Site of the Ancient Iron-Smelting City

Site of the Ancient Iron-Smelting City

The Ancient Iron-Smelting City site is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The Ancient Iron-Smelting City is located in Yelucheng Village, approximately 37.5 kilometers southwest of Xiping County, surrounded by the Tangxi Stream, covering an area of about 350,000 square meters.

According to the *Records of Historical Geography*, “The Iron-Smelting City is located seventy-five li west of Xiping County, by the Tangxi Stream. It was where the Han State of the Warring States period forged swords. During the Jin Dynasty, an iron administration office was set up here. The site still remains.” The site has endured over two thousand years of vicissitudes. Though long abandoned, the general outline of the ancient city can still be discerned. Through exploration, it has been found that the cultural layer within the city is generally 2.7 meters thick, containing pottery shards, red-fired soil blocks, ash particles, and stones. Judging from the exposed pottery shards, the pottery is mainly clay-based, gray in color, and decorated with cord patterns. Identifiable artifacts include urns and basins. The city wall is 1,340 meters in circumference, 18.5 meters wide at the top, 2.55 meters wide at the base, and 7.4 meters high at its highest remaining point. Only the northern gate remains, which is square and 21 meters wide. A cross-section of the wall shows that it was built through manual ramming, with layers ranging in thickness from 50 cm, 30 cm, 20 cm, to 15 cm. The rammed earth features circular flat impressions, each about 6–7 cm in diameter. About 800 meters west of the city site on Jiunü Mountain, a large cluster of ancient tombs has been discovered, densely distributed with hardly any space between them. Judging from the pottery fragments discarded by tomb robbers, these tombs date from the Warring States period to the Han and Jin Dynasties, aligning with the time when the Iron-Smelting City was built and in use, suggesting this area served as its burial ground. Based on the exposed ruins and collected cultural relics, the western part of the city site was likely the ironworking workshop area, while the eastern part was probably the residential area.

The ancient Iron-Smelting City was a center for sword-making during the Warring States period, and from the Han to the Jin Dynasties, it continued to host an iron administration office, making it an important hub for iron smelting at the time. Historically renowned swords such as Tangxi, Longquan, Ganjiang, and Moye were all forged here. Therefore, protecting the Iron-Smelting City plays a significant role in the study of China’s ancient metallurgy and weapons history. In 1986, it was designated as part of the second batch of cultural relic protection units by the People’s Government of Henan Province.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Henan Province