Handan Pengcheng Ancient Town

Handan Pengcheng Ancient Town

Pengcheng Ancient Town is situated in the southwest of Hebei Province. It is an ancient town with a history of thousands of years and is the site of the Cizhou Kiln ruins, a nationally famous key cultural relics protection unit. It preserves a large number of unique architectural structures that look like steamed buns, which locals call “mantou kilns.” Upon entering this weighty yet refined ancient town, the first things you see are these peculiar architectural forms: courtyard walls built from ancient kiln saggers, streets paved with porcelain shards, and structures resembling mantou, locally referred to as “mantou kilns.” Pengcheng, an ancient town with nearly two thousand years of history, gave birth to the Cizhou Kiln culture, and the fame of Cizhou Kiln has spread the name of Pengcheng far and wide.

The old streets of Pengcheng consist of what we commonly call the Inner Five Villages: Xinhua Village, Sanhe Village, Hequan Village, Lianhe Village, and Futian Village. The network connecting these five villages is formed by three main east-west streets, six or seven smaller north-south alleys, and countless paths, lanes, and passageways. The prosperity of Pengcheng Street was historically well-known. Historical records state: “The ancient Pengcheng was bustling with ornate buildings, and its towers and pavilions were the finest in southern Hebei,” and “Merchants loaded goods, people, livestock, and carts came and went in an endless stream…” thus earning the fame “Pengcheng spans a thousand li, earning a fortune every day.” The prosperity of Pengcheng Street centered around several key areas: Qianjie and Banbi Street featured teahouses, taverns, and textile shops arranged in order. Well-established businesses such as Guanghecheng Grocery Store, Tianshunxiang Fabric Shop, Xingyuande Ceramic Shop, and Sanheseng Grocery & Condiment Shop were located here. Houjie had a well-organized layout of grain shops and inns. At Caoshi Kou, vendors sold straw ropes and firewood for the kilns, with merchants bustling through the market. Shaguoxiang and Wan Shi Street were lined with shops specializing in Cizhou Kiln’s coarse and fine ceramics. Wooden pushcarts used for transporting ceramics and materials at the Cart Market were lined up one after another. Nanhgou Street featured local mountain products, household tools, and livestock markets. Particularly notable was the old Pengcheng’s reputation for “daily markets and monthly fairs,” which was widely known and incredibly lively.

Everything in Pengcheng seems to be related to the Cizhou Kiln. To some extent, Pengcheng has even become synonymous with the Cizhou Kiln. The street layout, residential styles, road names, temples, local legends, proverbs, folk songs, and idioms of Pengcheng—all are connected to the Cizhou Kiln. The historical figures, cultural anecdotes, and customs of Pengcheng are also tied to it. Zhang Yingdeng, a magistrate of Zhangde Prefecture during the Ming Dynasty, recorded the state of the ceramic industry in Pengcheng in his inscription “Record of Visiting Fushui and Gushan”: “Each pottery family operates its own workshop. The finesse, coarseness, size—vary like forging, with creators numbering in the thousands and workshops reaching a similar count. Each year, they produce a certain number of imperial wares. Is it not the best under heaven?” During the early Qing Dynasty, the Cizhou Kiln in Pengcheng entered another relatively prosperous period, with an increase in kilns, larger kiln models, more varieties, and greater output, making daily-use ceramics widely available in the civilian market. The “Cizhou Annals” recorded: “The residents of Fuyuanli in Pengcheng are skilled in making jars and similar items; boats and carts come and go, selling to other districts.” During the Republican era, the ceramic industry in Pengcheng briefly regained prosperity. By 1923, the number of kilns increased to 235, with 35 jar kilns, and over 5,000 workers employed. The “Greater China Zhili Geographic Records” stated: “The ceramic and mining industries in western Pengcheng are rich sources of profit, the essence of the county.” The “Supplementary Cixian Annals” also noted: “Ceramics produced in Pengcheng within the county have a long tradition from the Song Dynasty to the present. Shops densely line the area, covering over twenty square li. Mines surround the outskirts, and waste piles up like mountains. In the town, smoke obscures the sky, and dust from the river fills the air. Transport of raw materials, ceramics, coal, and the movement of merchants, laborers, and carts is constant, creating a scene of crowded streets and overflowing alleys. Truly, it is the only industrial hub in our Cizhou region.” At the time, it was praised as “Pengcheng spans a thousand li, earning a fortune every day.” However, in later years, affected by war and other factors, the ceramic industry in Pengcheng gradually declined. In 1933, the Tianjin “Ta Kung Pao” reported the situation: “Currently, only a few dozen kilns are in operation, leaving kiln owners with products but no sales. Other industries such as straw binding, forming, and painting also struggle to sustain themselves.”

Throughout history, Pengcheng Street has evolved its own story alongside the rise and fall of the Cizhou Kiln. The old streets of Pengcheng evoke memories of the past and imagination of the future. This street has witnessed the revolutionary deeds of martyr Zhang Zhaofeng in 1921, who led ceramic workers and poor citizens to transport relief grain by requisitioned carts and distribute aid to disaster victims, as well as the heroic “May Day” uprising organized by ceramic workers in 1930. On this street, the oath of the 13th guerrilla unit, the “Little North Army Society,” led by revolutionary elder Wang Weigang, once rang out. The street also holds memories of many party, government, and military institutions. Places such as Xizhuangzi in Hequan Village, Wenchang Pavilion in Lianhe Village, Qianjie in Xinhua Village, and Xiaomenkou in Liu Family Alley once served as the headquarters of the CPC Special Committee for the Border Region of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, the Cixian County Party Committee and Government, the Fengfeng Mining District Party Committee and Government, and the Fengfeng City Party Committee and Government during the Anti-Japanese War. The footprints of revolutionary leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, Peng Zhen, and Bo Yibo, who fought resolutely for revolutionary victory, can also be found along these streets.

