The Ancient City of Geling

The Ancient City of Geling

The Ancient City of Geling is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

A fief city site of Marquis Pingye Cheng of the State of Chu during the Warring States period. The protection and excavation of the ancient city and the ancient tombs outside the ruins are of great significance for studying the military, political, and cultural aspects of the State of Chu in this region during the Warring States period.

The Ancient City of Geling was first built during the Warring States period and served as the fief of Marquis Pingye. During the Later Han Dynasty, the marquisate of Yao Dan established its capital here.

According to the "Book of the Later Han" and "Reading History: Gazetteer and Strategy Essentials": In the 15th year of the Jianwu era of the Later Han Dynasty, Yao Dan was enfeoffed as a marquis. Specifically, Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han enfeoffed Yao Dan, the son of Yao Qi (a renowned general of Emperor Guangwu and one of the Three Heroes of the Later Han), as a marquis in the 15th year of Jianwu, establishing the capital at Geling City.

The Ancient City of Geling is located 25 kilometers northwest of Xincai County. It borders Danghu to the east, is 500 meters south of the Honghe River, neighbors Nainai Lake to the west, and is backed by Geling Mountain to the north. The ancient city is surrounded by water on all sides, shaped like a turtle’s back, stretching 1,330 meters from north to south and 1,200 meters from east to west, covering an area of 159,600 square meters. In ancient times, the Geling waters to the north of the city were vast, where generals of the Later Han once trained their naval forces. According to "Reading History: Gazetteer and Chronicles": Located northwest of the county, the former lake spanned dozens of square li. In the fifth year of the Zhongping era of the Han Dynasty, Bao Hong defeated the Yellow Turbans at Geping. At the end of the Yongping era of the Western Jin Dynasty, Gu Chi raided various commanderies of Yuzhou, retreated to the river, and stationed troops at Geping. He built fortifications there to cultivate and build boats for an attack on Jianye. Prince Ruì of Langya gathered forces at Shouchun to resist them.

Outside the ancient city ruins, there are numerous ancient tombs. Three tombs from the tomb complex were excavated in 1994, 1998, and 2000 respectively, yielding a considerable number of precious artifacts including weapons, production tools, and ornaments. The number of bamboo slips unearthed far exceeded those found in the Chu tombs at Changtaiguan, Xinyang in the 1950s, and most inscriptions were clear. Preliminary analysis indicates that these were not ordinary funerary records but rather chronicles and ancient texts. All unearthed relics were transported to the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics for sorting and have extremely high archaeological value. Research confirms that all three tombs date back to the Warring States period. One tomb excavated in 1994 was confirmed to belong to Marquis Pingye Cheng. Judging by the tomb’s scale and dimensions, it is regarded as the largest tomb in the Central Plains.

Excavations of the three large Chu tombs confirm that the ancient city was already the fief of Marquis Pingye during the Warring States period.

Currently, the surface of the ancient city ruins is scattered with broken bricks and tiles. Artifacts continue to be unearthed within the ancient city, especially in the central area, where house foundations, interlocking brick culverts, and hollow bricks (hollow bricks measure 1.01m in length, 0.18m in width, and 0.15m in thickness; culvert interlocking bricks are 0.33m long, 0.12m wide, and 0.04m thick) are frequently found. The brick patterns are mostly geometric or grid-like. Many ceramics, bronze ware, small bronze seals, and "mosquito-nose coins" have also been discovered.

The ruins of the Ancient City of Geling are located 25 kilometers northwest of Xincai County, within the territory of Liaoqiao Hui Ethnic Town in Xincai County. A county-level asphalt road leads directly to the ruins, which are 10 kilometers from National Highway 106, 2 kilometers from the soon-to-be-built A'shen Expressway, 97 kilometers from Zhumadian City, over 120 kilometers from the Chaya Mountain Scenic Area, over 110 kilometers from the Boshan Lake Scenic Area, and over 150 kilometers from the Tongshan Scenic Area.

The ancient city ruins have suffered some damage; only partial outlines of the city walls remain, about one meter in height, existing only in fragments. There are currently four villages within the ancient city: Songying, Geling, Qianzhuang, and Zhaozhuang, collectively known as the Geling Village Committee. As a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, it is jointly managed and protected by the County Cultural Relics Office and the Geling Village Committee.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units