Ancient Yicheng City

Ancient Yicheng City

Ancient Yicheng City is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hebei Province.

Ancient Yicheng City

Ancient Yicheng City is located to the west of Yicheng Village, about 20 kilometers north of Wu’an City. It is the site of an ancient city dating back to the Warring States Period through the Han Dynasty. The city stretches 1,000 meters from north to south and 600 meters from east to west. Only a section of the rammed earth city wall remains — the northern end of the western wall, which is about 20 meters long, over 10 meters wide, and 3 meters high. The exposed rammed layers in the wall and surrounding areas are 10 centimeters thick. A railway runs through the city, and residential buildings have been constructed in the northeastern part.

A large number of roof tiles and pottery fragments from daily-use items are scattered across the surface of the ancient city. Multiple contemporary ancient tomb clusters have been discovered around the city. In the instructional ground area southeast of the city, several multi-chamber stone tombs and brick-chamber tombs have been found. One earthen mound tomb has been identified one kilometer east of the city, while the Xiyangyuan Tomb Cluster, featuring two existing earthen mound tombs, lies four kilometers to the south. Three kilometers southeast of the city is the Ziluo Ancient Tomb Cluster, which includes 15 earthen mounds.

Analysis of the discovered tomb clusters suggests that the Han Dynasty was the heyday of Ancient Yicheng City — indicating it was more than just an ordinary settlement. According to the Wu’an County Annals: “Wu’an... was called ‘Zi’ during the Han Dynasty, also referred to as ‘Zi City,’ and was the fief of Zi Gong.” Therefore, Ancient Yicheng City may have been the Zi City of the Han Dynasty. It is now a key cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hebei Province. Extended Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Heritage Sites Protected at the Provincial Level in Hebei Province