The Site of the Ancient Wanchiu City

The Site of the Ancient Wanchiu City

The Site of the Ancient Wanchiu City is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Site of the Ancient Wanchiu City is located in the southwest corner of Dazhu Village, Dalian Township, about four kilometers southeast of Huaiyang County. Covering an area of over one hundred acres and standing two zhang high, it is commonly known as Pingliangtai, Pingliangzhong, or Zhiliangtai. On February 13, 1988, it was designated as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. It is currently the earliest discovered, largest in scale, and best-preserved ancient city site from the Longshan Culture period, dating back approximately 4,600 years. Excavated in 1979, the news attracted extensive media coverage from dozens of domestic and international outlets including People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Henan Daily, Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao, and Xinhua News Agency, causing a sensation both at home and abroad.

The "Odes of Chen · Wanchiu" from China’s first poetry anthology, the Book of Songs (Shijing), written during the Spring and Autumn Period, once described the moving scenery here: “You frolic upon Wanchiu’s height, / With genuine love but little hope in sight. / Drums are beaten under Wanchiu’s tree, / All year round seen the egrets’ plumage free. / Drums are beaten on Wanchiu’s way, / All year round seen the egrets’ array.” This means that during the Western Zhou Dynasty, the area was picturesque, and young men and women of the State of Chen often came here to sing, dance, and court. Later, the ancient city of Wanchiu gradually fell into disuse.

Before the excavation of the ancient city of Wanchiu, little was known about it, leading to many legends. The most widespread one is linked to the story of Bao Zheng distributing grain in Chenzhou during the Song Dynasty: During the Northern Song Dynasty, Chenzhou suffered frequent disasters, and the people were living in misery. The imperial court sent the Fourth Imperial Uncle to Chenzhou to provide disaster relief. Unexpectedly, the Fourth Imperial Uncle embezzled the imperial grain, mixing sand into it before distributing it to the people. When the news reached the capital, the court dispatched Bao Zheng to investigate the case. Upright and impartial, Bao Zheng executed the Fourth Imperial Uncle at the Golden Dragon Bridge within the city and personally sifted the sand out of the grain at this very site, with the discarded sand eventually piling up to form this mound. However, it is implausible that even the grain could have created such a large mound, let alone just the sand—this part of the tale is considered unreliable.

It is indeed true that this site served as a grain storage platform during the Song Dynasty, related to the northward grain transport from the south during that period. The History of Song records: “...Grain and textiles transported via the Guangji River to the capital came from seventeen prefectures of eastern Shandong; those arriving via the Shitang and Huimin Rivers from six prefectures—Chen, Ying, Xu, Cai, Guang, and Shou—were all supervised by imperial officials.” The county annals state: “The Huimin River, also called the Cai River, carried 400,000 shi of grain and 200,000 shi of beans, all supervised by imperial court officials.” This mound is situated east of the Cai River, south of the Huai River, and near the grain tributary routes of several southeastern prefectures, which would have shipped their contributions here by canal before being transported by cart to the capital, Kaifeng.

A family surnamed Lin originally lived on this mound, in possession of an imperial yellow silk decree from Emperor Renzong of Song granting them tax exemption for cultivating tomb land. This decree was read aloud in 1910 and witnessed by many, but its current whereabouts are unknown.

Originally square-shaped, the mound became a convenient source of soil for nearby residents to build houses, construct residences, or dig clay for brick kilns—its eastern, southern, and central western parts were leveled. It was precisely these digging activities that began to reveal its secrets. The archaeological excavation in 1979 shocked the world.

The ancient city site has a square layout, covering a total area of 50,000 square meters, with over 34,000 square meters of residential space within the walls. The upper part of the city wall is 10 meters wide, while the base is 17 meters wide, all built from rammed earth, with the four corners rounded. Beneath our feet lies the western wall of the ancient city.

After the ancient city of Wanchiu was abandoned, it served as a burial ground during the Chu and Han periods for over 2,000 years. Numerous precious artifacts have been unearthed here, including gold- and silver-inlaid swords belonging to the King of Yue, Bashu swords, four-wheeled iron chariots, and jade discs.

City gates were excavated here, with adobe guard rooms built on both sides of the gate passages. Below the gates, inverted “品”-shaped pottery drainage pipes were buried, scientifically solving the problem of sewage disposal within the city. These are the earliest discovered pottery drainage pipes in archaeological history worldwide. Their discovery pushed back the history of urban infrastructure construction in China by more than 2,000 years. In 1984, this artifact was exhibited at the "Water and Humanity" International Exposition in New Orleans, USA, where it received praise from experts.

In the southeastern part of the city, three rows of high-elevation structures from the Longshan Culture period, built with adobe, were discovered. Houses were constructed using adobe walls on these platforms. Additionally, three pottery kilns were found. Among the numerous unearthed relics were stone axes, adzes, fishing net weights, arrowheads, pottery jars, pots, bowls, and basins, along with burnt charcoal, partially burned branches, and roasted animal bones. Carbon-14 dating indicates that the ancient city was built 4,600 years ago. Beneath the ancient city, there are also layers of the Dawenkou Culture. Through analysis and research combining these artifacts with historical documents, archaeologists have unanimously concluded that the Pingliangtai Ancient City site and the ruins of Taihao’s homeland, Wanchiu, are the same place. This confirms historical records such as “Chen was the ruins of Taihao” and “The initial capital of Emperor Yan Shennong was Chen.”

The current Ancient City Museum features three exhibition halls: the Primitive Society Hall, the Chu Culture Hall, the Han Culture Hall, and an Ancient Art Performance Hall. Here, visitors can explore the splendid ancient culture of the Chinese nation, experience the customs of the Chu and Han peoples, trace the origins of culture, and reflect on the past.

Source: Huaiyang Government Website