Ghost-Built City

Ghost-Built City

Ghost-Built City is a tourist destination in Nandun Town, Xiangcheng County, Henan Province. Legend has it that it was built overnight by ghosts, hence the name. It is a famous attraction in Xiangcheng County. The site features various ghost models that are vivid and quite frightening.

Ghost-Built City and the Ancient Nandun City of the Gu Dun Kingdom

The Origins of the Gu Dun Kingdom

Shangshui’s “Gu Dun Kingdom”

In Lige Village, Pingdian Township, Shangshui County, people sometimes find objects in the fields resembling copper buttons, known as “ghost-fighting coins” or ant-nose coins. These rust-stained coins actually tell the story of the turbulent ancient Gu Dun Kingdom.

The Gu Dun Kingdom rose in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, with its capital located near present-day Pingdian Township, Shangshui County. The ruins of the ancient city are found in Lige Village and the area between Lige and Zhongziwangzhuang in Pingdian Township. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty, he enfeoffed his close kinsmen, the Ji clan, in the area around present-day Pingdian Township, Shangshui County, in 1122 BC, establishing the Dun Kingdom. The Dun Kingdom built its city at Lige and neighbored the Chen and Shen Kingdoms.

However, due to its small territory, weak power, and sparse population, the Dun Kingdom became a target for stronger states. Artifacts unearthed in Zhujixiang, Shangshui, and historical records show that nobles of the Gu Dun Kingdom had intermarried with nobles of the Chen Kingdom, such as Yuanzhong. Yet, these marital alliances failed to stop Chen’s invasions.

Fearing Chen’s might, the Dun Kingdom decided to relocate. They found habitable land south of the ancient Yinshui River. Thus, they sent subjects and craftsmen to build an earthen city at the site of the ancient Nandun City in present-day Xiangcheng County. Once the city was completed, the Dun Kingdom carried out a secret mass relocation. They moved their capital from Lige Village in Pingdian, Shangshui, southeastward by dozens of miles to what is now the ancient Nandun City in Xiangcheng County. Since the new location was south of the Yinshui River and also south of the old city, the kingdom was renamed Nandun (South Dun).

After the relocation, the old Lige Dun Kingdom city was taken over by the Chen Kingdom. During the Western Han Dynasty, it was established as Boyang County, called Zhujia during the Eastern Han, and gradually declined by the Three Kingdoms period. The earthen ruins of the Lige Dun Kingdom city gradually eroded into burial mounds, forming the continuous mound phenomenon on the eastern slope of Lige.

When the Dun Kingdom secretly moved into the sparsely populated area of the ancient Nandun City in Xiangcheng County, people could not explain the sudden appearance of an earthen city and thus called it the “Ghost-Built City.” Later, the story of Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu) taking refuge here added a mythical touch to the ancient Nandun City.

The Mythical Origins of Ghost-Built City

Many legends about Wang Mang pursuing Liu Xiu are told in the Xiangcheng area, such as Liu Xiu’s Horse-Watering Pond, the Upside-Down Well, Liu Xiu’s Horse-Riding Ridge, and the footprints Liu Xiu left on a ginkgo tree when pulling on his boot. The “Ghost-Built City” is related to the story of Wang Mang pursuing Liu Xiu. It is located 2 kilometers northeast of Nandun, with the “Ancient Nandun City” to the south and the “Guangwu Terrace” to the north. Approved as a tourist attraction by relevant Henan authorities, it hosts a temple fair annually from the second day to the 15th day of the second lunar month (roughly early March).

In the late Western Han Dynasty, to protect the Xin Dynasty, Wang Mang relentlessly pursued Liu Xiu, the leader of the rebel forces. Liu Xiu, leading just over a hundred cavalry, was chased for three days and nights without rest. One evening, Liu Xiu and his men arrived near Nandun, exhausted and unable to go on, so they stopped to rest. As soon as they lay down, they all fell fast asleep. Scouts reported this situation to Wang Mang hundreds of miles away. Wang Mang urgently urged his troops to pursue and ordered them to capture Liu Xiu before the fifth watch (between 3–5 AM).

This alarmed the Heavenly God Tai Bai Jin Xing (Venus). Tai Bai Jin Xing was meditating with closed eyes when he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his ears and restlessness in his heart. He quickly calculated his fingers and learned that the Purple Star (Liu Xiu) was in danger. If the Purple Star encountered misfortune, all immortals would be demoted. He rode his auspicious cloud to the Nandun area, summoned the local Earth God, and ordered him to lead his little ghosts to build a new city for Liu Xiu overnight, to start at the second watch (9–11 PM) and finish by the fifth watch (3–5 AM). The Earth God was stunned—so flustered he got “grass growing in his shoes” (i.e., he panicked). He immediately gathered three thousand little ghosts. Some carried earth, others mixed mud, but when the west wall was still unfinished, more than half of the little ghosts had died from exhaustion, and the remaining were barely able to stand, too weak to continue. The Earth God, feeling sorry for them, thought, “If I work these little ghosts to death, who will I rule?” So he devised a plan and pinched his nose to imitate a rooster’s crow: “Cock-a-doodle-doo…” A few crows convinced the ghosts that dawn had arrived, and they scattered in all directions.

Hearing the crowing, Tai Bai Jin Xing checked the time—it was only the fourth watch (1–3 AM). He inspected the walls and saw they were not yet complete. When he asked the Earth God what was going on, the Earth God had no choice but to confess. Tai Bai Jin Xing, furious, kicked the Earth God five li (about 2.5 km) away, leaving him sitting there facing northwest. Since then, there have been no Earth God temples within five li of Nandun. The one located five li to the southeast with its door facing north is the very same supervising Earth God, kicked there by Tai Bai Jin Xing.

Just as the fifth watch arrived and dawn was breaking, Wang Mang’s troops arrived at Nandun. From afar, they saw a new city had mysteriously appeared in the northeast corner of Nandun overnight, its walls manned with soldiers exuding a fierce and imposing aura. Wang Mang realized it must be divine intervention that saved Liu Xiu—otherwise, how could a city have been built in a single night? The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he hastily ordered his army to retreat forty-five li. Thus, Liu Xiu managed to escape. This is the legend of the “Ghost-Built City.”