Ruins of the Ancient City of Bian State

Ruins of the Ancient City of Bian State

The ruins of the Ancient City of Bian State are a national key cultural relic protection unit.

The ruins of Biancheng are located in Bianqiao Village, Quanlin Town, Sishui County, Jining City, Shandong Province. It is said to be the site of the Bianming State from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties and later the Bianyi city. The existing ancient city ruins date back to the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty. The city site borders the Sishui River to the north and lies adjacent to the nationally key cultural relic protection unit — Bian Bridge — to the east.

The city site is irregularly square-shaped, covering a total area of over 400,000 square meters. The rammed earth layers of the city site are distinct, with rich relics found within. Excavated Zhou dynasty pottery includes dou (food vessels), li (tripod cauldrons), basins, and jars; Han dynasty pottery finds include basins, jars, and a large number of tubular tiles, as well as an iron sword.

The stratigraphic deposits at the Biancheng ruins are well-preserved, and its cultural content is rich and unique. It holds significant importance for studying the culture of the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty, and for exploring human activities, migration, evolution, and interactions in the Shandong region during that time. It also provides valuable material for researching prehistoric settlements and environmental changes.

In March 1986, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit by the Jining Municipal People’s Government. In June 2015, it was announced as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Shandong Provincial People’s Government.

The Bianyi ruins are located west of Bianqiao Yi Village, Quanlin Town, Sishui County, Jining City, Shandong Province, and are a large ancient settlement site. Covering an area of 171,541 square meters, the entire site slopes from west to east and is divided into residential areas, workshop areas, and burial areas.

A large number of pottery shards have been collected from the surface, with identifiable shapes including jars, dou, urns, tubular tiles, and flat tiles. The decorative patterns are mainly rope impressions and plain surfaces. Additionally, four pottery molds and twelve bronze artifacts such as a bronze ding (tripod), sword, dagger-axe, and pot were collected.

Based on the shapes of the artifacts, the Bianyi ruins are dated to the Shang and Zhou periods. This site is a newly discovered immovable cultural heritage point from the Third National Cultural Relics Survey and was selected as one of the “Top 100 New Discoveries” of the Third National Cultural Relics Survey in Shandong Province. It was announced in the special issue of China Cultural Relics Newspaper · Cultural Relics and Archaeology Weekly on December 23, 2011.

On September 1, 2009, it was designated as a second batch of county-level cultural relic protection units by the Sishui County People’s Government. It was selected as one of the “Top 100 New Discoveries” of the Third National Cultural Relics Survey in Shandong Province in 2011. In 2015, it was announced as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Shandong Provincial People’s Government.

In 2019, the ruins of the Ancient City of Bian State were included in the eighth batch of national key cultural relic protection units.

Quanlin Town: Located in the eastern part of Sishui County, Jining City, Shandong Province, Quanlin Town borders the Linyi-Mengshan Revolutionary Base Area to the east, the hometown of Confucius, Qufu, to the west, the hometown of Mencius, Zoucheng, to the south, and Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Great Mountains, to the north. Covering a total area of 118.4 square kilometers, it governs 65 administrative villages with a population of 68,000. It has been listed as a central town by the provincial government and is recognized as a “Provincial Advanced Town in Safety Creation” and a “Star Township of the Land of Confucius and Mencius.” In 2003, it was awarded the title of “Shandong Province’s First Batch of Historic and Cultural Towns” by the provincial government.

Quanlin Town is the source of the Sishui River and the birthplace of Sishui culture. With a long history, it was the Bianming State during the Shang Dynasty, the鲁Bianyi territory in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Qin... More detailed information about Quanlin Town++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units