Site of the Ancient City of Linhuan

Site of the Ancient City of Linhuan

The Site of the Ancient City of Linhuan is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The ancient city of Linhuan was built during the Han Dynasty. As early as the Qin and Han periods, Linhuan Town had already become a market town. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it developed into a trade hub, with shops and merchants spread across eight long, crisscrossing streets within the city, making it an important commercial port for trade among Jiangsu, Henan, and Anhui. Existing attractions in Linhuan include the Wenchang Palace, the Temple to the City God, the Tomb of Jian Shu, traditional old streets, and the former site of the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign.

To the south lies the Huihe River, while the north, east, and west are surrounded by plains. The ancient city has a square layout, measuring 1,409 meters from east to west, approximately 1,400 meters from north to south, with a perimeter of 5,606 meters and a total area of 1.95 million square meters. It is the largest known pre-Qin ancient city site in Anhui Province in terms of land area.

In 1986, when the People's Government of Anhui Province designated it as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit under the name “Linhuan Ancient City Ruins,” it was considered to date from the Han to the Yuan dynasties. The "Commentary on the Water Classic" by Li Daoyuan, under the entry for the “Huai River,” states: “The Han (Huan) River flows southeast past the south of Feiting—then the Huan River flows east past the south of the former site of Zhi County, where Wu Guang once raised an army and sent Ge Ying to take it—then the Huan River flows east past the south of the former site of Qixian County.” This indicates that the location of Han-era Zhi County was south of Feiting and west of Qixian County, which matches exactly with today’s Linhuan, proving that the ancient city of present-day Linhuan is indeed the former site of Zhi County from the Han Dynasty. The "Book of Liang · Annals of Emperor Wu" records: “During the northern campaign against Wei’s Zhi City, the Linhuan Commandery was established, marking the first use of the name Linhuan.” By the Northern Qi Dynasty, the commandery was changed to a county.

Determining the location of Zhi County is of great significance. This not only relates to the founding date of the ancient city of Linhuan but also helps resolve issues regarding the territory and changes of the State of Song during the Spring and Autumn period. The "Records of the Grand Historian – Biography of Lord Chunshen" records that Huang Xie said to King Zhao of Qin: “If the armies of Qin and Chu remain locked in conflict without disengaging, the state of Wei will march out to attack Liuliu, Fangyu, Zhi, Huling, Dang, Xiao, and Xiang, and thus the former State of Song will surely be lost entirely.” This shows that the settlement of Zhi already existed during the Spring and Autumn period, then belonged to the State of Song, was part of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, and was established as a county by the Qin Dynasty under Sishui Commandery, becoming an important political, economic, and military center in the region.

The structural features of the Linhuan Ancient City ruins and the characteristics of unearthed relics from various dynasties are highly consistent with ancient texts describing the era of Zhi City. The city walls are largely intact and were built using rammed earth. Cross-sections show that the layers of rammed earth are relatively thin, at about 10 centimeters per layer, densely packed with ramming pits 11 centimeters in diameter and spaced 1 centimeter apart, making them hard and solid. The remaining height of the city walls ranges from 5 to 15 meters, standing tall on the north bank of the Huihe River. The walls were constructed in multiple phases. At the lowest section, trenches were dug directly into the yellow virgin soil layer, then filled and compacted layer by layer with yellow soil mixed with gravel. The base of such walls is 20 to 25 meters wide and 5 to 8 meters high. The second major construction phase occurred during the Han Dynasty. The walls were expanded 10 to 15 meters outward from the original foundation and heightened by 5 to 7 meters, using a mix of yellow and black soil for ramming, including scattered pottery shards from the Warring States to the Qin and Han periods. With a width of 35 to 50 meters, a top width of 5 to 8 meters, and a remaining height of 5 to 15 meters, the scale of the ancient city walls remains an astounding feat of earthworks even by today’s standards. At the top of the walls, there are also remnants of large earthen mounds, likely representing former battle platforms and watchtowers. There are nine elevated platforms on the northern wall, spaced 100 meters apart, each 35 to 50 meters long, 15 to 30 meters wide, and 5 meters higher than the wall. These structures were likely built during the Han Dynasty or possibly the later Northern Wei period when Linhuan was a commandery. The ancient city had four gates, located in the middle sections of each of the four walls, with surviving gate openings 10 to 20 meters wide. Outside the city was a defensive moat. Except for the southern side, which used a natural river channel, the other three sides featured man-made moats, totaling 4.2 kilometers in length, over 10 meters wide, and 4 meters deep, with some sections now silted up.

A large number of relics from various dynasties have been unearthed both inside and outside the ancient city. The surface inside the city is covered with pottery fragments, bricks, and tiles from the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang periods. Common finds include tripod leg fragments from the Neolithic Age, li tripod leg fragments and rope-patterned pottery jars from the Spring and Autumn period, cloud-patterned roof tiles, as well as string-patterned, grid-patterned, and rope-patterned tiles and tubular tiles from the Qin and Han periods, and lotus-patterned roof tiles, celadon, and white-glazed porcelain shards from the Sui and Tang periods. These artifacts hold significant academic value for the study and understanding of the history and culture of ancient Linhuan. In 2006, it was designated as part of the sixth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Protected Area:

Inside the city walls: 50 meters outside the base line on the inner side of the eastern wall, corresponding to the eastern red line of the planned East Ring Road. 50 meters outside the base line on the inner side of the western wall, corresponding to the western red line of the planned West Ring Road. 50 meters outside the base line on the inner side of the northern wall, corresponding to the northern red line of the planned North Ring Road. On the inner side of the southern wall, the boundary is the southern red line of the planned South Ring Road along the southern side of Linhuai Road.

Outside the city walls: The area outside the eastern wall extends to the western red line of the current County Road X022 (planned Jingqi Road). The area outside the western wall extends to the eastern red line of the rerouted Provincial Road S202 (planned Jing San Road). The area outside the northern wall extends to the southern red line of the rerouted Provincial Road S202 (planned Wei Wu Road). The eastern section of the southern wall extends to the northern bank of the Huihe River, and the western section’s outer boundary is a line 70 meters west of the wall that connects to the northern bank of the Huihe River.

Construction Control Zone:

Inner boundary of the Construction Control Zone inside the city walls: The inner red line of the planned Ring Road within the walls.

Outer boundary of the Construction Control Zone outside the city walls: East to the western red line of the planned Jingba Road and extending south to the southern bank of the Huihe River; north to the southern red lines of the planned Wei Si Road and Wei Shi Yi Road; west to the eastern red line of the planned Jing’er Road and extending south to the southern bank of the Huihe River; south to 50 meters outside the southern embankment of the Huihe River.

Linhuan Town: Linhuan Town is situated on the beautiful and fertile Huaibei Plain, located 35 kilometers southwest of Suixi County. It connects north to Xiangcheng, links south to Mengcheng, borders Woyang to the west, and neighbors Suzhou to the east. The Xiao-Huai Highway runs through the town, providing very convenient transportation. Linhuan is currently one of China’s 500 small-city construction pilot towns, a Historical and Cultural Reserve of Anhui Province, a comprehensive reform pilot town at both the provincial and municipal levels in Anhui and Huaibei, a secondary development center of Huaibei, and a central town in southern Huaibei.

Linhuan Town has long held an important position in history. According to Qing- and Ming-era records of Suzhou, historical accounts of the Linhuan Commune... More detailed information on Linhuan Town++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units