Site of the Ancient City of Fei County

Site of the Ancient City of Fei County

The Site of the Ancient City of Fei County is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Period: Spring and Autumn, Han, and Northern Wei

Located on the south side of Shangye Town, about 10 kilometers northwest of Fei County and on the west bank of the Jun River, lies the ruins of an ancient city — the former site of the State of Bi. The ruins are rectangular in shape, stretching 2 kilometers from north to south, 1 kilometer from east to west, with a perimeter of 6 kilometers and covering an area of approximately 234 square kilometers. The southern half of the site consists of flat land, which was once the location of the royal palace and the marketplace. Ancient tiles, pottery shards, and bricks can be found scattered throughout the area. Locals refer to this place as "Ji Wang Cheng" (King Ji’s City). According to Records of the Grand Historian · The House of Lu and Duke Zhou, “In the first year of King Li’s reign, he granted the territory of Wenyang to Ji You.” This ancient city was originally the capital of an old Dongyi clan of the Ji surname. The Yizhou Annals · Feudal Fiefdoms records: “The State of Bi, of the Ji clan, held the rank of Bo (earl), descended from Kings Wen and Wu. During the Spring and Autumn period, the character ‘邑’ (indicating a settlement) was removed, leaving the name as Fei.” It was later annexed by the State of Lu and became the fief of Ji Sunshi, also known as Ji You, a noble of Lu. Ji You, the youngest son of Duke Huan of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period — that is, the youngest son of Duke Huan and the brother of Duke Zhuang — was named You, also called Chengji, hence known as Ji You, or Gongsun You. This is the origin of the name “Ji Wang Cheng.” In May 2013, it was designated by the State Council as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

According to Records of the Grand Historian · The House of Lu and Duke Zhou, “In the first year of King Li’s reign, he granted the territory of Wenyang to Ji You.” This ancient city was originally the capital of an old Dongyi clan of the Ji surname. The Yizhou Annals · Feudal Fiefdoms records: “The State of Bi, of the Ji clan, held the rank of Bo (earl), descended from Kings Wen and Wu. During the Spring and Autumn period, the character ‘邑’ (indicating a settlement) was removed, leaving the name as Fei.” It was later annexed by the State of Lu and became the fief of Ji Sunshi, also known as Ji You, a noble of Lu. Ji You, the youngest son of Duke Huan of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period — that is, the youngest son of Duke Huan and the brother of Duke Zhuang — was named You, also called Chengji, hence known as Ji You, or Gongsun You. This is the origin of the name “Ji Wang Cheng.”

The northern half of the ruins is a low, undulating hill, believed to have been a military storage and garrison area for the rulers of the time. In front of the hill lies an ancient well, dug during the Spring and Autumn period by Ji Huanzi, the son of Ji Pingzi. Next to the well site stand two stone steles from the Qing Dynasty — one on the east, erected in the winter month of Jiashen during the Qianlong reign by Luo Dajun, the magistrate of Fei County, inscribed with “Ji Huanzi Well”; the other on the west, jointly erected on September 28th of the Jiachen year during the Jiaqing reign by Sun Xingyan, the grain transport intendant, and Guo Zhiqing, the magistrate of Fei County. Its clerical script inscription reads “Ji Huanzi Obtains a Yangben Sheep Emerging from the Well,” elegant and classic in style. Research indicates that this well was dug by Ji Sisi, the sixth-generation descendant of Ji You — namely Ji Huanzi. Legend has it that when digging the well, a strange creature was unearthed — neither sheep nor dog, unrecognizable to those present. Ji Huanzi consulted Confucius, who identified it as a Yangben sheep. According to the Discourses of the States · Lu II: “I have heard that among the spirits of wood and stone are Kui and [a missing character]; of water are dragons and Wangxiang; and of earth is the Yangben sheep.” Thus, the creature was named Yangben sheep. The sheep is also recorded in ancient texts as Tuben sheep or simply sheep. In Yang Yingchuan Ji (Collected Works of Yang Yizhi of Tang) Volume 4, the Stele for the Former Sage Confucius Temple in Changjiang County, Suizhou: “Ji Huanzi’s sheep well foretells omens of wood and stone.”

