The Ruins of Dongpingling Ancient City

The Ruins of Dongpingling Ancient City

The Ruins of Dongpingling Ancient City are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Ruins of Dongpingling Ancient City are located northeast of Longshan Town, Zhangqiu City, east of Jinan. They are approximately 2 kilometers southwest of the Chengziya Site.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Dongpingling City belonged to the State of Qi and was known as Pinglingyi, governed by nobles of the Jiang clan. Around 680 BC, Duke Huan of Qi once visited this place. During the Warring States Period, the Qi State was replaced by the Tian clan aristocracy, and the area was later renamed Pingling County. After the founding of the Han Dynasty, the administrative center of the Jinan Commandery was established here. Since there was also a Pingling County near Chang’an in the Guanzhong region, it was renamed Dongpingling County. In 164 AD, the Han Dynasty established the Jinan Kingdom here. Around 180 AD, Cao Cao once served as the chancellor of the kingdom here. By the Yongjia era of the Western Jin Dynasty, the administrative center of the Jinan Commandery was moved westward to Licheng. As the capital of a commandery or kingdom, Dongpingling City long served as the political, economic, and cultural center of what is now the Jinan region. This ancient city was once grand and magnificent in scale. By the Song and Yuan dynasties, its city walls were still relatively well preserved. The Song Dynasty poet Chen Shidao wrote in *Houshan Congtan*: “In Pingling Ancient City at Longshan Town in Qi, the walls are 54 zhang high and five li square. Next to the city there is a Horse Racing Platform, which is half as high.” The Yuan Dynasty’s Yu Qin also noted in *Qicheng*: “The parapets of Pingling City are towering.” From the remaining ruins today, the city was square-shaped, measuring 1,900 meters in both length and width from north to south and east to west, with four city gates. Most of the western wall remains, all built with rammed earth and board construction, about 5 meters high and 28 meters thick, wide enough for carts to pass. The northern part of the site consists of palace ruins, where building foundations and large areas of brick-paved ground still remain. The southern part is an iron smelting site, where refractory materials, iron ore, iron slag, burnt earth, and charcoal ash have been discovered.

The site is approximately 1,900 meters on each side, slightly square in shape, with a total area of over 3.6 million square meters. Remnants of rammed earth city walls can be seen around the site, 10–30 meters wide and 1–4 meters high. The underground wall foundations are 40 meters wide, and the remains of four city gates have been discovered. The terrain within the site is higher in the south and lower in the north, with bricks, tiles, and pottery fragments scattered across the ground. Within a range of 300–400 meters to the west of the central part of the site, a large amount of iron slag, ore, charcoal, refractory materials, and burnt earth remains, indicating an ancient iron smelting site. To the south are clusters of pottery kilns. In the northeastern part of the eastern area, large-scale rammed earth foundations and brick- or stone-paved roads have been found, indicating the remains of palatial halls. Artifacts collected over the years include pottery, ironware, bronze ware, stoneware, and coins. Villagers from Nanwa discovered an ancient tomb near the eastern wall, unearthing five pieces of bronze ware.

The ancient city has a long history and has yielded numerous artifacts. Pottery items include flat bricks, hollow bricks, tubular tiles, flat tiles, jars, vats, and flask-shaped vessels. Tile ends bear inscriptions such as “Long Live for Ten Thousand Years” and “Prosperity for Ten Thousand Years.” Decorative patterns on the artifacts include human face motifs and ram’s horn designs. Stone artifacts include column bases, mortars, and stone mills; bronze items include bronze nails, arrowheads, and currency; and iron items include mattocks, spades, hoes, saws, adzes, plows, swords, knives, and iron molds. These relics are of great value for studying ancient Chinese history, especially the political, economic, and cultural history of the Jinan region.

In 2006, the Ruins of Dongpingling Ancient City, as a Han Dynasty historical site, were approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units