Pengcheng Ancient Town is located in the hilly area at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, with the main range of the Taihang Mountains stretching from north to south to its west. To the east are the branches of the Taihang Mountains, Peng Mountain and Shenlu Mountain. The valley between these two mountains is the fourth pass of the Taihang Mountain ranges, currently situated between Zhifang Village and Guozhuang Village across the river, historically known as the Fuku Pass. This was the main route into the Taihang Mountains and to Pengcheng. Pengcheng is also situated between two major waterways at the upper reaches of the Fuyang River. To the south of the town lies Balijian, where water flows southeast into the Fuyang River. To the northwest of the town, water from Longchi Gully in Hezhen Village joins the Fuyang River. These two rivers, together with four major springs in Pengcheng—the Guangsheng Spring, Jin Ci Spring, Liubao Spring, and Heilong Cave—and seventy-two smaller springs, form the mighty flow of the Fuyang River, surging eastward through multiple counties of the Hebei Plain until it reaches the sea at Tianjin.

The unique geographical location of Pengcheng contributed to the transportation of large quantities of Cizhou Kiln products in ancient times, primarily through waterways, as evidenced by numerous historical documents. The Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen, traveling from Chang’an to Handan, wrote in a poem: “A guest comes from Chang’an, galloping along the Handan Road.” “The guesthouse door faces the Zhang River, willows shade fishing boats tied below. Handan maidens sell wine at night, lighting lamps to count coins for guests.” These verses reflect the prosperity of boat docks, inns, and taverns along the Zhang River in Handan during the Tang Dynasty. The inscription of the Yongxi Temple built during the Song Dynasty records: “During the Yongxi era of the Song, the ceramics of Cizhou accumulated, reaching tens of thousands to Youyan.” The “Great Assembly of Ming Canon” states: “In the Ming Dynasty, dozens of official kilns were established in Pengcheng, producing yearly ceramic jars piled up on official platforms, then transported by boat to the capital and stored in Guanglu Temple. In the 11th year of the Hongzhi reign, 11,936 jars were offered as tribute to the royal family.” The “Zhengde Prefecture Annals of Zhangde” from the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty records: “Locally produced ceramics in Pengcheng were ‘painted in five colors, floated down the Fuyang, reached the Wei, and were sold to other districts.’” These accounts sufficiently demonstrate that during the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, Cizhou Kiln products were mainly transported to the capital and other regions via the Fuyang River.

According to the “Cixian Annals”: “The Fuyang River is the only waterway in our county.” “By Macheng Town, the river is wide and stable, facilitating navigation, passing through Handan and Yongnian, and leading all the way to Tianjin.” Modern and contemporary archaeological excavations also support this. In 1976, near the former course of the Fuyang River northeast of Cixian County, six wooden boats were excavated, mostly loaded with Cizhou Kiln ceramics. Archaeological analysis suggests the ships sank around the 12th year of the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1352). For example, between 1918 and 1920, in Julu County, a large number of Cizhou Kiln ceramics were unearthed from the silt left by the catastrophic flooding of the Zhang River, sparking a wave of modern research and verification on the Cizhou Kiln. Additionally, reports indicate that in recent years, large quantities of Cizhou Kiln ceramics have been excavated from the Fuyang River channel in Hengshui. This shows the long history of Fuyang River navigation. With such advantages, waterway transport was the primary method for exporting Cizhou Kiln ceramics.

The water transport routes for Cizhou Kiln products ceased in the late Qing Dynasty due to reduced water flow, sedimentation, narrowing channels, and insufficient volume in the upper reaches of the Fuyang River. The completion of the Beijing-Hankou Railway in the late Qing Dynasty, along with the subsequent construction of railways and highways, changed the history of relying mainly on waterways for transporting Cizhou Kiln products. Today, exquisite modern Cizhou Kiln products are distributed across the nation and to over a hundred countries and regions worldwide, thanks to advanced transportation methods and vehicles.

As the times march forward, the old street also faces its own opportunities and choices. In accordance with the overall needs of urban planning and construction, a wide and smooth new street has replaced parts of the narrow and dirty old street. While welcomed by most, it has also raised questions from a few—but this is reform, this is progress. Because preservation does not mean stagnation, and development is the hard truth. Some of the main remaining streets of Pengcheng Old Street may appear somewhat dilapidated and outdated, but they still retain the layout and atmosphere of the old street, preserving a wealth of cultural heritage. The district and county governments have proposed a strategy to revitalize commerce and tourism, injecting new vitality and potential into the development of the old street and providing broader opportunities for growth.

Scenic Area Address: Pengcheng Town, Fengfeng Mining District, Handan City, Hebei Province

Transportation: Take bus 604 in Handan City and get off at Yuanbao Mountain Station.