North Gate (Gongji Gate), each topped with a gate tower. The tops of the towers were covered with huge stone slabs, built with bricks on all four sides, and featured arched entrances on both sides, straddling the city walls. The northwest corner and the northern half of the city wall were built along the mountain, featuring particularly steep terrain and spectacular views. Inside the city were main streets including East Street, South Street, West Street, North Street, Straight Street, and Horizontal Street. The intersection of East Street, North Street, and Straight Street formed the county government square, the most bustling area.

The main family clans residing in Lion City included the Wang, Yao, Yu, Fang, Hu, Wang, and Huang families. As a part of the ancient Huizhou-Wuyue region, Lion City was also deeply influenced by Huizhou merchants and Huizhou culture, boasting numerous skilled artisans and many cultural relics. The North Gate housed the West Temple, the South Gate had the City God Temple, the west end of Straight Street featured the Three Saints Temple, the Xiao West Gate by the Lieqiao Bridge had the Kangwang Temple, and inside the Large West Gate near the Confucian School were the Confucius Temple and the Dongyue Temple, all relatively large in scale. There were also numerous memorial archways for chastity, merit, and honors, as well as ancestral halls for various clans.

On the hill behind the North Gate within the city stood an ancient bell weighing 3,000 jin (approximately 1,800 kilograms), cast in the 16th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty (1270 AD) by the Taoist priest Huang Zhiyuan of the Suichang Dongshen Palace through public donations. When struck, its sound could be heard up to 10 li (approximately 5 kilometers) away. During the Anti-Japanese War, when Japanese warplanes frequently bombed the area, this bell was used as an air raid siren. In the 41st year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1613 AD), the smelter Liu Yunyuan also cast a large tripod over ten feet tall, erected in front of the Kangwang Temple. Outside the East Gate stood a Catholic church and an East Temple. About two li from the city, on a hillside near Shijia Village, there was a seven-story pagoda called Kuwen Tower. The Yangcun Bridge outside the South Gate was a Ming Dynasty stone bridge located at the junction of the Yu Stream and Wuqiang Stream. It was a nine-arch bridge, also known as the Nine-Gate Bridge, with a single span of over 8 meters, funded by Wang Qiaonian, a Ming Dynasty Ministry of War official. The “Jin Gong Embankment” along the Wuqiang Stream was initiated by Magistrate Jin Naiguang in the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921).

Historically, Lion City had cultural institutions such as academies, poorhouses, and orphanages. After the late Qing Dynasty, schools such as Zhenwen Primary School, Taiding Primary School, a teacher training institute, health clinics, the County Popular Education Museum (later renamed the People's Education Museum), Shishan Park, and a public sports field (at the Confucian School) were successively established. Later, a junior normal school and junior high school were added. In the early years after liberation, a film projection team and a mass cultural center were added.

Lion City had traditional folk festivals such as the “Three Festivities of the Lantern Festival” (namely the Bench Dragon, Hundred-Children Lanterns, and Stage Poles) and the “Ghost Festival on the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month.”

Commerce flourished in the city, with various types of shops including pawnshops (ceased operations in the 17th year of the Republic of China), salt warehouses (distributing official salt), grocery stores, imported goods, tobacco/alcohol/sugar, ready-made clothes, medicinal herbs, books, photography, dyeing workshops, lanterns, umbrellas, noodle restaurants, barbershops, dental clinics, fruit stands, and cooked food vendors. In the 2nd year of the Republic of China (1913), the Suichang National Goods Market opened in Lion City. In the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), the Puming Electric Light Factory was established, capable of powering 650 15-watt light bulbs. In the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), a local resident named Huang Huasheng founded the Yuhua Soap Factory. Others also started match factories. After liberation, a rice milling factory was added, and the Suichang Power Plant was expanded. At that time, Lion City had a total of 85 industrial and commercial enterprises, including one power company, one food company, one textile company, and three others in industry; fifteen specialty processing businesses, fourteen others, and twenty in food service and other sectors in handicrafts; the rest were mostly small traders. Lion City enjoyed convenient transportation by both land and water. In April 1933, construction began on the Chun (An)–Sui (Chang)–Kai (Hua) highway, with the roadbed completed that same year. The road opened to traffic in September of the following year. The bus station was located outside the North Gate of Lion City, extending 30 kilometers east to the Chun’an County border and 31 kilometers west to the Kaihua County boundary. Inland water transport mainly relied on the Suichang Port, with boats traveling via the Chun’an Port dock hub, going upstream to Huizhou and downstream to Hangzhou. During the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing era (1522–1566), a local named Wang Sihong raised funds to build an 11-arch bridge over the Wuqiang Stream south of Lion City, naming it the “Zhongyi Bridge.” Later, a wooden bridge was added outside the South Gate of Lion City, featuring a wide deck and easy passage. These two bridges were essential routes to and from the southern countryside.

From September 2001 to July 2002, the Qiandao Lake Scenic Tourism Bureau conducted an 11-month underwater exploration of Lion City. They discovered that the ancient Lion City was astonishingly intact — the original overall layout inside and outside the city remained unchanged, including bridges and ancient wells. Some wooden structures still retained beams and tiled roofs, and the patterns carved on the memorial archways from the Ming and Qing dynasties were still clearly visible.

In 2005, local tourism authorities rediscovered that beneath Qiandao Lake, in addition to the two ancient cities of Lion City and Hecheng, there were also three large ancient market towns: Weiping, Gangkou, and Chayuan. These sites were also relatively well preserved at the time, together forming a complete underwater ancient architectural complex with the two submerged cities.

From April 27 to May 1, 2012, Zhejiang Satellite TV, in collaboration with CCTV, conducted a five-day underwater live broadcast of one of Qiandao Lake’s submerged ancient cities — Lion City. Especially with the broadcast of “Focus Interview” on the evening of April 30, this underwater archaeological exploration became a nationwide sensation. This exploration uncovered numerous memorial archways, stone-carved gates, and stone lions, demonstrating that stone structures were remarkably well preserved underwater. This was the most concentrated discovery since the 2001 underwater exploration.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units