Silver Pit Silver Smelting Site

Silver Pit Silver Smelting Site

The Silver Pit Silver Smelting Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Silver Pit Silver Smelting Site (including slag accumulation, Goose-shaped Peak mining tunnel, Yinshan Surface mining tunnel, No. 3 mining tunnel, Lukangnao mining tunnel, Shangwukengzi mining tunnel, and Xiawu Hongshifa House-back mining tunnel)

The Silver Pit Silver Smelting Site is located at Goose-shaped Peak, Liumukeng Group, Yaodian Village, Yinping Town, Yudu County. According to the "Ganzhou Prefecture Annals," in the fourth year of the Zhenghe era during the Song Dynasty (1114 AD), a silver smelting site was established at Liumukeng. The area was thus named "Silver Pit." The "Yudu County Annals" from the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty records: “During the Song Dynasty, a woodcutter chasing a deer entered a cave, and upon pushing further, silver ore spilled out, leading to the establishment of a silver mine.” It was discontinued during the Baoqing era of the Song Dynasty (1225–1227 AD). The site mainly consists of one slag accumulation and six ancient mining tunnels, covering a total area of 10,000 square meters. The slag accumulation is located at the foot of the southeastern side of Goose-shaped Peak by the Liumu River, forming a fan-shaped deposit that is 120 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 10 meters thick, covering an area of 3,600 square meters. The ancient mining tunnels are distributed along the mountainside of Goose-shaped Peak: Tunnel No. 1 is behind the residence of Chen Zhengsheng; Tunnel No. 2 is at Yinshan Surface; Tunnel No. 3 has three entrances, which have been blocked and buried by the riverbed; Tunnel No. 4 is 40 meters northeast of Tunnel No. 2 (on Bashaolu, Lukangnao); Tunnel No. 5 is at Shangwukengzi and has been naturally filled in; Tunnel No. 6 is at Xiawu Bipi. All tunnel entrances are very small, only crawlable — for example, the entrance of Tunnel No. 4 is only 0.8 meters high and 0.6 meters wide. This site, with a history of 900 years, boasts profound historical, economic, and cultural significance as a physical testament to ancient industrial heritage, holding considerable cultural relic value. In May 1984, it was designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Yudu County. On March 9, 2018, it was announced as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Jiangxi Province.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units