Ruins of Qiancheng City

Ruins of Qiancheng City

The Qiancheng City ruins are a cultural tourism attraction.

Qiancheng City originated in the Warring States period and was named after Duke Jing of Qi, who kept a thousand chariots here for his horses. There are two sites of Qiancheng City ruins. One is located southeast of Sunjiaji in Yuanhe Township, covering an area of 120,000 square meters, which once served as the seat of Qiancheng County. Its eastern edge borders the Gaocheng–Yuhuangtang Highway, and it faces Lujia Village across the Du’Yao Gully to the north. The Du’Yao Gully cuts through the northeast corner of the site. Trenching through the gully has revealed a cultural layer approximately 15 meters below the surface, about 0.5 to 1 meter thick.

Occasional remnants from the Song and Yuan dynasties have been found in the western part of the site. Legend has it that there was an imperial calendar shrine here, likely dating to the Ming Dynasty or slightly earlier, with the village ruins lying in stratified relation over the Qiancheng City remains. In 1973, a late Warring States period bean-pot handle was unearthed at the site. The other site, according to markings on the *Historical Atlas of China* and field investigations, is located about 0.5 kilometers southwest of Fanjia Village in Jiuzhen, on the northern bank of the ancient Shen Shui River. The commandery of Qiancheng was established here during the Western Han Dynasty. In the autumn of 29 BCE (the fourth year of the Jian Shi era of Emperor Cheng of Han), the river burst its banks at Guantao, flooding Qiancheng with waters three zhang deep, severely damaging official buildings and residences. Since then, the city gradually fell into disuse.