Ancient Han City Ruins of Chengcun

Ancient Han City Ruins of Chengcun

The Ancient Han City Ruins of Chengcun is a cultural tourism attraction.

Introduction:

Located 1 kilometer southwest of Chengcun Village in Xingtian Town, Wuyishan City, the ruins are one of the three components of the Wuyishan UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. They are part of the Ancient Han City Ruins Protected Area within the Wuyishan World Heritage site and were listed as a fourth batch National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in December 1996. The Chengcun Han City Ruins were discovered in 1958 and are among the best-preserved ancient city sites found in Fujian Province. It is also one of the more intact Han dynasty cities in China’s southern regions.

The Chengcun Han City consists of three groups of east-west oriented hills and the Gao’huping plateau. The overall layout is an irregular rectangle, covering an area of about 480,000 square meters. Well-preserved rammed earth city walls remain above ground, with a measured perimeter of 2,896 meters. Outside the walls, except for natural deep valleys and depressions, there are generally remnants of moats. There are two city gates located in the southern part of the site, facing each other from east to west with a direct passage connecting them. Within the city, four large building complex foundations, five iron smelting workshop sites, fifteen residential areas, as well as beacon towers, drainage systems, ancient roads, and more have been identified.

Side chambers, courtyards, skywells, and drainage ditches are all remarkably well preserved. A large number of artifacts such as pottery, ironware, and bronze ware have been unearthed. These include vessels in the shapes of jars, basins, bowls, pots, vases, cups, iron spears, iron swords, bronze arrowheads, and crossbow mechanisms. According to archaeologists, the Chengcun Han City was likely built as early as the early Western Han Dynasty, during the rule of the Minyue Kingdom, and may have remained in use until the late Western Han or early Eastern Han Dynasty. Its rise and decline are closely linked to the prosperity and fall of the Minyue people.

Fujian Wuyishan

Xingtian Town: Xingtian Town is located in the southern part of Wuyishan City. To the southeast, it borders Jiangkou Township of Jianyang District; to the west, it neighbors Xingcun Town; and to the north, it borders Wuyi Subdistrict Office and Shangmei Township. The town center, Xingtian Village, is 39 kilometers from the county seat. The terrain is relatively flat, and the Chongyang Stream flows through Xingtian Town before joining the Chenghu Stream and Wufu Stream, eventually flowing toward Jianyang.

Historically known as Fengyangli, Xingtian Town was an important post station on the Fujian–Jiangxi transport route. A yellow pavilion post (黄亭驿) was established here, and thus the village also became known as Huangtingshi or Huangtingjie (Yellow Pavilion Market/Street). In the Yuan Dynasty, a patrol and inspection town was set up; in the Ming Dynasty, a patrol and inspection office was established, formally forming the town. During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, the Xingtian Water Post was relocated here and named Xingtian, a name that continued into the Qing Dynasty... More detailed information about Xingtian Town++