To the north of the ancient ruins lies a stretch of hills running east to west, dividing the site into a larger and a smaller section. The southern section is larger, broad and flat; the northern part is more uneven. Locals commonly…

refer to the northern part of the ancient city as Bingma Cheng (City of Soldiers and Horses). Here, to the north one can gaze at the majestic and undulating Mengshan Mountain; to the east, the sparkling Jun River flows vigorously northward; surrounding the area, the remnants of the ancient city walls wind along the hillsides and riverbanks, presenting a spectacular sight. Over 2,600 years ago, Ji You, a prominent figure of the State of Lu, wielded power here and influenced the course of Lu’s history.

Ji Sunshi lived during the transitional period from China’s slave society to feudal society. Representing the interests of the emerging feudal landlord class, and in order to adapt to the development of the productive forces of the time, he implemented a series of reforms that promoted social and economic advancement, won public support, and expanded his land holdings. He significantly boosted the development of the productive forces of the era, becoming a representative of these new forces. In order to strengthen his own position, he practiced austerity — “his concubines did not wear silk, his horses did not eat grain” — saving resources to recruit talent. As a result, he came to possess vast private lands, a large following of dependents, and a private army of “7,000 armoured soldiers” — a military force surpassing that of the ruler of Lu at the time. He then joined forces with the Shusun and Mengsun clans to engage in fierce struggle against the conservative court forces represented by the ruler. As all three were descendants of Duke Huan of Lu, they were historically referred to as the “Three Huan.” In the 11th year of Duke Xiang of Lu (562 BC), he expanded the Central Army, increasing the traditional two-army system of Lu to three, with each of the three houses (Mengsun, Shusun, and Ji Sun) commanding one, thereby dividing the state’s military power among them and supporting Duke Zhao of Lu. In the 5th year of Duke Zhao (537 BC), Ji Sunshi changed the system back to two armies, but together with the Shusun and Mengsun, they effectively divided the military resources into four, with the Ji Sun clan alone taking two portions and seizing all the military taxes of the ducal house. From then on, the people of Lu paid taxes only to the Three Houses (Ji, Meng, and Shu), who then made tribute to the ducal house.

After the death of Duke Zhuang of Lu, Ji You turned the tide, eradicated the treacherous Qingfu who had brought disaster to the country, stabilized the political situation, and also defeated the army of Ju, earning great merit. Duke Xi granted him the lands of Wenyang and the city of Fei, appointing him as Lu’s highest minister, thus giving him control over the state. Later, Ji You’s descendants — including Wenzhi, Wuzhi, Pingzhi, Huanzhi, and Kangzhi — continued to rule Fei, govern Lu, and even briefly established the independent State of Fei, until it was annexed by the State of Chu in 250 BC. In the early Western Han Dynasty, Fei County was established with the site becoming its county seat. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was briefly a princedom, until in the 20th year of Emperor Xiaowen of Wei’s Taihe era (496 AD), the Fei administration moved south, and the site was abandoned as a former city.

From the Western Zhou Dynasty onward, the site served successively as a Ji-clan fiefdom, a Ji Sun fief, the seat of Fei County, and remained so until the relocation of the Fei administration southward — spanning a thousand years. The scale of the ruins suggests the grandeur of the city walls, the magnificence of the palaces, the dense shops, and the bustling market life of the time.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, various ancient weapons such as swords, halberds, and arrowheads have been excavated from the soil layers in the northern part of the ancient city ruins. In the southwestern part near Ningguozhuang, Han dynasty roof tiles inscribed with the seal script “Ziqiu Wansui” (Long Live Ziqiu) have been unearthed. The area around Gucheng Village was an ancient burial ground, where horse bones, bronze chariots, and various jade artifacts have been discovered. South of Xiaoyue River was an ancient residential area, yielding Han dynasty “earless grey pottery jars,” coins, and various ornaments. These relics feature clear decorative patterns, abstract lines, and bright colors, reflecting the depth and sophistication of ancient traditional culture, with exquisite craftsmanship that is truly breathtaking.

To the west of the ancient ruins there used to be a lake called Feicheng Lake, adjacent to the city. Now there is no trace of it, though the place name “Shuihu” (Water Lake) village serves as historical evidence of its existence.

On the 27th day of the first lunar month in the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1757 AD), Emperor Gaozong Hongli passed through Fei County during his southern tour and composed a poem titled “Viewing Antiquity at Feicheng”:

Ji’s domain first received its fief,

Then built this city to the south.

Almost might virtue have arisen,

Yet wells remain while power ran wild.

Gucheng Village: Gucheng Village... More details about Gucheng Village++

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units