Wenyang Site

Wenyang Site

The Wenyang Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Wenyang Site is located on a high terrace north of Wenyang Village, Fengcheng Subdistrict Office, Laiwu, on the sunny side of the Wen River at the southeastern foot of Mount Tai. It was discovered in March 1983 by Liu Hui, Wang Qiyun, Cui Xiuguo, and others. The site stretches over 500 meters from north to south and more than 300 meters from east to west. The terrace stands about 2.5 meters above the surrounding plains, with a fishback-shaped surface. The cultural layer lies about 0.3 meters underground and is approximately 0.5 to 1 meter thick.

Previously, it was generally believed that the time span of the Wenyang Site ranged from the middle to late Dawenkou Culture to the Longshan Culture period. In fact, its cultural contents are far richer than those of these two periods. The discovery of a large number of chipped stone tools proves that this area was inhabited by human ancestors as far back as the Paleolithic Age. Furthermore, the excavation of numerous Tang and Song dynasty porcelain pieces and kiln sites in the former "Saozha Di" area south of Panlong Street indicates that the Wenyang area was definitely a major settlement center during the Tang and Song dynasties. However, the rarity of blue-and-white porcelain and other Ming and Qing artifacts at this site suggests that the settlement center had shifted elsewhere by the Ming and Qing periods. Nevertheless, the human cultural remains spanning from the Paleolithic Age to the Yuan Dynasty—lasting tens of thousands of years—still make this site one of the most research-worthy in Laiwu City.

Divided artificially by Panlong Street, the Wenyang Site is split into two parts, both of which have been occupied by enterprises and repurposed as factory buildings.

The southern part has scattered across its surface a large number of white porcelain shards, mostly reflecting the cultural characteristics of the Song and Yuan periods. In the northeast, lies the most precious area of the southern site—where the exposed ground features the transitional stratum between the Dawenkou and Longshan cultures. A Longshan Culture arrowhead was discovered here. This arrowhead is exquisitely crafted and shows signs of use. Its material is a gray-green hard chlorite phyllite from the Laiwu area, indicating that the Wenyang Site was indeed the cradle of the brilliant civilization created by the Yi people, known as skilled archers ("from da to gong"). Additionally, in this area, numerous high-grade pottery fragments from the Dawenkou and Longshan Culture periods were found, including one successfully restored red pottery gui.

The northern site consists mainly of Longshan Culture remains, primarily distributed on the high terrace in the northwest. Fortunately, exquisite eggshell-thin black pottery shards from the Longshan Culture were discovered here. Can you imagine delicate black pottery thinner than one millimeter? Among ancient Chinese cultural relics, there is one type of pottery shard that is highly praised by academia for its exceptional craftsmanship—that is the eggshell black pottery of the Longshan Culture.

In 2013, the Wenyang Site was announced by the People’s Government of Shandong Province as part of the fourth batch of provincial-level cultural heritage protection units in Shandong.

In 2019, the Wenyang Site was included in the eighth batch of national key cultural heritage protection units.

Fengcheng Subdistrict: Fengcheng Subdistrict is located in Laicheng District, Laiwu, Shandong. It administers:

371202001001 111 Dongsheng Residents' Committee

371202001002 111 Xiaocao Village Residents' Committee

371202001003 111 Xiguan Residents' Committee

371202001004 111 Dongfeng Residents' Committee

371202001005 111 Dongfanghong Residents' Committee

371202001006 111 Wujiayuan Residents' Committee

3712020…… More details about Fengcheng Subdistrict++

Further reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Shandong Province

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Heritage Protection Units