The Ancient City of Qi in Linzi

The Ancient City of Qi in Linzi

The Ancient City of Qi in Linzi is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The ruins of the Ancient City of Qi are located 7.5 kilometers north of Xindian Town in Linzi District, bordered by the Zi River to the east and the Xi River to the west. It served as the capital of the Qi State during the Zhou Dynasty and later as the capital of the Qi Kingdom during the Western Han Dynasty, spanning over a thousand years. In 1961, it was designated by the State Council as one of the first batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

The ancient city is composed of a larger outer city and a smaller inner city. The larger city measures approximately 4.5 kilometers from north to south and 3.5 kilometers from east to west, while the smaller city is situated at the southwestern corner of the larger city, with its northeastern part extending into the southwestern corner of the larger city. The smaller city is 2 kilometers long from north to south and about 1.5 kilometers wide from east to west. The total area of both cities is around 15.5 square kilometers, with a perimeter of about 21 kilometers.

Most of the city walls have been buried underground, and some have disappeared due to excavation or erosion by the river, leaving only fragmented remnants. Archaeological drilling has confirmed that the walls existed as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty and were repaired multiple times during the Spring and Autumn, Warring States, and Western Han periods. The walls were built with rammed earth, following the natural terrain and often deviating from straight lines, featuring 24 corners, 14 of which are well-preserved. The smaller city has a perimeter of 7,275 meters, with wall bases ranging from 20 to 30 meters in width, and up to 67 meters at their widest. The larger city has a perimeter of 14,158 meters, with wall bases mostly over 20 meters wide, reaching up to 43 meters at their widest.

According to the "Records of Qi," the city had 13 gates. Historical records mention gates such as Yong Gate, Shen Gate, Yang Gate, Ji Gate, Lu Gate, Zhanghua Gate, Donglü Gate, and Guang Gate, but their exact locations are not specified, leading to various theories. It is relatively certain that the western gates included Shen Gate and Yong Gate, while the eastern gate was Guang Gate. Eleven gates have been identified so far, five in the smaller city and six in the larger city, with gate passages all exceeding 8.2 meters in span, the widest reaching 20.5 meters.

The main roads within the city are well-organized. Ten major roads have been discovered, three in the smaller city, typically 6 to 8 meters wide, with the widest at 17 meters, and seven in the larger city, ranging from 10 to 20 meters in width. Most of these roads connect to the city gates.

The smaller city of the Ancient City of Qi was the residence of the ruler, also known as the Palace City. In its northwest section, there is a rammed earth platform base, locally referred to as "Huan Gong Terrace," which is believed to be the foundation of a Qi royal palace building. It currently stands 14 meters high, with an underground rectangular rammed earth base measuring 86 meters from north to south and 70 meters from east to west. Around "Huan Gong Terrace," extensive rammed earth foundations have been discovered, likely the remains of palaces from that era. This site occupies nearly half of the smaller city's area, where square patterned floor bricks, ridge tiles, and roof tiles have been unearthed. The southern part of the smaller city (now the Anhe Village area) was the handicraft district, where a "Qi Fa Hua" coin minting site, two iron smelting sites, and one copper smelting workshop site have been found.

The larger city was the residential area for officials, commoners, and merchants, also known as the Outer City. Numerous workshops were located here, including four iron smelting sites, one copper smelting site, one coin minting site, and four bone processing sites, making it the primary industrial zone of the Qi State at the time. On the surface of the larger city, several architectural platforms remain, which were the detached palaces and villas built by Qi kings, mainly including "Xue Palace Terrace," "Wu Terrace," and "Chuan Terrace." There are two burial grounds within the larger city: one in the northeast (now the Heyatou Village area), which was the cemetery for Qi nobility, where over 20 large and medium-sized tombs have been discovered, including a large-scale horse sacrifice pit around Tomb No. 5. Another burial ground is located in the south of the larger city (now south of Shaoyuan Village in Liujiazhai), dating back to the Eastern Zhou period.

Within the larger city, there are also historical sites such as Han Xin Ridge, the Place Where Confucius Heard the Shao Music, Yan Ying’s Tomb, and Jixia Academy. Han Xin Ridge is located in the northeast of the larger city and is said to be where Han Xin built a palace when he came to Qi. The existing site is roughly square, standing 4 meters above the ground, with three-tiered steps on all sides. Drilling has revealed a cultural layer 3 to 4 meters thick, containing 4 to 5 layers of cultural deposits from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty. There are also remnants of residences, iron smelting, copper smelting, and bone processing, making it the site with the earliest, thickest, and most complex cultural deposits in the Ancient City of Qi. Regarding the Jixia Academy, no structures remain today, and its location is debated. The "Linzi County Annals" state that Ji Gate was the southwest gate of Qi City; the "Qi Sheng" claims it was the west gate, and the "Liu Xiang’s Separate Records" say: "Qi had a Ji Gate, which was the west gate of Qi City, with a school outside, established by King Xuan, hence called the Learning of Jixia." In 1946, a stone tablet inscribed with "Jixia" was unearthed in Shaojiaquan Village outside the west wall of the larger city, but its current whereabouts are unknown.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level